SB Nation - Alexandre Burrows

Introducing Your New-found Road Warriors: The Vancouver Canucks

Sean Zandberg — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 09:03:57 -0000

Wow. That is nearly all I can say about this Canucks team. They defied the odds against a well-rested Flyers squad tonight and soundly beat them 3-0 in their own harsh building, leaving Philly with a chorus of boo's as they left the ice. I thought the Canucks looked somewhat sluggish after the first period, but they seemed to gain momentum as the game went on. That was not exactly indicative of a team who was playing the 2nd game in as many nights on the road. Vancouver killed more penalties than the Flyers did, and in the end scored NO powerplay goals but bettered the Flyers 5 on 5 to take this one.

The Flyers are a struggling team that isn't getting any breaks. Hell, how many times did they hit the post or not convert on one-timers in this game? Too many to count. In the end, the Canucks got the game-winning goal from an unlikely source: Willie Mitchell. "Kind of get scared when he wanders off near the other team's net," Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo said with a laugh. "You never know what could happen."

No shit. Luongo was solid in net but the Canucks limited the quality scoring chances against. Where they faltered, Lou was there to stone a helpless Flyers team.

Final shots: Flyers 38 Canucks 29.

Jannik Hansen was promoted to the second line, while Mikael Samuelsson was demoted to the 3rd line to start the game but did not produce. That is unfortunate.

In consecutive nights, the Canucks made the highly touted (or, currently hot goalie) look human. Brian Boucher allowed 3 goals for the first time since October 25th.

The Canucks' top line of Burrows and the Twins combined for 1 goal and 3 assists. So, it really is good having Dank back in the lineup. Burrows is lighting it up since his return no doubt.

Don't look now! The Canucks have won 5 of their last 7 games, including 3 straight wins on the road. I believe they are now 6-8 over all on the road. It just keeps getting better and better. Look at the Western Conference standings. Woo!

BOXSCORE

HIGHLIGHTS

My 3 Stars:

1. Roberto Luongo

2. Henrik Sedin

3. Kevin Bieksa

OK, Canucks fans...are you stoked yet? I have a few questions for you:

- would you leave the current forward lines intact as they are? Does Hansen get another chance on line 2?

- how do you rate Shane O'Brien's play over the last 2 games? Has he earned another game in a Canucks uni over Mathieu Schneider?

- Raycroft is probably going to play against the Canes on Saturday. How much faith do you have in him and the teams' ability to play in front of him?

My answers:

- YES I AM STOKED. I would leave the current forward lines as is. Shane OB has looked just fine to me. I would leave him in the lineup and old man Schneider can sit. He has earned it. No minor penalties for him?? Nice!

- I have already said that if the Canucks beat the Flyers that they would lose to Carolina on Saturday. I will stand by that. Faith-less aren't I?

The New Jersey Devils Lose Ugly against Vancouver Canucks, 5-2

John Fischer — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:25:32 -0000

More photos » by Rich Schultz - AP

Hey look, it's Colin White standing by as Alexandre Burrows deflected a puck past Martin Brodeur while being right in front of him. This was the first goal of the game and the first of a bad first period. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)

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Tonight was very disappointing.

The New Jersey Devils opened the month by hosting the Vancouver Canucks. The Devils were coming off 3 straight wins from the last week and won their last 6 home games. In my preview for the game, I raised the question that if the Canucks look good on paper, why are they 4-8-0 on the road? Needless to say, that record and New Jersey's streaks meant nothing tonight. The Devils looked very poor in both ends of the rink, and the Canucks took advantage in a big way to cleanly win 5-2. In a nutshell, that's what happened.

For the Canucks-based reaction to tonight's game, which must be a very positive one, Nucks Misconduct is where you should check out. If you want a straight overview of the game with boxscores and other stats, NHL.com has you covered with this recap. Read on for my further thoughts on the game.

First and foremost, here is a video of all the highlights from tonight's game from NHL.com, including all of the goals and big saves. That is, of course, you would like to see all of these over again, or even for the first time.

Where do I even begin with all of this? Martin Brodeur did not have a good night, period. I will say that up front. He's had better games, he's had games where he stops some of those goals against. This was definitely not a game that helped his stock for Team Canada. Not that Roberto Luongo was great; but Luongo made the game-shifting-in-hindsight saves that absolutely robbed Zach Parise at point blank in the second period (see 3:45 on the above video). Had Parise get one past Luongo - and maybe he should have done better - that would have been the equalizer and tonight could have been an entirely different game.

Of course that didn't happen, Luongo robbed him, and the Canucks maintained their lead through the second. However, Luongo had the help of his skaters playing fairly solid defensive hockey. The defensemen in front of him were generally first for rebounds. On defense, the Canucks broke up their fair share of Devils' passes and collected way more than a few bad Devils' passes and dumps.

That said, while I don't think he played well, Martin Brodeur cannot necessarily say the same of his defense (or backchecking forwards). Sure, Alexandre Burrows' deflection was point-blank and perfect; I get that one going in. While Alexander Edler's shot took a deflection off of Rob Niedermayer (who played tonight, no really, he did, I swear to you he did), the puck did go 5-hole on Brodeur. Regardless of Brian Rolston giving up the puck during a line change that led to the Vancouver attack, I feel that shot should have been stopped.

But the other ones, well, Brodeur can't say the guys in front of him helped him out on those. Not after Mike Mottau tipped in Sami Salo's shot for Vancouver's second goal; not after getting left hung out to dry on a bad line change leading to a goal by Daniel Sedin; and definitely, absolutely, positively not after Colin White made the boneheaded decision to go after a puck carrier on a two-on-one, leaving Jannik Hansen wide open for a beautiful goal against. I don't care if they only allowed Vancouver to 26 shots. When opportunities and deflections like those come a team's way and leads to 5 goals on the scoreboard, the number of shots on net isn't so important.

Really, Colin White? You have a legendary goaltender who can take on any shooter and instead of letting him challenge the shooter, you leave the other man open? Really? I thought that was textbook defending; and you managed to forget that basic . I know it ultimately didn't affect the outcome, the Devils were losing anyway; but the fifth goal against falls on you in my opinion.

