Sabres @ Canucks – Gameday GIFs

We’re trying something new here at Canucks Army in an attempt to keep morale up in the closing weeks of the regular season. Just because the team we’re covering is halfheartedly finishing off their remaining slate of games doesn’t mean we can’t try and make the most of them.

Thanks to @SchneidersTeeth‘s expertise we’re going to try and keep a running thread going during Canucks games, as we highlight the more relevant moments that have taken place in GIF form.

Read on past the jump for more.

It didn’t take the Sabres long to pounce on the Canucks and take a 1-0 lead. Just 71 seconds into the contest Marcus Foligno made a nice little pass to spring multi sport star Tyler Ennis – as Jason Garrison casually did a fly-by – who made no mistake in beating Eddie Lack:

After missing 9 games, we had reason to wonder what kind of form Daniel Sedin would be in for his return to the lineup. Judging by his hooking technique, it looks like there’s no rust there. Vintage Sedinery:

.. the problem, though, is that the Daniel Sedin hook – with the teams at 4-on-4 already – allowed the Sabres to get an extra attacker out onto the ice on the delayed call. They capitalized, thanks to Ryan Stanton who has not only established himself as a deft (own) goal scorer but also someone who spoke too soon the other night.

Just because the Canucks don’t really have much to realistically play for doesn’t mean that Dan Hamhuis is going to take a night off, as he pays homage to fallen defense partner Chris Tanev with the blocked shot/diving clear effort:

The Canucks finally retaliated with a goal of their own following a wicked pass by Zack Kassian to put the puck on a tee for Brad Richardson, who put the puck where mom puts the cookie jar. The fact of the matter is that Kassian, whose playmaking abilities have been something that I’ve personally ranted and raved about for months now, would likely have far more assists on the year had his linemates (Richardson, Booth) been able to do stuff like this more often:

Ah, yes. John Scott doing John Scott things, which as per usual have next to nothing to actually do with the act of playing hockey:

There’s Zack Kassian, once again playing the role of playmaker to perfection as he thread the needle to Shawn Matthias in the slot. This goal – which made it 2-2 – came just 2:36 after the Richardson tally:

The Canucks took their first lead of the game after Yannick Weber’s goal just 1:40 into the 2nd period made it 3-2. Forget the fact that it was a shot that Nathan Lieuwen (who?) should’ve had; it marked Kassian’s 3rd assist on the night. 

PSA: If you’re planning on heading out to the Roxy to celebrate with Kassian tonight, make sure you don’t wait till too long after the game to make it out there. 

Alex Edler’s Most Valuable Tanker resume continues to look more and more impressive..

Ryan Kesler must be frustrated with the knee injury that sidelined him for two weeks. After he loses his stick, he goes out of his way to make sure that he lets the Buffalo Sabres know about it.

Then disaster struck. See for yourself: Henrik Sedin, on the night of his (belated) 1000th game celebration, left for the dressing room early after awkwardly twisting his leg. We’ll have to wait to hear about what the extent and severity of it is. But for now, continue to hyperventilate.

It’s 3-2 Canucks through 40, but just before the 2nd intermission, Nicklas Jensen put together a great solo effort to generate not only a scoring chance but also draw a penalty. [For some reason it won’t upload, but you can view it for yourself here.]

Same goes for David Booth’s goal to make it 4-2, and give Kassian 4 primary assists on the night. Some relevant piece of information:

It’s a Dan Hamhuis hipcheck. Enjoy. 

Nicklas Jensen and Christian Ehrhoff mix it up. Poor Christian Ehrhoff, must be irritated by the rough year he has had having to live in Buffalo and play for a terrible team.. *checks bank account* *suddenly feels significantly better*

Cody Hodgson nearly scored a goal, but then he didn’t. The great thing about Alex Edler is that he’s aware of all of the storylines at play; yes, as we documented earlier, he’s doing an admirable job of trying to help the team tank, but making sure that Cody Hodgson stays off of the scoreboard takes priority in this case.

That’s it for this one. The Canucks wound up holding on for the 4-2 victory. We’ll have our usual game recap in a little bit, and hopefully this new little feature is something you can get behind.