Friday, October 17, 2008

Canucks 4 Red Wings 3 OT

On opening night this year the Red Wings unveiled their Stanley Cup Banner, and then lost to the Leafs. After last night's ceremony honoring longtime Red Wing great Alex Delvecchio with a statue only to see them give up a 3rd period lead and lose in OT, you think maybe they might want to keep the ceremonies to themselves. A great road game for the Canucks last night led by the 3rd line of Kesler, Burrows and Hansen, each one scored along with Mason Raymond as the Canucks rattled off an impressive 4-3 OT win at the Joe Louis Arena last night. The Canucks did a great job of matching the Wings speed wise, and while it wasn't Luongo's best game, he made some key saves, especially in the 3rd period that enabled the team to get back in the game and tie it up. While they got a fairly consistent effort from the entire team, the Kesler line as well as strong play from Willie Mitchell, Sami Salo and Alex Edler showed that this team can compete, and sent a message after the Washington loss Monday night that they are a team that needs to be taken seriously. No rest for the wicked though as the Canucks are right back at it in Buffalo tonight. Curtis Sanford will be getting the start as The Canucks rest Roberto Luongo for Sunday's match against the Blackhawks. It will be a big night for Steve Bernier as he goes up against his former Sabres teammates for the first time. The Sabres are off to a great start, 3-0-0 with just 3 goals against in those games. Thomas Vanek is off to a great start, with 5 goals already in this young season, and G Ryan Miller is 2-0-0 with a 0.96 GAA. Curtis Sanford saw his first action of the season in the 3rd period of the Washington loss and stopped all 10 shots he faced, and was strong in the pre-season. With his 2 point performance last night Alex Burrows took over the team scoring lead with 5 points, as that checking line of the Canucks continues to do more than neutralize the opponent's top lines but score as well. Congrats to Jannik Hansen on his first career goal and to Roberto Luongo for career win #200! Game time is at 4:30 on Rogers Sportsnet and Team 1040, we will have postgame wrap up and the preview of Sunday's match against the Blackhawks on the next episode of WAACH on Saturday.

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