This is not to say the Canucks were just fortunate. Oh, no. They played well. They were given opportunities to score and they came through big time. They looked more confident on the ice, they were calmer with the puck, and their passes weren't a mix of "good idea, poor execution" and simply duffing the pass. All traits the Devils did not really show for much of this game.

Thankfully, the Devils got lucky late in the first period and scored their only two goals of the game. Good heads up plays by Niclas Bergfors and Travis Zajac to finish off the opportunities. Good work by Andy Greene and Jamie Langenbrunner for making them happen. They made the game an actual "game." But they were really the benefits of good bounces going the Devils' way. Bounces that didn't come at all in the rest of the game. The Devils had a few more opportunities - Zach Parise being robbed in the second, a 5-on-3 power play where some bad bounces prevented some high quality scoring chances - but Luongo reacted very well to everything and the defense cleaned up the mess the Devils' offense made. What was notable was that Zajac had 8 shots on net, Parise had 5 on net, Patrik Elias looked vigorous but didn't get much for his efforts, and Brian Rolston looked nothing at all like he did in the previous two games and helped Vancouver get their offense going that led to Edler's game winning goal. Everyone else was sort of forgettable outside of the goals.

We may be able to take solace in the fact that in the long run, this game may not be so important. We know that the Devils can do better, we've seen them do better, and they will do better. Regardless, it really was a bad performance and a bad loss to take. It wasn't a failure for 60 minutes, I felt the game was very even in the second period - perhaps some edge to the Devils, but the Canucks clearly won the first and third periods and did so quite easily. But I'm getting the impression that this is leading to a blueprint on how to beat the Devils: Get a 3 goal lead, force New Jersey to keep turning over the puck via clearances or bad passes, keep attacking if they mount a comeback, and hold on. While the Devils have made comebacks from deficits, they have yet to win after going down 3 goals in a game. That appears to be the mark that opponents should be aiming for.

The fans, small crowd as it was due to it being a midweek game against Vancouver, were right to boo, sigh, get indiginant, and/or leave early. By mid-way through the third period, this game was pretty much in the bank for Vancouver. I can't blame them at all, the Devils played very sloppily - far and away different from what Devils fans saw on Saturday against the Islanders. The few Canucks fans in the crowd, as well as the thousands across the continent, have every right to be happy with their team's victory. Jacques Lemaire has already said that the team clearly needs a "good practice," as reported by Tom Gulitti.

Me, I just want to see the Devils I've seen in the past month at the Rock. To me, I was just waiting for the "real" Devils to show up. The Devils team that gave consistently strong shifts even if the situation wasn't in their favor. What I actually saw tonight was just an ugly performance that reminded me of a Buffalo game at the Rock from October 28. That too was a bad loss (4-1) and hard to watch. I don't think that is a coincidence.

Thanks to Steve for the GameThread, the commenters who joined in, and, of course, the readers. Please feel free to leave your thoughts, complaints (and I know you'll have a few), and other feelings about tonight's loss in the comments.

Game 25 Preview: New Jersey Devils vs. Vancouver Canucks - 12/2/2009

John Fischer — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:00:16 -0000

by Bill Kostroun - AP

New Jersey Devils' Patrik Elias and Brian Rolston had huge afternoons against the Islanders on Saturday, racking up 4 points each. What will they do tonight against the Canucks? (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun)

View full size photo »

The Time: 7 PM EST

The Broadcasting Info: MSG+ for the TV; 660 AM WFAN for the radio

The Matchup: The New Jersey Devils (17-6-1) vs. the Vancouver Canucks (14-12-0)

The Last Devils Game: Think of a snowball at the top of the mountain. Think of something - say a Richard Park slapshot - causing said snowball to start rolling. Think of the New York Islanders being in the way of that snowball. The Devils grew to dominate the game and blow out the Islanders 6-1 at the Rock, the biggest win of the season so far and their third straight win.

The Last Canucks Game: The Vancouver Canucks drew the league leaders, the San Jose Sharks, on the second half of a back-to-back set. It didn't end well. The Canucks kept it close until Manny Malhotra broke the deadlock late in the third period; and so the Canucks went onto lost 4-2. Sean Zanberg of Nucks Misconduct recapped the game, describing it as a "snoozfest" and the GM Place crowd as "lifeless."

The Goal: Discipline. Vancouver is a team that will make anyone pay for taking dumb calls. Sure, they didn't show that off against the San Jose Sharks. But they have the third best power play success rate at 24.3%, just behind Anaheim (24.5%) and Columbus (24.8%). While the Devils are disciplined in terms of penalties (9.6 PIM/G is third best in the league), I'm also referring to being disciplined on defense. The Canucks in general are a high scoring team, averaging 3 goals a game - the ninth highest average in the league. While Devils fans can be confident in new U.S. citizen Martin Brodeur between the pipes, leaving him out to dry or having him bombarded with high quality shots could lead to disaster against Vancouver.

For a Vancouver perspective on tonight's game, Nucks Misconduct is a good place to check on. Read on for my thoughts on tonight's game.

The big story in the run up to tonight's game is that New Jersey Devils are getting healthier. Rob Niedermayer, Jay Pandolfo, and Johnny Oduya all returned to practice earlier in the week. Per Tom Gulitti's reports, Oduya returned to practice on Tuesday whereas Niedermayer and Pandolfo came back on Monday. While a return to games hasn't been set in stone outside of Oduya not playing, Jacques Lemaire hopes to have Niedermayer back in the lineup for tonight's game against Vancouver. Actually, Gulitti reported that Lemaire thinks both Niedermayer and Pandolfo could be ready for Vancouver, but both players' comments suggest otherwise.

Of course, it's not all good news. No, apparently, Jamie Langenbrunner "tweaked" something and didn't practice on Tuesday. According to Gulitti, it's apparently something with his back - something that has long been suspected as a back injury. Now, he's presumably played with that nagging issue so far and he's done pretty well regardless.

