On a night in Denver, Colorado when a possible white out loomed over the city, the Vancouver Canucks descended early, blanketing the Avalanche 8-2.

Alex Burrows stick-checks rookie Matt Duchene off the puck (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Henrik ‘Hank’ Sedin lead the way for the Canucks, netting his first ever hat trick.  A parade of other players got in on the scoring, including Matthieu Schneider, Tanner Glass, Jannik Hansen, while Steve Bernier chipped in a couple.

Vancouver jumped out quickly, thanks in part to numerous plays where they went hard to the net.  LW Mason Raymond prior to the game: “Colorado is hot right now, and a big part of it is (Avalanche goalie Craig) Anderson.  We’ve got to get in front of him and make it tough for him to see pucks and put a lot of shots towards him.”  The team couldn’t have helped fulfill the prophecy any better.  Despite the final score, and Vancouver jumping to a 4-0 lead in the second period, the game wasn’t always a lock.

"Colorado is hot right now a big part of that is (Craig) Anderson." - Mason Raymond

Colorado injected some desperation into their game to start the 3rd period, and forced Vancouver to take penalties.  Avalanche rookie Matt Duchene’s speed drew Henrik Sedin into a hooking penalty, and they scored on the powerplay at 5:52.  Exerting more pressure, they would add one exactly five minutes later off Matt Hendricks’ stick, on a veteran play from Adam Foote.  But that was as close as the Avalanche would get, and Roberto Luongo made sure of that.

Roberto Luongo anticipates the cross-ice 'back door' play to Darcy Tucker flawlessly (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Roberto Luongo might not have been very busy in the initial stages of the game, but that changed in the third period.  Colorado fired 16 of their 34 shots at Luongo in the final frame.

Darcy Tucker could only look skywards and shake his head after he was stoned in close.  While watching the game, one had the sense that a major turning point in the game had just transpired.

Steve Bernier teamed up with Ryan Johnson on a speedy forecheck 25 seconds later, to put the Canucks in front for good.  That set the scene for Henrik Sedin, who had already scored 2 goals 5 minutes apart in the first period.

"I've played almost 700 games, but of course it's nice to get a hat trick" - A shrugging Henrik Sedin

Henrik’s third goal of the game was an exclamation mark on their overall execution.  Alex Edler and Mason Raymond assisted Sedin’s powerplay marker at 12:53 of the third. Raymond and Ryan Johnson both finished the game with 3 assists.  The Canucks will have plenty of time to savour the offensive break-out; they will host the Avalanche in a rematch on Friday.