The Fifth Liners

The Vancouver Canucks battled to hard earned 3-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes at the Rogers  Arena last night, despite two blowing a two goal lead! In the first, the ever consistent defenseman Jason Garrison blasted Vancouver ahead after 1.26 of the second period with a spectacular slap shot! But Phoenix goalie Mike Smith was as usual proving a wall in net and made several key saves to keep the scoreline respectable. But Canucks captain Henrik Sedin made it 2-0 with an impressive shot from an acute angle and on paper, the home side looked home and dry! Into the final period Smith continued to frustrate the Canucks offense and the fanbs were left wondering why the score line was not heavier! But mid way through the third period, Vancouver became unstuck as Antoine Vermette's crashing drive but the Coyotes back in contention and then David Moss seized on a rebound to unbelievably tie the scores at 2-2! Into overtime Chris Higgins settled affairs after 3.41 when he seized on a...

The Vancouver Canucks after nine straight defeats finally beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2 at the SAP Center last night to condemn the Sharks to a fourth straight defeat. But when Roberto Luongo knocked Joe Thornton's shot into his own net after only 1.17 of the first, all Canucks fans must of had that sinking feeling that this was going to be yet another wasted trip! But for once, Vancouver didnt fade away and only 3 minutes later Brad Richardson levelled the scores! This paved the way for an action packed rest of the period and Mike Santorelli put the Canucks ahead after 09.25 when he slotted past Niemi! Mike Brown latched onto a great assist to level the scores after 10.45 and once more we were at a tie game! San Jose then kept Luongo busy with several testing shots before Chris Higgins nudged the Canucks in front again with less than a minute left in the first! After 5 minutes of the second played, Zack Kassian redirected Kevin Bieksa's long range shot to give Vancouver...

The Vancouver Canucks capped an emotional night at the Rogers Arena that saw the Number 10 jersey of Pavel Bure retired to the rafters with a great 4-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs ! James Reimer made a flurry of good stops in a row after 3 minutes to deny both Mike Santorelli and Chris Higgins from putting Vancouver in front, but then captain Henrik Sedin scored off an assist from Dan Hamhuis to put the Canucks ahead after 06:03 of the first period played. Early in the second period, Zack Kassian made it two when he scored a rebound off Reimer after only two minutes played before Chris Higgins put the Canucks firmly in the driving seat when his quick shot made it 3-0 after only five minutes played. Toronto offered little in offense but came close briefly when Phil Kessel had his stop stopped by Roberto Luongo, but they would get no closer than that before Hamhuis scored to complete the perfect night in British Columbia. But the score wasnt the real celebration as the Vanco...

Some games are pretty, some are boring, and some are just tight. This was definitely the latter. The past few weeks have been tough for Detroit. Since defeating the Colorado Avalanche way back on the 17th, the team has lost at the hands (gloves?) of the Coyotes, Sharks, Senators and Rangers. Taking two overtime points from a possible eight. The Vancouver Canucks on the other hand have won four of their last five games, and despite a close loss to Washington are performing well under new coach John Tortorella.  Detroit's Luke Glendening is fast becoming a regular in the Wings' squad, what with the team's inability to remain injury free. Meanwhile Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson were scratched for the game. The tight first period brought more penalties than goals, Vancouver's Dan Hamhuis was given a minor for holding Niklas Kronwall. Kronwall returned the favour five minutes later and was boxed for slashing Hamhuis. Vancouver was the first team to break...

The Vancover Canucks came out smiling from the epic battle waged at the Nassau Coliseum last night as they claimed a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders - they provides the perfect bounce back after being beaten by Columbus on Saturday. From the very get go this game was action packed and in the first period the Islanders took an early advantage when rookie Brock Nelson scored his first NHL goal after less than 02.26 played and Matt Moulson then pushed them further in front as he scored a rebound off Roberto Luongo for a powerplay goal after 4.41. But Vancouver were not going down without a fight and only 16 seconds later, Ryan Kesler scored a rebound off Evgeni Narbarkov to put the Canucks back in contention. But incredibly after just 9 minutes played we were given a tie game when Daniel Sedin scored to bring things to 2-2! Second period started similar to the first when Matt Moulson scored his second again off the powerplay after 4.48 of the period. Zack Kassian had a goal waive...

The Vancouver Canucks helped end a two game losing streak with a late winner in a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center last night! Though the game was notable for the fact that coach John Tortorella chose to separate the ever present Sedin Brothers duo onto different offensive lines! But the Canucks win was anything but easy and after rookie Tye McGinn put the Flyers in front after 12.26 of the 1st period, but incredibly Vancouver levelled only 10 seconds later through a neat finish from Ryan Kesler! In the second period McGinn again got the home fans excited when he scored only 2.10 into the second period and despites Vancouver's best efforts they couldn't find a way past Flyers goalie Steve Mason! Tortorella's big game occured with six minutes to play in the third period when he chose to move Chris Higgins onto the top line in place of Daniel Sedin and it was this man who tied the scores at 2-2 after 7.31 minutes played off an assist from...