When the Vancouver Canucks won their fourth straight game Sunday night, they did more than just beat the Colorado Avalanche. They moved into sole possession of the second and final Western Conference wild card spot.
Gone are the days these Canucks could bank on a post-season berth for steamrolling their sadsack Northwest Division brothers. Sure, the Oilers and Flames still stink like day-old skunk sandwiches, but in the realigned NHL, the Canucks have to catch one of Anaheim, LA or San Jose for a legitimate Pacific Division playoff spot.
The win was no easy feat. Sure, Vancouver has spanked the Avs over the past few years — losing just once in ten tries, and that was in extra time. But this year’s Avalanche look very different under head coach Patrick Roy. Ignoring that 8–2 loss to Edmonton the other night, Colorado has been one of the league’s eye openers this year. They’ve got ten road wins already, more than twice what they picked up last year and three more Ws than the Canucks have earned at home so far this year.
It wasn’t pretty, but the Canucks managed to hold the fort. When they took a 1–0 lead into the third period, those who had managed to stay awake through forty were pleasantly surprised. First Ryan Kesler donned the cape to double the lead, setting up a scoring chance from behind the net before shovelling in a rebound from the blue paint. Then Mike Santorelli sniped his second of the night, a gorgeous shot top cheese on a 2-on-1. (This shouldn’t shock anyone, as ‘Santorelli’ is of course Italian for ‘roof daddy’.)
More after the jump.
As per Canuck tradition, Roberto Luongo’s shutout bid was ruined with 7.1 seconds left. Patrick Roy — who sits two ahead of Luongo for 14th on the all-time shutout list — in fact pulled JS Giguere out of the Avs net with five minutes left in a bid to play spoiler. Luongo wound up stopping 28 of 29 shots, letting only the last-ditch snapper from Jamie McGinn by him.
Kesler now has a team-high fifteen goals on the season, good for eighth overall in the NHL. His five game-winning goals is good for second in the league behind Ryan Getzlaf of the Anaheim Ducks. He has five goals in his last four games, and is on pace for a 38-goal season.
The main question about Kesler is where his goals come from. Gone, it seems, are the days when SuperKes would show up to power the team over worrisome opponents like the Blackhawks and Sharks. Two goals against Carolina is great and all — I’d sure love to see him score a pair Monday in the second half of this back-to-back — but this is the Hurricanes, for crying out loud. Ryan Kesler vs Eric Staal is fun, maybe even an Olympic matchup, but the Canucks shouldn’t need RK17 in red and blue tights to win this game.
In fact, only five of Kesler’s goals this year have come against solid playoff teams. Wouldn’t it be great to see him light up the Bruins on Saturday, or the Hawks Friday next? With the chemistry he, Santo and Chris Higgins have shown of late, maybe we’ll get that very treat.