Canucks Army Postgame: No Place Like Home

At some point or another, the Sedin twins are going to retire and I will weep like a helpless infant. All things must pass, and so on.

We’re a ways away from that moment though and it probably feels further after a performance like tonights. The future Hall of Fame wonder-twins combined for nine points and put the team on their back doe. On the backdrop of a milestone achievement, Dank and Hank led the Canucks to a 6-3 victory over the not-so-much-anymore rival Chicago Blackhawks in the Rogers Arena.

Vancouver’s irrelevance has dulled this once fierce rivalry, but on a night like tonight it’s hard to argue that the underlying disdain doesn’t linger.

On a night with five shutouts elsewhere, this game defied convention with a rapturous four goal first period – two a side. It’s the kind of shootout that keeps the fans in their seats and takes years off the coaches lives. The first lines were firing on all cylinders, first with a Jonathan Toews snipe off the half-wall followed thereafter by a Canucks equalizer from Henrik Sedin on a 5-on-3 power play.

Henrik’s power play marker was setup by Daniel’s assist, which was his 900th career point. Just another in a series of milestones for Daniel and I’m sure there’s another few left in him, still. I mean, 1000 points has to be a gimme, right?

If the first period was a shootout, the second was a shooting gallery. After leaving a dubious, if particularly uninspiring, footprint on the first period, Ryan Miller did everything in his power to will the Canucks to parity through the first half of the second. The Canucks were outshot handily, with the the margin slipping to a healthy 7-1 tally in favour of the visiting Blackhawks. 

A Ryan Garbutt tripping penalty breathed life into the Canucks, who responded with the rare second power play goal in a single night, from Daniel Sedin. It was the first of three goals and like any other against the Blackhawks, a massive “fuck you” to Duncan Keith. That will never stop being a thing.

I’m loathe to waive the momentum wand, but it’s hard to argue Vancouver didn’t respond well to the opportunity afforded in the second. They weren’t Chicago’s equals, but they certainly looked the part of an NHL franchise again.

The Blackhawks closed the gap though, knotting things at three on a fire-drill goal off the stick of Artem Anisimov in the slot. The play was facilitated by one in a series of neutral zone misfires from the stick of one, Luca Sbisa, but I digress; nobody looked particularly good on that play. 

From that point forward though, the Canucks responded with a salvo of goals to reassert themselves over the visiting rivals of old. Daniel contributed two of them, including a deft mid-air deflection in the slot past – good enough to put the ribbon on his hat-trick performance. And for his troubles, a single hat was thrown.

Well, there really isn’t any place like home. Nice to see the Canucks get back in the win column and even better to have it happen on a night where Daniel hit 900 points. The Canucks are back at it tomorrow night with the New Jersey Devils. Something, something Farnham’s dumb, something.