The Fifth Liners

This week Vancouver Canucks winger Alex Burrows received a three game ban for this hit on Montreal Canadiens winger Alexei Emelin  But it appears that after the Canucks 3-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers at Rexall Place last night (thanks Derek Dorrsett!) it seems that Oilers captain Andrew Ference will be hearing the phone ringing from the League quite soon in the coming days after his frankly awful hit on Canucks player Zack Kassian ! See below... Now when you consider that Burrows got a three game ban for his offense, should the league be tougher on Ference who is a previous offender? Burrows' hit was admittedly a careless one as he went in late and this type of extremely hard contact could have resulted in some serious damage to Emelin. Receiving a three game suspension though seemed slightly rash by league standards as we have seen more serious hits only receiving a one game ban. But Ference however, had been scrapping with Kassian all through the match and his inte...

The Vancouver Canucks finally ended their five game winless streak with an impressive 6-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets at the Rogers Arena. But when Matt Calvert scored with Columbus' very first shot after 2.47 of the 1st period, many Canucks fans must have thought this streak would be going to six games! Tom Sessito had a goal waived off for Vancouver before with 15 seconds left Daniel Sedin scored to tie the game at 1-1. A second period flurry ultimate would set the Canucks on their way and in a two minute flurry midway through, goals from Zack Kassian, Captain Henrik Sedin (although knocked in off Sergei Bobrovsky) and a stunning centre ice slap shot from Alex Edler pushed Vancouver 4-1 ahead after 14 minutes played! Daniel Sedin scored again after 9 minutes of the third to give Vancouver a more than comfortable cushion! Although Jannik Hansen missed a penalty shot when Bobrovsky easily saved his weak wrist shot! Artem Anisimov scored for Columbus with three minute...

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...

The Vancouver Canucks won a closely fought battle against the Washington Capitals last night win a 3-2 win at the Rogers Arena to make it four wins straight under John Tortorella! The home side were given a lucky break after Alex Ovechkin was given a penalty shot for the Capitals after less an a minute played, but Roberto Luongo was on hand to save it and save Vancouver from going behind! Zack Kassian then put the home side in front after 11.31 played but the Canucks were quickly pegged back when Jason Chimera made things a tie game after 14.36. In the second period there were no more goals, but both Luongo and Capitals goalie, Michal Neuvrith were kept busy making several excellent stops- Ovechkins bad luck in front of goal in this game continued when he hit a post! After only 1.52 of the third period played, Mikhail Grabovski scored to edge Washington in front, but Vancouver had no desire to the fans going home disappointed and Ryan Kesler hit home a rebound to make things a ...

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 Pittsburgh Penguin s won a closely won 4-3 contest over the Vancouver Canucks last night at the Consol Energy Center which was only decided by a shootout! Vancouver got a somewhat fortunate start as Alex Edler's spectacular centre ice slap shot on 13.49 minutes bounced off the mask of Marc-Andre Fleury and crept into the goal but Pittsburgh didnt waste time and captain Sidney Crosby made things a tie game after 15.44 played. On the powerplay, Chris Kunitz pushed the Penguins in front after 7.56 of the second period following good work behind net by Malkin. But Vancouver weren't going down without a fight and Brad Richardson levelled things at 2-2 following some good drop passes. Into the third and Zach Kassian deflected Kevin Bieksa's shot past Fleury to put the Canucks ahead 3-2 after 12.50 played! But cruely only 22 seconds later Olli Maata scored a rebound off Luongo to claim his first ever NHL goal and tie the game at 3-3. But there was to be late drama as Bra...