	GP	G	A	P	+/-	PIM	PPG	SHG	GWG	GTG	SOG	PCT
2009 - Jamie Langenbrunner	24	5	17	22	8	6	1	1	1	0	68	7.4

It's not clear whether that will mean he can't play against the Canucks. After all, Langenbrunner had this to say to Gulitti:

"I’ll see how I feel when I wake up in the morning," he said. "I didn’t think it was going to be an issue today, so. I would assume that I’ll be bettter tomorrow., I worked with [team massage therapist] Tommy [Plasko] today and I feel better.

...

"I practiced yesterday and felt fine and felt fine all days yesterday," he said. "I woke up this morning and I didn’t feel so good and I wasn’t able to loosen up like I wanted to."

I think Chere summed it all best in his headline: Niedermayer and Pandolfo are probable, Langenbrunner is questionable, and Oduya is out. With respect to the roster size, the Devils can activate one of Niedermayer and Pandolfo without making any moves. Should Langenbrunner just get scratched and the Devils want both Pandolfo and Niedermayer active, someone has to go to Lowell. Most likely Vladimir Zharkov to start, as he can go freely between New Jersey and Lowell without waivers. So keep an eye on Chere and Gulitti during the day. If the Devils make a roster move, you can bet on both Niedermayer and Pandolfo returning.

As far as my guess for the lineup, I'm going to assume that those moves do happen and that Langenbrunner is good to go. I really hope he is, the Devils really can't afford more injuries to their top 6 forwards.

Zach Parise - Travis Zajac - Niclas Bergfors
Brian Rolston - Patrik Elias - Jamie Langenbrunner
Jay Pandolfo - Rob Niedermayer - Dean McAmmond
Andrew Peters - Rod Pelley - Matt Halischuk

Andy Greene - Bryce Salvador
Colin White - Mike Mottau
Mark Fraser - Matthew Corrente

Martin Brodeur
Yann Danis

If only Niedermayer is activated, expect Dean McAmmond to slide to that left wing position and either Zharkov, Ilkka Pikkarainen, or Eckford would be scratched. Likewise, if Pandolfo is only activated, McAmmond would likely center that third line and play with Halischuk on his right wing. Should Langenbrunner not play, I'd guess Zharkov would be back in the lineup in some way. Of course, these are all guesses and I will most likely be wrong in some way.

Either way, it'll be up to the top two forward lines to crack a pretty good Vancouver defense (28.7 shots against per game average, 11th in the league) and Roberto Luongo, the other high-profile goaltending candidate for Team Canada.

	GP	MIN	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV	SV%	SO
2009 - Roberto Luongo	20	1124	10	9	48	2.56	531	483	.910	1

OK, they aren't great numbers, but he's very talented all the same. When he's on, he's frightfully Brodeurian in how difficult he is to beat. Sure, Brodeur and Lemaire says this game

Moreover, the Canucks don't have a big pairing to lead their defense. Kevin Bieksa (22:10), Willie Mitchell (22:04), Christian Ehrhoff (21:44), and Alexander Edler (21:31) have very similar time on ice averages, which suggests to me that Alain Vigenault doesn't like to have one pairing or one line carry a heavy workload. Looking at Behind the Net's even strength numbers notes that Willie Mitchell, far and away, faces the highest quality of competition. So I assume he's the "#1" on the blueline. That said, none of these four really stick out in shots against/60 differential when they are on and off the ice. The biggest positive is Edler with 1.1 less shots per 60. But all of Vancouver's defensemen have a shots against/60 of 27 or less when they are on the ice, which speaks to an overall good effort by the blueline.

Either way, the Devils forwards probably won't have a weak defensive pairing they can pounce on unless one of those four defensemen is having a bad night. On the flipside, Vancouver may need those four defensemen to have equally good nights due to the Devils' top 6. I think it's fair to say that Zach Parise and Travis Zajac will be big players on offense for the Devils, but I would pay additional attention to how Patrik Elias and Brian Rolston play tonight. Both enjoyed 4 point games against the Islanders and showed some real good chemistry between each other. If they can showcase some of that again, it won't be just useful (if not important) for tonight's game but further evidence that it wasn't some flash-in-the-pan, everything-just-clicked moment. Hopefully, they'll get some points and command attention.

With respect to offense, as mentioned prior to the jump, the Canucks power play is something I think the Devils should avoid as much as possible. Tempting the third best power play in the league is never a smart idea. Leading the forwards for Vancouver is Henrik Sedin and his 14 goals and 14 assists; with playmaking Ryan Kesler following close behind in points with 5 goals and 19 assists. The production, like New Jersey, is shared throughout much of the rest of the line up - namely by Mikael Samuelsson, Mason Raymond, and Alexandre Burrows. Actually, Vancouver's defensemen show up high on the scoring list as well: Ehrhoff has 17 points (tied with Raymond for fourth most on the team), Edler has 16 (tied with Burrows for sixth most on the team), and Bieksa has 11 points. So the attack seemingly can start at the point, or at least the defensemen usually has a hand in Vancouver's offensive successes.

Essentially, on paper, this is a pretty solid Vancouver team in my view. I'm not sure why they are 14-12-0 and stuck behind a 5 teams in the Western Conference (Prior to Tuesday's games, 5th place LA: 32 points. 10th place Columbus: 30 points). Perhaps they aren't very good on the road? A road record of 4-8-0, 29 road goals scored against 40 road goals given up indicates that, yes, they aren't good on the road. What does that mean for tonight? Who knows.

All of this speaks back to Devils needing to show discipline on the ice. They can't just float through tonight's game and hope Vancouver will do the same. They can't take stupid calls or make dumb errors and hope Vancouver won't take advantage. Ideally, the Devils would perform as well as they did on Saturday against the Islanders. I don't think the Devils will explode for 6 goals or dominate in possession by the the third period the way they did. I don't think Vancouver will break down like that, especially after keeping their last game close until the end, despite not looking so good overall. They'll at least want to give a better effort after that game. Maintaining a solid defensive game in their own end while striking ahead and staying out of the box will take discipline. I think if the Devils do that, then they got a good chance on stretching their winning streak to 4 games.

Steve will have the GameThread up later today. Check out Nucks Misconduct to learn more about tonight's opponent. Please feel free to share your thoughts on today's game, today's latest news relevant to tonight's game, and discuss the opposition in the comments. Go Devils!

