CANUCKS BANTER By Andrew Chernoff FEBRUARY 28, 2016
The Vancouver Canucks (24-25-12) hosted the San Jose Sharks (33-22-6) this afternoon at Rogers Place, in a key divisional game, losing 4-1, moving no closer to the Colorado Avalanche and the Sharks for an NHL Western conference playoff spot.
The Canucks are 12 points behind the Sharks for 3rd and the final playoff spot in their divisiion; and 8 points behind Colorado for the final wild card spot in the Western conference.
Daniel Sedin had the only Canucks goal, his 23rd of the season; Henrik Sedin and Ben Hutton had assists. For Daniel, with the goal, he became the 60th player in NHL history to reach 350 career goals (and the 5th Swede to do so).
VANCOUVER, BC – FEBRUARY 28: Daniel Sedin #22 of the Vancouver Canucks bats at a loose puck for a goal on Martin Jones #31 of the San Jose Sharks as Brent Burns #88 of the Sharks watches during their NHL game at Rogers Arena February 28, 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)
Ryan Miller stopped 24 of 27 shots for a .889 Sv% for his 4rth loss of February.
Miller finished the month of February with a record of 3-4-1 with a GAA of 2.26 and .929 Sv%.
VANCOUVER, BC – FEBRUARY 28: Joe Pavelski #8 of the San Jose Sharks watches as Ryan Miller #30 of the Vancouver Canucks reaches back to make a save in front of Ben Hutton #27 and Derek Dorsett #15 of the Canucks during their NHL game at Rogers Arena February 28, 2016 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. San Jose won 4-1. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)
Ryan Miller has registered a .929 save percentage over his last 13 games and is 4-7-2 with a 2.38 GAA.
The Canucks next game against the same Sharks is next Thursday night at Rogers Place, but first up in March are the New York Islanders on Tuesday night, as the Canucks continue their home stand.
GAME REVIEW
The Canucks began the game without Matt Bartkowski in the line-up, leading to speculation that he had been traded to another team but it was reported he had the flu..
The starting goalies Ryan Miller for the Canucks and Martin Joes for the Sharks.
Daniel Sedin got the Canucks first two shots and the Sharks won the first 7 face-offs of the game and a 5-3 lead on shots with less than eight minutes left in the opening period.
Game scoreless after the opening period..
After one period:
- Team Shots On Net: Sharks-10; Canucks-9; Team Hits: Sharks-3; Canucks-6
- Team Face-offs: Sharks-11/18; Canucks-7/18; Team Blocked Shots: Canucks-2; Sharks-1
- Team Takeaways: Sharks-2; Canucks-4; Team Giveaways: Sharks-2; Canucks-2
- Power Play: Sharks:0/0; Canucks: 0/0 Penalty Kill: Canucks: 0/0; Sharks: 0/0
- Canucks Individual Shots: D.Sedin & D.Dorsett-2 each Canucks Individual Hits: L.Sbisa-2
- Canucks Individual Face-offs: M.Granlund-3/3; B.Horvat-2/5; H.Sedin-2/9
- Teams Corsi For:
- EV 5v5—Sharks-16; Canucks-17
- All Strengths—Sharks-16; Canucks-17
- Canucks Individual Corsi For:
- EV 5v5—L.Vey +5; E.Etem +4; M.Granlund +3
- All Strengths—L.Vey +5; E.Etem +4; M.Granlund +3
The Canucks came out in the second period and had a couple of early scoring chances that led to a power play, as Vancouver had the first seven shots of the period.
Justin Braun would get a penalty for interference against Jannick Hansen at the 56 second mark. The Canucks would not score on the power play but it would lead to the game opening goal.
Daniel Sedin would make it 1-0 Vancouver at 3:03, assisted by Henrik Sedin (37) and Ben Hutton (17). The goal was his 23rd of the season, and became the 60th player in NHL history to reach 350 career goals (and the 5th Swede to do so).
Soon after the goal, Daniel Sedin would be responsible for the Sharks first man advantage opportunity as he would go off for two minutes for hooking at 5:09. The Canucks would kill the penalty, their 17 kill in the last 19 shorthanded.
