Sub .500 Homesick Blues; Canucks drop another Road Game

The Canucks continued with their road woes with a 2-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers yesterday. The Canucks threw 40 shots at Nikolai Khabibulin but only one was able to get past the Bulin Wall through 60 minutes. Kyle Wellwood’s attempt at a last minute rush to tie the game was a split second too late, he slid a shot through the Khabibulin’s legs 0.2 seconds after the horn had sounded to end regulation at Rexall Place. Give Wellwood Kudos for coming so close to tying up what was a weak game offensively from the Canucks, unfortunately the other 59 minutes were lacking. The Bulin wall was up and fully functional last night, but it seems too often the Canucks run into a hot goalie in the Northwest division. Power plays can pass around hot goalies, and going 0-5 with the man advantage sure makes a goalie heat up quickly. I would really like to see the Canucks run into a hot goalie and light him up for once, instead of being robbed by the goalie of the week much too often. Injuries to Daniel Sedin and Pavol Demitra are starting to show in the Canucks’ lack of attack.

Defensively, the Canucks looked sluggish and slow trying to chase after a quick, young Oilers team, both Edmonton goals were sloppy plays that ended up in the back of the Canucks’ net due to poor defensive coverage. Luongo looked good in net, stopping a handful of odd man rushes and breakaways given up by an often confused Canucks defence. The same defensive performance against a highly skilled Blackhawks team on Wednesday will result in an ugly game for the Canucks, and a long one for Luongo who cannot be hung out to dry so often.

If the same Canucks’ team that dropped a close game to the Oilers last night shows up again for Wednesday’s tilt with the Blackhawks, I fear a repeat of game six last season that showcased the speed and skill of the ‘Hawks and left the Canucks chasing all night. One of the highlights of the game last night was a fight between long-time friends Zack Stortini and Rick Rypien. The smaller Rypien again proved why he is one of the best pound for pound fighters in the NHL. The Pit-bull left Stortini holding on for dear life as Rypien went to work on Stortini landing a couple solid shots at the 6’3” 228 pound forward. Good luck trying to tell Rypien he’s only 5’11” 170. Unfortunately even Rypien isn’t able to escape the Injury bug, and was held out of practice today. Look for Tanner Glass and other 4^th liners to pick up the slack physically on Wednesday if Rypien is held out of the lineup.

Missing two top six forwards for an extended period of time will hurt any hockey team, but the Canucks have to step up offensively with goals – not just shots in order to win, especially on the road. Some of the younger Canucks’ yet to prove themselves are so close to putting together great offensive numbers if only they can bury more shots and opportunities in the future. The hard work is there, the shots are there, but the puck just needs to find the back of the net more often for players like Raymond, Bernier and Wellwood. Hopefully the sour taste of a second round playoff exit will jumpstart the Canucks Wednesday against the ‘Hawks.