Canucks-Avalanche Game Preview

Sean Zandberg — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:00:15 -0000

GAME TIME: 7:00 PST

TV: Sportsnet Pacific

The Enemy: Mile High Hockey

UPDATE: (2:19 PM): The Avalanche will get both John-Michael Liles and TJ Galiardi back into their lineup tonight. Both have missed a fair bit of time. Adam Foote is out with a jaw injury.

UPDATE (12:24 PM): With Daniel Sedin returning to action on Sunday, the Canucks have waived Matt Pettinger. Even so, Pettingzoo will play for the Canucks tonight. Thanks for the fine, hard-nosed work out there, Matt. Appreciated! Good luck to you.

**************************

First the good news: According to the Sun it is official: Daniel Sedin skated for a full practice with his mates on Friday and felt pain-free. That being said, Dank will not play on Friday against Colorado, but is good-to-go for Sunday's game against the pesky Blackhawks. He just needs to get back into game shape. I can't wait. I strongly believe his return will have a positive impact on the whole team as Mike and I alluded to a while ago.

The long layoff has allowed the Flames to play some games and catch up to us as far as games played goes. Now they are only 1 game behind us instead of 3 or 4. They are 1-2 in the 3 bouts played this week while we sat by idly picking the crap from between our teeth.

That's about it for the good news. So let's dig in with the rest!

Alexandre Burrows has been playing with nagging groin and hip flexor issues thanks to a crushing hit from Kings' Drew Doughty on October 29th. Don't remember that hit? Check it out here.

After the Canucks destroyed the Avalanche 8-2 last weekend, Colorado and Craig Anderson responded with a 3-2 win over the Flames 3 days later. Anderson faced 36 shots (typical of the Avalanche) in that one and rebounded masterfully. The next night, Colorado faced the Oilers and put Peter Budaj in net to give Anderson a rest. Budaj faced 33 shots (see a trend there?) and allowed 5 goals against (and the Oilers scored an empty netter) to win that game 6-4. Many pundits are now wondering if it's all downhill for the Avalanche from here. I'm not one of them. I think Anderson is for real.

So now the Canucks get to face a squad that will be thirsty for revenge after the 8-2 slaughter. This after almost a 6 day layoff between games. If Vancouver comes out of the gates slow - which is quite possible - Roberto Luongo is going to have to save them until they get their legs back under them. They will have to get in Anderson's face again like last game. That was so effective.

The pressure continues to mount on Kyle Wellwood who, with Daniel still out, will most likely get another chance as a 2nd line center to break out of his terrible scoring slump.

"Sooner or later he is going to have to produce," Alain Vigneault said Wednesday. "It's a performance-based business and our injuries are coming back . . .Kyle is a bright guy, I know he is very aware of the situation. He knows that not only does he have to play well, there has to be production on his part.

"I'm sure he is aware that he is getting a second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth chance because of our personnel situation. He has to get it done."

There is also heat on the Canucks' defencemen (minus Christian Ehrhoff especially) to start putting up points. It's not necessarily scoring goals, as most team blocks shots like a bunch of kamikaze's nowadays, but to put up assists. Sami Salo risked a potential mouth injury by saying:

"Look at Ryan Johnson. Try to get the puck through him. He throws his head at the puck and those guys [shot-blockers] are the best penalty killers. They sacrifice their bodies -- and I'm not saying they didn't 10 years ago, but it's way more now. If you don't have a shooting lane, you have to shoot the puck short side and that's what we've been doing."

Still though, Sami, you have 20 shots and 2 assists in 14 games played. We need more!

Did you know:

-The Canucks have scored 60 goals this season. The D have contributed 8 to that cause. That's 13.3%

- The Canucks have tallied 104 assists so far. The D have a combined 38 assists. That's 36.5%.

-The defence has contributed 27.9% of the Canucks total points scored.

Last season the defence accounted for:

-15.2% of the team's goals scored.

-32.4% of the overall assists.

-26% of Vancouver's overall points.

Wait a minute...unless my math is off, those numbers are not so far off comparatively. Damn it forwards! Get your shit together!

***Just to throw this out there...some of us like to predict the score of the games here. So I was thinking that we should continue that trend. I'll make a little section on the left sidebar with a leaderboard to see who has the best Nostradamus skills as the year goes along. Bragging rights. Are you in? Keep in mind that nobody gets to pick the same score.

Minnesota Wild vs. Vancouver Canucks: Game Recap

nathaneide — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:36:47 -0000

More photos » by Tom Olmscheid - AP

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Minnesota Wild 2-5 Vancouver Canucks

The Minnesota Wild, according to coach Todd Richards, are a team that needs to play with a sense of urgency. They simply aren't showing it and every single player on the roster needs to take a long hard look in the mirror and ask themselves what they can do to improve the play of the team overall.

Sure, Kyle Brodziak had two goals, Cal Clutterbuck was a +2 and had five hits, Niklas Backstrom has been the backbone of the franchise (even though he was pulled tonight) and Chuck Kobasew gives his all at both ends of the ice, but there isn't a single guy on the team who can't improve right now.

Martin Havlat is bordering on bust material and is a -12. Petr Sykora is ridiculously streaky. Brent Burns has kissed his Olympic hopes goodbye and sits at -13. Mikko Koivu can't motivate the team on his own and Erik Belanger went out early with an "upper-body injury." After two good wins over the Rangers and Penguins, one would hope this team would take a step forward, but tonight was a massive step in the wrong direction.

The positives tonight? Well both Cal Clutterbuck and Kyle Brodziak continue to provide the kind of effort this team sorely lacks. Brodziak is cleaning up rebounds down low. Clutterbuck is providing energy to a lackluster team and trying to hit anything that moves. Brent Burns had an assist, giving him six points (2-4) in his last eight games.

The negatives? Backstrom had an off night, giving up four goals, including two softies. Martin Havlat was a pitiful -3. Derek Boogaard backed up three good games with a stupid double minor and was essentially benched the rest of the night. The Wild gave up an NHL-leading fourth shorthanded goal of the season.

I don't even know what to say at this point. Let's just put it aside and concentrate on Saturday when the Dallas Stars come to town.

