Canucks vs Avalanche Post-Game

I take back my pre-game comments…the farm hands were exposed tonight. Going into the game I thought it would be an interesting test of which injured team could prevail. Would the Canucks overcome defensive injuries or would the Avs overcome offensive injuries. The question was answered early into the first as the Canucks proved soft in front of both nets and uncharacteristically lost most battles for the puck. As Vigneault said, these kind of games are won by those teams who are willing to go into the tough, dangerous areas and battle. The Avs were that team.

Although he had a couple of points on the night, I thought Salo looked really slow and soft on a number of plays. Ohlund was caught fishing for pucks instead of taking a body and Luongo was very ordinary on a night his defense needed him to be spectacular. Despite a good third period and some early chances, the Canucks continue to suffer from an inability to bury chances and finish plays. It is extremely difficult to come back when down by 3 or 4 goals in this league and the Canucks are especially weak in area of come from behind wins. The Canucks know their key to winning games; score early and ride Luongo and solid defense to the win. But to do this you have to convert those early chances. I think the team may be getting to the point where they are squeezing the sticks a little and that only makes matters worse.

Positives? Despite this loss, the team has an excellent record against division opponents. However, they have to win the remaining divisional games in order to secure playoff hopes. The Canucks record since the x-mas break is brutal and not getting better. It is the opposite of last year when they went on a winning tear after the break right to the end of the year finishing first in the Northwest division. Injuries are not helping but, as Luongo said, they cannot be used as a crutch or an excuse to lose.

If I was a betting man, I’d put money on the Canucks coming out strong tonight and scoring early after their worst effort of the New Year last night. Watch for great games by Kesler and Burrows who will drive Chicago crazy and a solid game by Ohlund and Bourdon. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the captain also have a strong game. Pride is on the line tonight and it might be a good game to start a solid winning streak. Game time 10PM ET.

Go Canucks Go!