There’s really not much to say about Week 6 for the Vancouver Canucks. The latest road trip through Arizona and California started out promising but quickly ended on a disappointing note.
In the first road game against the Phoenix Coyotes, the Canucks realized that they were running into a hot club whose address resides outside of Cali. Like most of their games, the Canucks first trailed. Although they tied and took a 2-1 lead, the lead wouldn’t hold for long. After Shane Doan’s game-tying goal, both teams extended to the shootout, where the Coyotes’ Andrew Vermette potted the winner while Henrik Sedin lost control of the puck and never had a chance against Mike Smith. Both he and Luongo are making a serious case to be Team Canada’s starter for the upcoming Winter Olympics in Sochi.
http://youtu.be/lhuQoFO7vWc
Entering San Jose, Vancouver’s likelihood of beating the Sharks was very remote, not after they’ve beaten them nine straight games including last year’s first round sweep. The Sharks however were in a funk and it was up to the Canucks to break out of their own and get the ball rolling. Once again, Luongo had to deal with some terrible bounces early but stayed the course to help his team defeat the Sharks 4-2.
http://youtu.be/trKOTFRlHVA
The weekend in SoCal was a negative blur. Again, not much needed to be said about the Canucks floundering against two hot teams in the Kings and the Ducks. The highlights speak for themselves. Got a bottle of Aspirin nearby?
http://youtu.be/A77llcHshOI
http://youtu.be/tYIPnSiLX00
Canucks Rating: C-
Highs: The Canucks played their most complete game, that was against the Sharks.
Lows: The King’s victory was the Canucks’ most embarrassing defeat thus far.
Outlook: The Canucks play the Sharks again on Nov 13. They’ll have to forget about their humiliating end and move on in their long homestand. This will be a different Sharks team that’s bent on getting rid of their own losing funk. And then after a long break, the Canucks return to action next Sunday to face the Dallas Stars.