Please read the game recap over at Nucks Misconduct

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars

Alexandre Burrows (1 G, 1 A)
Kyle Brodziak (2 G)
Alexander Edler (2 A)

Questions to Answer

Will the Wild be the first team to 10 losses, this time? Yes. But with Carolina and Toronto both having 7 points, the Wild aren't the worst team in the league.
Will the time off have a negative effect? They certainly came out slow against a team riddled with injuries.
Does putting a solid Nick Schultz on with Brent Burns allow Burnsie to get into the play without causing too many problems for Nik Backstrom? How about ZZ Top? Burns had an assist and was a 0. Nick Schultz was a -1. Greg Zanon was a 0 and blocked 2 shots. Marek Zidlicky had an assist and was a -1. Frankly, I like the new pairings, but they need to get comfortable.
Seriously, where the hell is Pouliot? Is he dead? Undisclosed concussion?
How long will James Sheppard be allowed to center that line, not perform, without someone else taking his minutes? Sheppard was a -1 in 14:30. He might as well not be on the ice.

Minnesota Wild @ Vancouver Canucks: Game Recap

nathaneide — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 06:20:24 -0000

More photos » by DARRYL DYCK - AP

about 1 month ago: Vancouver Canucks' Steve Bernier, right, watches a shot by teammate Mikael Samuelsson, not pictured, of Sweden, gets past Minnesota Wild's Niklas Backstrom, center, of Finland, and Mikko Koivu, left, of Finland, during third period of their NHL hockey game in Vancouver, B.C., on Saturday Oct. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)

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Minnesota Wild 1-2 Vancouver Canucks

Yet another tight game between the Wild and Canucks. Unfortunately, the Canucks continued the trend started last season, defeating the Wild 2-1 in Vancouver to give the Wild an 0-5 West Coast swing. Minnesota got out to a nice first period defensively, playing a tight game, keeping mistakes to a minimum but didn't get their first shot until the game was almost nine minutes old. Just 90 seconds after their first shot, the tight checking Wild took advantage as Mikko Koivu took a feed from Andrew Brunette and put the Wild on the board. The assist extended Brunette's point streak to 7 games. The teams traded shots for the rest of the period, but it ended with the Wild up 1-0 while being outshot 10-4.

However, Minnesota couldn't capitalize on the lead, as 4:23 into the frame Ryan Kesler took advantage of a stickless Niklas Backstrom and banked one in off his leg as Backstrom attempted to get the pad on the post. The Canucks completely dominated the second period, but Backstrom kept the Wild in the game as the period ended 1-1 even though the shot totals were 27-8 in favor of Vancouver.

To open the third, Vancouver came out flying. James Sheppard took a roughing call as he was trying to clear the slot, and Vancouver was buzzing on the ensuing power play. Just as Sheppard stepped onto the ice, Alex Burrows fired a shot that Backstrom deflected, but unfortunately all four penalty killers were on the strong side of the ice as Mikael Samuelsson crashed unabated to the net and buried the rebound over a sprawling Backstrom.

At that point, the Wild took more and more chances and turned up the pressure, but Roberto Luongo was up to the task. He made numerous nice saves on power play shots by Brent Burns, Antti Miettinen and a game saver on Andrew Brunette as the puck trickled just past the post.

The Wild power play was seriously deficient tonight, but it looked to be a result of chemistry, comfortability and personnel more than anything else. I'm not sure why Nick Schultz is on the power play, nor do I get why Marek Zidlicky (he was responsible for covering Samuelsson on the weak side on the goal) is on the penalty kill. But, chalk this one up to Richards becoming better acquainted with the team. I'm not horribly disturbed by this trend, so long as it is rectified. They had good chances, but didn't connect on the passes down low and spent too long looking for the pretty play as Owen Nolan and Brunette were getting manhandled in the low slot.

Positives from tonight:

Nathan Smith on the PK. I was wondering what the hell a career AHLer was doing on special teams, but Smith was fantastic on the kill. Played great positionally, didn't try to do too much with the puck and cleared the zone.
Shane Hnidy down low. He was one of few Wild defensemen who hit everything he saw in the slot, and the Sheriff did a great job keeping the Canucks from creating too many problems for Backstrom.
Benoit Pouliot. This is two games in a row where I've liked what I've seen from Pouliot. He played physically in his own end, made smart plays in the offensive zone and gave good effort on each shift. He was rewarded for his good game in Edmonton (career high TOI of 15+) with 14:23 time on ice and will likely get more as he continues to show his worth. I also liked what I saw on the bench. Pouliot and Koivu were talking and Mikko did a great job of keeping Pouliot's head in the game and pointing out what went on during his shifts. That's why no matter who has the C, Mikko is the captain.

Time for the Wild to get home, watch tape of these five games, learn from their mistakes and get up for the Avalanche on Wednesday.

Please read the game recap over at Nucks Misconduct.

Hockey Wilderness Three Stars

Ryan Kesler (1 G)
Niklas Backstrom (37 saves)
Alexandre Burrows (1 A)

Questions to Answer

In the battle of underperforming teams, which one performs to their expectations? Frankly, both teams looked as if they were out of sync and missing major components. That said, the Wild didn't look horrible tonight, nor did the Canucks. Were it not a back to back, the WIld may have had some more gas at the end, but they looked exhausted.
Can the Wild take advantage of the large number of shots and turn some into scoring chances by crashing the net? Well, they didn't quite match the # of shots from last game in Edmonton, and didn't have a huge # of scoring chances, but it looked to be because of miscommunication and lack of chemistry rather than lack of effort. There were some nice plays around the net, but lots of centering attempts going into areas where someone should be, but there was nobody there.
Which Roberto Luongo shows up tonight? The good one. He was very tough tonight. Played the angles well, was great with the puck and kept the rebounds to a minimum.
Can Brent Burns find his game? Burns looked lost out there. It's like he's trying to do everything himself. He needs these few days off to get himself settled down and play within himself.
With no Pierre-Marc Bouchard on the ice, who will Alexandre Burrows try to kill? I guess with no PMB, Burrows stops playing chippy.

Film Review: Analyzing Marty Turco and the Dallas Stars Team Defense

Brandon Worley — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:42:20 -0000

I can't promise one of these film reviews after every game, but each goal in Sunday night's game gave us an interesting look at what's going on with Turco in net, as well as the Stars penalty kill.