At the mid point of the period, the Canucks were out shooting the Sharks 8-1 and were 5 for 10 on face-offs.They were also out hitting San Jose, 10-5.
The Sharks would get another man advantage opportunity in the period to even up the game at 1-1, when Bo Horvat would go off for hooking at 15:00.
The period would end with Canucks up 1-0.
After second period:
- Team Shots On Net: Sharks-14; Canucks-18; Team Hits: Sharks-8; Canucks-12
- Team Face-offs: Sharks-19/34; Canucks-15/34; Team Blocked Shots: Canucks-6; Sharks-4
- Team Takeaways: Sharks2; Canucks-7; Team Giveaways: Sharks-2; Canucks-4
- Power Play: Sharks:0 /2; Canucks:0/1 Penalty Kill: Canucks:2/2 ; Sharks:1/1
- Canucks Individual Shots: D.Sedin-5 Canucks Individual Hits: J.Virtanen-3
- Canucks Individual Face-offs: H.Sedin-7/16; B.Horvat-5/10; M.Granlund-3/4
- Teams Corsi For:
- EV 5v5—Sharks-22; Canucks-26
- All Strengths—Sharks-26; Canucks-32
- Canucks Individual Corsi For:
- EV 5v5—H.Sedin +7; D.Sedin +6; J.Hansen & B. Hutton +4 each
- All Strengths—H.Sedin +11; D.Sedin +10; B.Hutton +8; L.Vey +6
The Sharks would even up the score early in the final period, at 4:21, when Joe Pavelski would score his 27th goal of the season, assisted by Marc-Edouard Vlasic (28).
San Jose continued to dominate the 3rd period, as they would take a 2-1 lead two minutes and twenty-eight seconds later, as Tomas Hertl, his 15th of the season, would deflect a shot, assisted by Justin Braun (18) and Marc-Edouard Vlasic (29).
The Canucks were getting their chances in the period and in the first five minutes of the period, the Sharks had 7 blocked shots .
Just as the Canucks were getting some actual scoring chances on net, Markus Granlund would get a slashing penalty, the Sharks third power play opportunity of the game at 13:06.
Dan Hamhuis would give the Sharks a two-man advantage for 1:33 when he went off for slashing at 13:33.
The Sharks would take advantage and get a two goal lead in the game, with their third unanswered goal of the period, when Patrick Marleau would score his 18th goal of the season to make it 3-1, assisted by Joe Thornton (43) and Joe Pavelski (31) at 14:09.
The Canucks pulled Ryan Miller for a 6th attacker with 4:12 remaining to get within two goals of the Sharks.
Justin Braun would score an empty netter, his 2nd goal of the season and first in 33 games, assisted by Logan Coutre at 18:50 to make the final score 4-1 San Jose.
After third period:
- Team Shots On Net: Sharks-28; Canucks-24; Team Hits: Sharks-9; Canucks-15
- Team Face-offs: Sharks-31/55; Canucks-24/55; Team Blocked Shots: Canucks-11; Sharks-13
- Team Takeaways: Sharks-5; Canucks-10; Team Giveaways: Sharks-3; Canucks-5
- Power Play: Sharks: 1/4; Canucks: 0/1 Penalty Kill: Canucks: 3/4 ; Sharks: 1/1
- Canucks Individual Shots: D.Sedin-6; A.Biega-3 Canucks Individual Hits: J.Virtanen-5
- Canucks Individual Face-offs: B.Horvat-11/18; M.Granlund-4/8; H.Sedin-8/21
- Teams Corsi For:
- EV 5v5—Sharks-36; Canucks-44
- All Strengths—Sharks-50; Canucks-50
- Canucks Individual Corsi For:
- EV 5v5—E.Etem +8; L.Vey +6; A.Cracknell +5; D.Sedin +5; H.Sedin +5
- All Strengths—D.Sedin +9; H.Sedin +8; E.Etem +8; A.Cracknell +5; L.Vey +5
Andrew Phillip Chernoff 