Oct 25: Canucks @ Wild

[Iced Tea]

NHL.com (http://www.nhl.com/scores/previews/134_2_preview.html) says
Canucks-Wild Preview

GAME: Vancouver Canucks (7-1-1) at Minnesota Wild (5-3-1).

TIME: Tuesday, 8 p.m. EDT.

After missing all of the preseason and first six games of the regular season recovering from a groin injury, Marian Gaborik returned to show the offensive brilliance that has made him the Minnesota Wild's all-time leading scorer.

A strained hip flexor, though, will keep Gaborik out of the lineup when Minnesota meets the Vancouver Canucks for the third time this season.

Gaborik, the third overall pick in the 2000 draft, scored twice during Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks to give him two goals and four assists in three games since returning from the groin injury.

Gaborik appeared to re-injure the groin Sunday and did not play late in the contest. Wild assistant general manager Tom Lynn reported Monday that Gaborik has a strained hip flexor, will miss this game and is listed as day-to-day.

"I guess we just have to wait," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. "We'll do what we did without him in the past and wait until he feels good and he's ready to play."

Without Gaborik, the Wild will continue to look to veteran center Marc Chouinard for offense. Chouinard has two goals and five assists during a four-game points streak.

Minnesota is looking for its season-high third straight win at Xcel Energy Center as it faces a Vancouver team that has won five straight to move four points ahead of the Wild for first place in the Northwest Division.

The Canucks extended their streak with a 6-4 win Saturday over the Colorado Avalanche.

Vancouver has scored 25 goals during the win streak and has been paced by Markus Naslund and Ed Jovanovski.

Naslund, who leads the Canucks in goals and points, has two goals and five assists during a five-game points streak. Assists leader Jovanovski has two goals and six assists during a four-game points streak.

The Canucks have also shown solid special-teams play recently, scoring 10 power-play goals in the last four games to move from 25th to 12th in the league.

...Already the third game against the Wild this season and then two more against the rotten Avs, this is going to be a fun week for me.

I expect the Canucks to win this game and play the entire 60 minutes after the screw up at the end of the last game. The powerplay and penaltykill will continue to improve and the scoring will be spread around with the defense picking up some points, the top line, A S S line and Park scoring.

Canucks 5 - 2 over the stinkin Wild.:D

[KB in Kelowna]

3-1 after two periods. Auld got the start. Listening to the radio broadcast.

[Iced Tea]

Wooooooooo, Canucks win again.

First thought: Bertuzzi shoot the darn puck, you were wide open in front of the net and you passed to Naslund, who had 3 Wild players all over him. That's dumber than I am with the ladies. :curse:

Good points:
1. Canucks PP and PK did well against the Wild, who have the #2 PP and #2 PK in the league.
2. Bertuzzi, who it turns out is still being hampered by a back injury, is improving with each game but needs to shoot more. He did make a great play to set up the 2 on 1 and goal by Naslund.
3. Heck of a cool goal by the Sedins, incredible hand/eye coordination, I got dizzy just watching the replay.
4. Good to see Ruutu get his first goal of the season.
5. Auld played a great game to go 3 - 0 this season. Having a solid backup sure eases the pressure on Cloutier.
6. The defense got 2 points.

Bad points:
1. Lack of production by the third line. Park, Cooke and Kesler have hit a wall offense wise but continue good play on the PK.
2. 6 holding penalties, the Wild are one of the few teams that can match the Canucks speed and at times, the Canucks took dumb penalties to stop the Wild.
3. Poor effort in the faceoff circle. Morrison screwed the pooch on faceoffs with 29% winning percentage (5W 12 L). Linden finished with 58% (10W 7L), Kesler won 50% (5W 5L), Henrik Sedin had 38% (5W 8L), and Cooke, Park and Daniel Sedin each lost their only faceoff. The only bright spot was Bertuzzi winning 4 of 5 for 80%. Maybe the Canucks need to practice faceoffs. :rolleyes:

Other thoughts:
1. The Canucks have only had one bad outing, the 6 - 0 loss to the Wild, and still no one player has stood out as dreadful. I no longer have Sopel to complain about and I haven't found a new whipping boy. All and all, the current roster has performed well even if the bottom two defenseman are journeymen finally getting their big shot.

Can't wait until Thursday when the Canucks school/trounce/batter/destroy the rotten Avs. :p

[Yoata]

Floatuzzi got lucky on the assist, turned a bad pass into a telelgraphed 2nd chance pass that Naslund had the wherewithall to finish anyway.