After the shootout loss against Vancouver in which Marty Turco and the Dallas Stars penalty kill allowed two more goals after going a man down, fans have started to feel a bit conflicted. On one hand, the team has yet to technically lose and have gained a point in every game, including four of six points on a Western Canada road trip. That's just as good as two regulation wins and a regulation loss.

What's most frustrating is that in the three games Marty Turco has started, the Stars have had inconsistent effort on the ice and have yet to win. In the one game Alex Auld started, the Stars played a complete game with solid defense and some above average goaltending. It's set the table for a very interesting debate about what should happen in net, especially if this trend continues.

After taking a very informal poll of Stars fans over the past 24 hours, I've determined that the majority of fans are not ready to jump off the Marty Turco wagon just yet. It's not as if Turco has allowed four and five goals a game and the Stars are being blown out because of it. He hasn't lost yet this season either (technically), and he's certainly been much better than last season at this point. Yet there are still some concerning issues we've seen with Turco over his first three games.

In this edition of Film Review, we take a look the goals allowed by Turco in the loss to Vancouver and examine exactly what is (or isn't) going wrong. We'll also see how the Dallas Stars penalty kill was even worse against Vancouver.

Follow the jump for a lengthy, in depth breakdown of each goal allowed Sunday night.

[Note: Click on the image for a larger version. All text references the photo above.]

Goal #1: PPG, 14:45 1st Period - Ryan Kesler, assisted by Mikael Samuelsson

The Setup: We start off with the Stars on the verge of killing off their first penalty of the game with Nicklas Grossman in the box for hooking. Just 12 seconds remain in the Canucks' power play, but they've started to cycle the puck along the far boards (left of Marty Turco) between Samuelsson, Kesler and Christian Ehrhoff.

Above, we see Samuelsson with the puck as he skates towards the top of the circle. He has a good look at Turco and the net and a good shooting lane with Trevor Daley in perfect position to block a shot while not obstructing Turco's view. Notice how Turco has perfect positioning for a right handed shot from that side (red line). This is exactly how the Stars should play this shot.

Here, Samuelsson has dropped the puck off to Kesler (top) who skates with the puck towards nearly the exact same position as before. This time however, Daley has shifted a bit to his left, perhaps to try and cover Samuelsson on the boards. With a Canuck fighting for position in front, Turco now has this lane obstructed (highlighted in blue).

Here is where Daley screening Turco really starts to come into focus. As Kesler drops low and tenses for what promises to be a wicked snap shot, Turco has started to slide a bit to his right (yellow arrow) as he tries to see between Daley and the Canuck in front. He's also backed a bit into his crease, leaving the top, left corner of the net exposed (red circle).

As Kesler releases his shot, Daley is now completely screening Turco who has flinched to his right. As the puck sails past Turco (in red), the goaltender doesn't react to the shot until the puck is well past his glove and into the net.

Verdict: Tough to truly fault Turco on this goal. Once Daley slid to his left and screened him, Turco had to quickly choose which side he'd try and peak around. Technically, he should have defaulted to his left and towards his post, since the short side shot is the higher percentage shot from a right-handed shooter from that side and especially with traffic in front. The probability of Kesler being able to hit a shot across Turco's body and into the far side of the net through traffic is very low. This was a split second decision, an instinctual decision, and Turco chose the right instead of left. It's not much, just a lean in one direction instead of the other, but it opened up a clean shot for Kesler.

Goal #2: PPG, 16:46 2nd Period - Alexandre Burrows, assisted by Mikael Samuelsson, Henrik Sedin

The Setup: The Stars tied the game in the first period, yet once again find themselves scrambling on the penalty kill. A few big shots from the point have rebounded off Turco yet the Stars have failed to clear and the Canucks start to cycle the puck. We are just 30 seconds into the power play as the Stars start to collapse down low.

With Henrik Sedin holding the puck (red circle) in the left corner, all four Dallas Stars on the ice lock on as they start to collapse down low. Despite our talk last week about the aggressive style the Stars have employed on the penalty kill, here they are a bit conservative as they try to protect the middle of the ice from the big passes the Canucks excel at. Notice Burrows down low battling with Stephane Robidas, and all four Stars players locked on and staring down Sedin and the puck (highlighted in blue). Anyone covering the backside Canuck on the point?

As Sedin passes the puck across the slot (red circle), four Dallas Stars players turn and watch the puck travel across to the open man on the backside (blue arrows). Brad Richards makes a sudden lunge at the puck to try and block the pass (red arrow), but what's most alarming is seeing Burrows released and allowed to sit off the side of the net all alone.

Stephane Robidas attempts a shot-blocking slide as Samuelsson receives the pass (red circle). Notice all four Stars (once again) locked onto the puck, with one down low (a diving Robidas) and three trapped high. Burrows is all alone to Turco's left with a wide open net staring him down.

If Burrows had been right handed, this might have been an easy tap in goal. But the pass comes to his left and bit behind him, forced in part by a sliding Robidas, as Marty Turco starts his slide from right to left. In Turco's mind, this is a bit of a desperation reach with his left pad, much like his incredible save on Sedin in the first period. But with Burrows unable to get off a quick shot, Turco is going to be caught in a slide to his left as the puck starts to to cross in front of him. Notice the positioning of the paddle in his right hand, this will be crucial is just half a second.

As Burrows gathers the puck to sweep across a sliding Turco, there are no Dallas Stars in the area to contest the shot. Turco is in mid slide but has broken his butterfly positioning as he was caught between stacking his pads and a splits-save. His right pad is caught under him, and his paddle is off the ice and facing the wrong way (facing to the sky) on his right side.

Burrows jams the puck past Turco, as the upturned goal stick acts as a ramp for the puck into the back of the net. Once again notice Turco's right pad underneath him, without anything resembling coverage of the bottom of the net.

