The last thing I expected when I opened Twitter this afternoon, was to see that Ballard was playing 3rd line left winger. What. And then I saw the injured list: Kesler, Booth, Higgins, Kassian and Pinizzotto. Kassian re-injured his back last game, while Higgins 'tweaked' his back in practice, and Pinizzotto caught the flu or something rather.
As a result, the bottom 2 lines got put in a blender. Ebbett maned line 3, with Ballard and Weise, while Chicago Wolves call up Andrew Gordon played with Lappiere and Sestito on the 4th. Top 2 lines stayed the same. With Ballard off playing forward, the defense needed a change up too. Edler and Bieksa were paired on the 1st line, while Garrison and Hamhuis manned the second. Barker dressed this game to play with Tanev on the 3rd. Schneider got his 2nd straight start.
Surprisingly, Ballard looked alright playing froward. He played defense first, but was always in on the play. On his first shift, he nearly hit Weise streaking to the net. A little later on, the Canucks D let generic Coyotes player 1 through, and only the speed of Mason Raymond saved a possible goal. With 7 minutes gone in the first, the Canucks drew first blood. Coming out from behind his own net, Tanev took the puck to his own blueline before hitting Raymond at centre ice. Raymond carried the puck in deep, before spotting Tanev streaking down the middle. Tanev had all the time in the world, and snapped it past Smith blocker side.
5 minutes left, and Ballard came close twice. He hit the post on a shot from the faceoff circle, and deked through the defense on his way to the net, but was stopped by Smith. Schneider remained sharp at the other end, stopping all 5 shots that he faced. End of the 1st, 1-0 Canucks. Statistics said that the Coyotes outhit the Canucks 24-4, but I call that a total load of baloney.
Early in the 2nd, Daniel Sedin cut past Stone on a breakaway. Just a few feet from the goal, Stone shoved Daniel from behind and Smith went for the poke check. Daniel fell, nailed head first into Smith, and then into the post. Daniel went right to the room bleeding, and Smith took a few minutes to get his head straight again. Soon after, Phoenix began their domination of the period, cramming at the puck. Only Ballard grabbing Vermette from behind and yanking him down saved a goal. Minutes later, Schneider barely got a piece of a shot off of a 2 on 1, directing it into the corner. Thankfully, Daniel Sedin returned just after, seemingly alright.
The third line continued to be a thorn in the side of the Phoenix D, being a threat every time they stepped on the ice. Weise cut in on a breakaway, but was unable to get the backhand shot off, and Ballard couldn't bury the rebound. Fast forward to near the end of the 2nd, 2 minutes left, Canucks on the powerplay. Edler went behind the net, and ran headfirst into Smith, who was corralling the puck. Immediately, he was jumped by all 4 Phoenix players on the ice, who were jumped by the rest of the Canucks on the ice. Mike Smith was right in the middle of all of it, and I was hoping for a goalie fight. Schneider edged out of his net to the blueline, but told by the bench to go back. Edler received a 5 minute penalty for charging, Hansel a 2 minute minor for roughing. Bieksa was hooked with half a minute left, giving the Canucks a 4 on 4 powerplay to start the third. 40 minutes in the books, 1-0 Canucks. Shots 19-17 for Phoenix.
Jason Labarbera started the 3rd in net for the Coyotes, and Smith wasn't even on the bench. Nothing came off of the Canucks powerplay, and the Coyotes were left with a minute and a half on the Edler penalty. Minute left in the penalty, and the Canucks took another call. However, the Coyotes scored before the Canucks could touch the puck. Vrbata's slap shot from the low point went off the crossbar, and right to Vermette with a wide open net. Tie game, just a few minutes in. Tensions still running high, the Canucks 4th line had a face washing war, and ended up taking/drawing a penalty, 4 on 4.
Around the 10 minute mark, Schroeder gave the Canucks their lead back. Edler's point shot was tipped between Labarbera's legs, and buried by Schroeder. Lappiere had a good chance on the rush a few minutes later, but Labarbera remained solid. Lappiere returned to the bench a bit slow, like he'd strained something or been checked a little too hard. 7 and a half left, Coyotes on the powerplay. Handzel was right in Schneider's crease, and bowled him over, no call. From there, the Canucks gave the puck over pretty much every chance they got. Thank freaking goodness for Schneider, who was forced to stop a breakaway deke and rebound in the last 2 minutes, on top of his regular amazing play.
1:08 left to play, Phoenix empty net, Henrik ices the puck on an attempted empty net shot, faceoff in the Canucks zone. Actually, it hit a Coyotes shin pad, cue arguments for the Coaches Challenge. Regardless, faceoff in deep. The Canucks kept the puck away from the net, and held on for the win. Game over, 2-1 Canucks.
Tidbits:
- PP: 0/4. Pretty bad, couldn't even control the puck.
- PK: 1/4. Again, pretty bad. Constantly let the Coyotes run the zone.
- Ballard: Pretty dang good game, generated plenty of chances while playing a defense first game
- Gordon: No points, no shots, 8:37 TOI. Didn't do anything to stand out, but was playing on 4th line.
- Weise: Good game for the Dutch Gretzky. Playing with speed and skill, good fit with Ebbett.
So after this, the Canucks play in LA on Saturday at 1 PM. I won't be covering this game, due to this silly little thing called 'a job.' Anyways, it's a back to back weekend, as the Canucks play the Avalanche on Sunday at 5.
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