What about Jovanoopsi?

[Iced Tea]

Floatuzzi got lucky on the assist, turned a bad pass into a telelgraphed 2nd chance pass that Naslund had the wherewithall to finish anyway.

What about Jovanoopsi?Bertuzzi did fan on the pass but he tried again and made a between the Wild's player's legs pass to Naslund. Earlier in the season, Bertuzzi would have given up after fanning on the pass and just gone for his public skate around the Wild's net and back to the Canucks end. Bertuzzi did show his skills when he created the 2 on 1 chance.

Jovanoopsi had a couple of bad giveaways but nothing glaring. He wasn't on the ice for the Wild's lone goal.

I forgot to mention in my previous post how funny it was to see Naslund skate a couple of laps around the Wild's end during the 4 on 4 to start the 3rd period. :laughing:

[Yoata]

Bertuzzi did fan on the pass but he tried again and made a between the Wild's player's legs pass to Naslund. Earlier in the season, Bertuzzi would have given up after fanning on the pass and just gone for his public skate around the Wild's net and back to the Canucks end. Bertuzzi did show his skills when he created the 2 on 1 chance.

Jovanoopsi had a couple of bad giveaways but nothing glaring. He wasn't on the ice for the Wild's lone goal.

I forgot to mention in my previous post how funny it was to see Naslund skate a couple of laps around the Wild's end during the 4 on 4 to start the 3rd period. :laughing:

Yeah, you're right, Bertuzzi id make a nice play on the boards to start the rush, so I'll give him that one.

How did I know Jovo was still a liability, that scares the sh!t out of me come playoff time.

Naslund looked like he was flying again on the highlights.

[TimmyTabasco]

Wooooooooo, Canucks win again.

First thought: Bertuzzi shoot the darn puck, you were wide open in front of the net and you passed to Naslund, who had 3 Wild players all over him. That's dumber than I am with the ladies. :curse:

Good points:
1. Canucks PP and PK did well against the Wild, who have the #2 PP and #2 PK in the league.
2. Bertuzzi, who it turns out is still being hampered by a back injury, is improving with each game but needs to shoot more. He did make a great play to set up the 2 on 1 and goal by Naslund.
3. Heck of a cool goal by the Sedins, incredible hand/eye coordination, I got dizzy just watching the replay.
4. Good to see Ruutu get his first goal of the season.
5. Auld played a great game to go 3 - 0 this season. Having a solid backup sure eases the pressure on Cloutier.
6. The defense got 2 points.

Bad points:
1. Lack of production by the third line. Park, Cooke and Kesler have hit a wall offense wise but continue good play on the PK.
2. 6 holding penalties, the Wild are one of the few teams that can match the Canucks speed and at times, the Canucks took dumb penalties to stop the Wild.
3. Poor effort in the faceoff circle. Morrison screwed the pooch on faceoffs with 29% winning percentage (5W 12 L). Linden finished with 58% (10W 7L), Kesler won 50% (5W 5L), Henrik Sedin had 38% (5W 8L), and Cooke, Park and Daniel Sedin each lost their only faceoff. The only bright spot was Bertuzzi winning 4 of 5 for 80%. Maybe the Canucks need to practice faceoffs. :rolleyes:

Other thoughts:
1. The Canucks have only had one bad outing, the 6 - 0 loss to the Wild, and still no one player has stood out as dreadful. I no longer have Sopel to complain about and I haven't found a new whipping boy. All and all, the current roster has performed well even if the bottom two defenseman are journeymen finally getting their big shot.

Can't wait until Thursday when the Canucks school/trounce/batter/destroy the rotten Avs. :p

I only caught the tail end of the game. Good write up.

But, good solid win for the Canucks. And onto the next.

[TimmyTabasco]

Floatuzzi got lucky on the assist, turned a bad pass into a telelgraphed 2nd chance pass that Naslund had the wherewithall to finish anyway.

What about Jovanoopsi?

Do you have nick names for wings players too? :thumb: :nod:

I like to call Alex Auld, "triple A"

[KB in Kelowna]

Do you have nick names for wings players too? :thumb: :nod:

I like to call Alex Auld, "triple A"

only one's he doesn't like eg: Cryjo ;)

[Yoata]

only one's he doesn't like eg: Cryjo ;)

Exactly, Wings don't have any bad players (anymore) don't ya know? ;)