Verdict: Whew! First, we'll look at the penalty kill. It's important to remember that this play happened extremely fast, but............ Several times against the Canucks the Stars became locked on the puck and allowed the extra player on the backside to sneak into the play from the point. You can't cover everyone on the penalty kill, but you absolutely cannot lose sight of those extra players behind you. Against a team like Vancouver, who can move the puck with lightning speed from one side to the other, I can understand wanting to stay tight around the slot and not allow that big pass. Yet when three of your penalty killers locks on to the puck and lose positioning, that coverage in front of the net is compromised. Robidas was caught in no-man's land: does he cover the backside of the net or challenge a wide open shot from the point? Ideally, he'd allow Turco to contest the shot one on one and continue to cover the player alone on the side of the net. Turco should have no trouble challenging that shot from the top of the circle, and it's the defense's job to cover his back and not allow that backdoor tip in.

On Turco: Tough to really nitpick him on such a bang-bang play with poor defensive coverage, but some basic goaltender mechanics failed Turco here. I can't say for certain what his intentions were as he broke to his left, but it's obvious he became stuck between one move and another. Regardless, goaltenders are taught to always have their paddle facing the play, on the ice and ready as you slide from one side to the other. Turco had his right arm caught behind him as he started to stack the pads, and was unable to properly contest the sweeping shot from Burrows.

Goal #3: 6:53, 3rd Period - Willie Mitchell, 'assisted' by Steve Bernier

The Setup: The Stars have just battled back to tie the game 2-2 in the third period. Just two minutes later, the Canucks are circling in their offensive zone with the puck, putting heavy pressure on Marty Turco and the Stars. Turco turns away several shots, but the Stars are unable to clear the puck and Steve Bernier sets up behind the net as nearly every other players on the ice converges on the goal.

Here, Henrik Sedin sets up behind the net with the puck. This is a very fast-developing play, as the Stars try to instantly react to several Canucks converging on the net at once. As Stever Bernier slide open a bit in front, Sedin throws the puck into the crease. Take note of Fabian Brunnstrom covering down on a pinching Willie Mitchell.

The puck bounces around in the crease in front of Marty Turco as Bernier takes a big swipe from just outside the crease. We now have several Stars players in on the action around the net, but none can get a handle on the puck as it comes in from behind the net.

Here you can see the puck ricocheting off Turco (red circle) as Bernier whiffs on his full body hack and goes down to his knees. Willie Mitchell has gotten inside leverage on Brunnstrom and has his stick in perfect position for any wayward rebound that's sure to pop out. Notice Marty Turco (and several Stars players) and looking in the completely opposite direction of the puck.

As Mitchell gets a quick shot off the rebound and through Bernier (red arrow), Marty Turco is STILL not looking in the right direction. The puck finds the wide open right side of the net as Brunnstrom fails miserably in defensive coverage.

Count them: FIVE Dallas Stars players with eight feet of the puck as Mitchell snaps in the rebound. That's amazing, actually.

Verdict: You can't say Brunnstrom didn't know his job. As the right wing, his role in the defensive zone is to ensure the defensemen on the point don't get a free release to the top of the crease. He tracked Mitchell all the way down, but was out-muscled by the larger and more experienced defenseman. He lost leverage and never came close to lifting a stick. Trevor Daley and Marty Turco completely lost sight of the puck as it came bouncing out from behind the net. They did what they were supposed: not allow an open pass or shot to come from that direction. Mitchell was lucky and the puck bounced right onto his stick. Not a complete breakdown for the Stars on that one at least.

The Shootout:

Let's take a quick look at the shootout, since that's where fans are most concerned with Turco.

On the first goal Kyle Wellwood, Turco was once again caught deep in his net and between moves. He was guessing on a backhand and was prepared to stack his pads to his left (I'm guessing), but instead Wellwood dekes left and sweeps right. Notice Turco's left pad caught under him and his paddle once again off to the side and facing skyward. Turco was badly beaten on this move.

This is interesting, and a good exercise in goaltender positioning.

For a right-handed goalie, it's tough to stay square on a right-handed shooter coming down from their right side. The natural move is to cheat a bit to the outside as the goaltender want to protect the post, while counting on a big shot to the glove side is easily reachable.

Here, we see Turco cheating heavily to his right and leaving a gaping area of the net open for Kesler to exploit (I know this isn't the shooters POV, but if you had seen the FSN broadcast and the replay of this shot from their angle, it's apparent how much was open for this shot).

Here's what was most disturbing about Turco's mechanics on this goal. Not only is he cheating to his right, but his glove is nowhere near ready. Now, this may be his personal taste, quirks, style, whatever, but Turco cannot expect to nab a snap shot from that close on the left side with his glove facing the wrong way and right near his side.

Notice above how Turco hasn't been pushed too deep in his crease, but as Kesler releases the shot Turco's just not prepared for such a hard shot to that side.

Final Verdict:

Marty Turco isn't playing horrible. We focused on the goals allowed today, but what I didn't show was the great and solid saves he made in the second period when the Stars were barely able to muster a shot. He controlled his rebounds well and played with a bit more confidence, but it's still obvious that he's just not completely comfortable.

The mistakes made above are correctable, but they're also instinctual. Has this been Turco's mechanics all along yet he was still able to make the save based on his athleticism? Now that he's older and his reflexes aren't what they once were, are his bad mechanics and tendencies in net being exposed? We shall see in the coming weeks.

Canucks Edge Stars 4-3 In Chippy Affair

Sean Zandberg — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 05:44:57 -0000

No Daniel Sedin? No problem for the Canucks so far. Brother Henrik played a stellar game offensively, yet his line did struggle defensively, as Hank and Alain Vigneault will attest to. He may have cycled a lot less than he's used to, but he still managed 2 assists. So did Mikael Samuelsson. The Canucks got goals from 3 different players: Kesler, Burrows and Mitchell, and this is what is going to have to happen in order for them to maintain any form of success with Daniel Sedin out of the lineup for this amount of time.

I really thought the team as a whole answered the bell tonight. They kept their game quite simple, crashing and banging the Stars all night (Guillaume Desbiens leading the charge there) and not giving up too many quality chances on Roberto Luongo. It's the type of Canucks game I've been waiting for. That being said, the Canucks were outshot 35-25, and sure, it was "sloppy". What does it matter? They won.

It never should have gotten to overtime though. The Canucks were mostly in control until 2 things happened:

-Late in the 3rd period, Mason Raymond missed a glorious chance on Marty Turco after Turco flubbed a passing play and let the speedster walk in alone on him.

