November Notes

We are in mid-November, and it is time for my look at the Canucks this month thus far. The 'Nucks have played 7 games up till now (1 home, 6 road), and have managed to get 8 of 14 points. Brian Raiger takes a look at what the Canucks have done correctly and what they need to do for their remaining 6 games of the month and season ahead.

NOV. 1 - CANUCKS @ FLAMES - SCORE: 5-1 W

The key to any game is to have a successful first 20 minutes, come out hard hitting, get the puck deep, draw a penalty, and convert. This is what happened for the Canucks, scoring 3 goals in the first 20 minutes (2 of them with the extra man, and one of these PP goals coming with 19 seconds left in the period).  The attack didn't stop there though, with the Canucks lighting the lamp twice in the 2nd period (Cody Hodgson is starting to live up to the hype). Eventually, Calgary did score in the 3rd (with 33 seconds left) and stripped Roberto Luongo of his shutout but we still turned away 28 shots and the boys in blue got the W. Everything looked well, going 2/6 on the PP, but the 'Nucks have to stay out of the box, taking stupid penalties is going to catch up eventually. OVERALL RATING (of 5): 4.5

NOV. 3 - CANUCKS @ WILD - SCORE: 5-1 L

After a huge win 2 days before, Coach V decided to rest Bobby Lou (fair decision if you ask me) and put in Cory Schneider. I felt good about our chances, but after the first 10 minutes in the first period, I started getting "that feeling". Yes, after the first period the Canucks had a 1-0 lead, but Josh Harding would end up fill the holes, and his team decided to just pepper Schneids with shots. When you put 45 shots on net odds are you are going to score, and that's what the Wild did,scoring 3 times in the 2nd period, and twice in the third. Our PK was not bad, killing the Wild's 3 chances, but our PP looked garbage, especially after the Calgary game, going 0/5. Schneids did what he could, but you can't get outshot by 20 shots and expect to win (step up defense). OVERALL RATING: 1.5

NOV. 4 - CANUCKS @ BLUES - SCORE: 3-2 L

You knew St. Louis was going to come into this game energized since they were honoring the St Louis Cardinals (MLB) who won the World Series. This is one game I actually loved, despite the loss, it was good, fast, hard hockey. Alex Burrows and TJ Oshie both scored in the first period less than 2 minutes apart, but Oshie would score less than 2 minutes into the 2nd period as well. St Louis took a dumb penalty with 24 seconds left in the 2nd (too many men), and Ryan Kesler took advantage of that 23 second into the 3rd period. As a Canucks fan, I was pumped up about this and thought we would just go on a spree in the 3rd, but the only goal left was by David Backes, who scored 6 minutes into the 3rd. Despite the loss, Vancouver outshot the Blues 30-28 (5 more shots than the previous game), we went 1/3 on the PP, and killed off 2 penalties. OVERALL RATING: 4

NOV. 6 - CANUCKS @ BLACKHAWKS - SCORE: 6-2 W

Another game against them damn Blackhawks. With this being the Canucks 4th game in 6 days, I will be honest and say i was expecting us to be sluggish. Thank God I was proven wrong! David Booth put a PP goal on the board 6 minutes into the game, but unfortunately the 'Hawks got even almost 7 minutes later on a goal by Michael Frolik. I was expecting the grittiness to kick in the rest of the game, but the second period was all Canucks - goals by Rome, Daniel Sedin, Jannik Hansen, and Dan Hamhuis. Oh I guess Marcus Kruger scored for Chicago in there too sometime. The 3rd period was just a one goal period, with Henrik putting one up, and the Canucks cruised to a 6-2 win. We were outshot 40-38 (another raise in shots), but had an AMAZING PP going 5/6, and UNREAL PK killing off all 5 of Chicago's chances.  OVERALL RATING: 5 - GREAT WIN!!

NOV. 10 - CANUCKS @ KINGS - SCORE: 3-2 W

Like I said before, you want to have a solid first period, and the Canucks did that against LA. Sami Salo, Andrew Ebbett, and Aaron Rome all tallied in the first period (Ebbett and Salo's goals on the PP). The Canucks would seem to let up, and take 4 penalties in the 2nd period (LA took 2), allowing drew Doughty to score. After giving up a PP goal, you would expect this would be a wake-up call right? NAHH, the 'Nucks would take 2 more penalties in the 3rd (LA had 1) and things were looking scary. the Kings would score again, but it was late in the game (at the 18:50 mark) on a Mike Richards goal. Though we got the win, it was a sloppy sloppy game. We did outshoot them 32-30 (shots down by 6), and had a good PP (2/6), but our PK finally allowed a goal (LA went 1/6). My OVERALL RATING: 3

NOV. 11 - CANUCKS @ DUCKS - SCORE: 4-3 L

Remembrance Day for our veterans and troops, and this specific day the Canucks would wish to forget. The first period of play was good hockey, and both teams playing unreal - good defense, goaltending, and just shutting the forwards. Let us now look at the 2nd period - 4 goals scored. the Quack Attack was back Jack, 25 seconds into the period, Saku Koivu had a snapper pass Luongo, Andrew Cogliano and Corey Perry would both put up PP goals, and to finish up the scoring Peter "who-in-the-hell-are-you" Holland scored. Its easy to see that Luongo would not start the 3rd period, and maybe that's what the Canucks should have done earlier (pull him), because Cory Schneider was solid in the 3rd, and the Canucks had a comeback rolling - Kevin Bieksa and Jannik Hansen (2 goals) scoring for us. We have to have constant scoring and not just in one period, we need to play a full, hard 60 minutes. A positive thing is that we outshot the Ducks 41-21, but our PP only went 1/5 and out PK allowed 2/5 chances. OVERALL RATING: 2.5

NOV. 13 - ISLANDERS @ CANUCKS - SCORE: 4-1 W

It is good to be home! The Canucks finally came home after being on the road all November, and they gave their fans their money's worth. Aaron Rome (this guy has been playing in BEAST MODE!) scored early in the first and the Canucks made sure that it was going to be a long night for the Isles. In the 2nd, Henrik put an early goal up (34 seconds), and that would prove to be the game winner (matt Moulson scored just over 15 minutes into the 2nd). The third period also saw an early goal, this time by Cody Hodgson (mentioning his name again, another guy who has been playing well). David Booth would put an empty netter in for insurance, and we skated off with a 4-1 win. Despite the lack of penalties in the game (only 3 total - all vs Islanders), Vancouver went 1/4 on the PP, yet were outshot 27-21. We need to take more shots (at least 30 per game). OVERALL RATING: 3.5

The Canucks need to put up shots, like I said above, and we need to be able to shot them from peppering both Bobby Lou, and Scheids. Our PP has been pretty solid this month, and I love how how PK has been. We need to be gritty but not take penalties. Look forward to some good hard hockey these next few games:

UPCOMING GAMES: vs chiacago (Nov 16), vs Ottawa (Nov 20), @ Colorado (Nov 23), @ Phoenix (Nov 25), @ San Jose (Nov 26), vs Columbus (Nov 29)

Brian Raiger