The Saturday night second half of CBC’s HNIC (hockey night in Canada) opened with a bang as the Vancouver Canucks stirred their home crowd from anticipating to boisterous.
Canucks hit the Oilers hard in the period (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)
After a demoralizing loss to the San Jose Sharks, where the Edmonton Oilers grabbed an early lead, only to lose 5-4 in a shootout, the rested Canucks were just too much.
Oilers head coach Pat Quinn on the pivotal first period: “We actually had a couple of good shifts to start and then bang, it was like a deluge, and the harder we tried the worse we got.”
Christian Ehrhoff notched the games’ first goal 3:16 in, and less than two minutes later Alex Burrows doubled their lead on a nice individual effort. Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers (Oilers backup): “I’ll take the blame on me 100%. I got involved too much emotionally, which is not good, and took a stupid penalty that put my team in a worse scenario.” Frustrated by Burrows goal, Deslauriers punched Tanner Glass, and Mason Raymond scored (pictured) on the ensuing power play.
After Deslauriers was chased, 6'5 Devan Dubnyk of Regina, Sask. got his first NHL action
The Oil showed some grit and heart coming out strong in the second period, making a game of it with two goals 1:04 apart. But Luongo would have no more of it, and shut the door the rest of the way. It would remain 5-3 until Alex Edler put it away with a power play goal with 8 minutes to go in the period.
Ryan Kesler, whom the Canucks tried to set up numerous times in the third period because of his strong game, finished the night with 3 assists, and was the games 1st star. Though he hasn’t scored in 10 games, he’s recorded 11 assists in that span, and continues to play inspired hockey night in, night out. Even with a dislocated pinky finger, he’s played through the pain.
Vancouver Giants (WHL) product Gilbert Brule scores in second period action (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)
Just one of Ryan 'Supergrinder' Kesler's many battles en route to 1st star selection
But the Canucks will get a taste of their own medicine on Sunday. They now take on San Jose Sunday having started their brutal Olympic break stretch, where they’ll play 17 games in 34 nights. A record will be set when they conclude 14 straight games on the road.
FanSided
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Hi Larenzo,
I enjoyed your articles very much. Do you go to all the games? I haven’t been to a game this year but would like to catch one in the new year. For now my little TV will keep me happy on game day. Keep up the good work Larenzo. Cheers! Carly.
P.S. Did you watch the Grey Cup? What an upset for the Rough Riders. But I thought the better team won.
Dear Carly;
I very much appreciate your very kind words – It’s responses like this that make what I do that much more enjoyable. Of course, the public feedback, whether positive or negative, is just icing on the cake, as you can pretty much call what I do a labor of love. But it’s something I’ve wanted to do, and do properly, for some time. This is where I give credit to my parent site, Fansided.com, which is a fantastic place to visit if you’re a real sport nut. Some of the bloggers that comprise Fansided are up for award nominations right now, off the top of my head the Ottawa Senators blogger for “Senshot” is nominated, and I beleive the Chicago Blackhawks blogger is as well. Fansided covers a lot of pro sports, though truth be told, the NFL has to be considered the flagship. As for the games themselves, I am unfortunately not a season ticket holder, but do manage to get to some of the home games. I use a number of resources, particularly Sportsnet Pacific for viewing the games, as well as ordering Pay Per View, and CBC, the odd TSN game, as well as numerous online sources for research.
As far as the football game was concerned, I watched a CBC segment that spoke with a number of the Allouettes prior to the big game, and you could tell that they were very focused. One huge advantage that I felt they had heading in was the longtime connection established between Ben Cahoon and Anthony Calvillo. I liken them to a watered down Sedin brother synergy; the more time you spend practicing and perfecting plays together, the more intuitive you become with that other partner. You’re right, in the end, I feel the better team won, and though it’s always about the team effort, it can’t hurt to have that sort of connection working in your favour. Thanks again for speaking out