-Moments later, Alex Burrows stopped moving his feet on a backcheck and his man, Victoria native Jamie Benn capitalized on a cross-crease pass to not only score his first NHL goal, but also the game tying goal.

It had to go to a shootout, which had me worried, I will be honest. Dallas has some great snipers. But Kyle Wellwood made Turco look silly on his play and Kesler exposed Turkey with a mean shot high to the corner. The Stars could not solve Luongo once in the shootout. Like someone mentioned in the game thread, it was good to get a win here, because it would be so damned pleasant waiting 5 days for the next Canucks game had they lost.

The Canucks are looking better every game now and have a 2-3 record. So much for the world coming to an end.

To be blunt...I am really sick and tired of Sami Salo. He left the game with a lower body injury after only a couple of minutes played. We could make a drinking game out of this. Time cannot go by fast enough when this guy's contract expires and we can rid ourselves of his fragile frame. What? We still have him for another season yet? Dammit! I swear he uses plastic eating utensils at home. Maybe he should just use his hands.

BOXSCORE

HIGHLIGHTS

CANUCKS PLAYERS POST GAME REACTION

COMPLETE SHOOTOUT:

Gameday Preview: Dallas Stars @ Vancouver Canucks (9:00p CDT)

Brandon Worley — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:32:19 -0000

Next Game

Dallas Stars (1-0-2)
@ Vancouver Canucks (1-3-0)

Sunday, Oct 11, 2009, 9:00 PM CDT
General Motors Place

Local TV: FS-SW
Radio: KTCK 1310 The Ticket

Complete Coverage >

Two years ago, these two teams combined for perhaps the most exciting first-round playoff series I've ever seen, led by incredible goaltending at each end. Marty Turco and Roberto Luongo combined to put on a show in net unlike we've seen in a very long time. While the Stars didn't win the series, Turco's performance finally shut up the detractors that claimed he couldn't perform in the playoffs. One year later, Turco would help lead the Stars to the Western Conference Finals.

Things change.

This season, both of these goaltenders are off to a shaky start. Turco was merely mediocre in the Stars first two games, both shootout losses, and backup Alex Auld started in the third game of the season. Luongo was downright horrible in the Canucks' first three games, allowing 11 goals with just a .819 save percentage. He did bounce back, stopping 26-of-27 shots in Vancouver's 7-1 drubbing of Montreal, but it will be interesting to see if that was just a fluke or whether he's truly gotten back on track.

After the jump, a look at the line combos for the Stars and some injury news that will have a direct impact on the outcome of the game.

The Dallas Stars:

The Stars are coming off an uplifting 5-2 win over Calgary on Friday night, that was by far the most complete effort by Dallas this season. Alex Auld was solid in net in his debut with his new team and the Stars got goals by five different players from all four lines. After some inconsistent effort in the first two games, the Stars took the opportunity to take advantage of a tired Flames team playing their third game in four nights.

Marty Turco will be back in net for the Stars, after sitting during Friday's game and taking some time to refocus and work on some of the fundamentals he was struggling with early in the season. Not exactly what you want to see from your starting goaltender just two games into the season, but luckily the Stars have the opportunity to give Turco some time with Auld playing well as his backup.

Jere Lehtinen will decide sometime this morning whether he's ready to play tonight, but all indications are that he's healthy and looking great at practice. While Lehtinen won't make the Stars a drastically different team than they've been in the first three games the addition of a right handed shot among the forwards should make this a more balanced team, especially on the power play.

Here are the proposed lines for tonight, with Fabian Brunnstrom the odd man out if Lehtinen can play.

Neal-Richards-Eriksson
Morrow-Ribeiro-Benn
Ott-Sutherby-Lehtinen
Barch-Wandell-Petersen

Grossman-Robidas
Skrastins-Daley
Fistric-Niskanen

Player to watch:

Jamie Benn - The 20-year old rookie has looked more comfortable in each game, and against the Flames showed off some nifty puck handling skills. He's been solid on both ends of the ice, and is poised to get his first NHL goal sooner than later.

The Vancouver Canucks:

After starting the season 0-3-0, the Canucks got back on track in a big way with a 7-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday night. Six different Canucks had goals in the victory, including two from Henrik Sedin. Vancouver is well rested after having three days off before tonight's game, and won't play again until Friday.

Daniel Sedin, Vancouver's best scoring threat and a crucial part of the Sedin Twins' magic, is out tonight with what's being called "deep heel bruise". It's unknown at this point what the exact nature of the injury is, nor how long he'll be out. Vancouver has recalled Guillaume Desbiens to fill the spot, but right now the exact line combinations are a bit uncertain. Steve Bernier is a good possibility to move up on the top line, according to Nuck's Misconduct.

[UPDATE by Brandon Worley, 10/11/09 2:06 PM EDT ] Daniel Sedin has a broken foot and will be out 4-6 weeks.

Player to watch:

Alexandre Burrows - While most will be focusing on Daniel Sedin's absence and injury, Burrows is a player who can step up and be just as dangerous. Two goals so far this season, and he leads the Canucks with 19 shots on goal in four games.

Leafs Fined For Sedin Comments

Sean Zandberg — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:07:16 -0000

The National Hockey League has delivered its findings regarding the reported tampering allegations between the Vancouver Canucks and Toronto Maple Leafs' organizations.

In a media release, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly issued a statement on Wednesday confirming the following:

"That Ron Wilson, Head Coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs, violated the provisions of NHL By-Law 15 relating to inappropriate public comments by speaking generally to his Club's potential interest in negotiating with Daniel and Henrik Sedin prior to such time as those players' existing contracts with Vancouver had expired. The League has imposed a fine on the Maple Leafs' organization as a result;

More of the statement from Daly at TSN. ~~Were the Leafs TV segment and Sedins tampering issue getting mixed up by the media? Or is Gillis pursuing both issues?~~ To clarify, this has nothing to do with the Leafs TV segment which mentioned Kevin Bieksa and Alexandre Burrows in a possible trade with Tampa. The league exonerated Burke for those comments.

Who cares. Drop the puck.