I couldn’t believe when I heard that that was Henrik Sedin’s first career hat trick.  I mean, I know the guy isn’t as prolific a scorer as his brother, but I certainly would have thought that he’d have gotten a hat trick by now. 

I don’t know which made me happier – the Canucks being up as quickly as they were, or the Leafs already being down by a pair with only four minutes gone in the first period in their game against the Flames.  Pity that a loss like that had to come at the hands of a Northwest division team.  But oh well.

The Canucks more than got the monkey of their recent three game skid off their backs with their performance last night.  Although they did manage to let the Avs make it a little interesting with their two goals before stepping on the gas again and leaving Colorado in the dust.  It was hardly what I’d call a complete game, but this was one of those nights where they didn’t really need to go hard for the full 60 minutes.  It would have been better if they *had*, but you can’t always have everything.

Mason Raymond played a hell of a game, though, particularly on Hank’s second goal, getting down the ice and sending the puck back out into the slot for Henrik to chip both the puck and himself over Craig Anderson.  Also great to see were Mathieu Schneider and Jannik Hansen picking up goals, along with Steve Bernier (with a pair!) and even Tanner Glass.

Now the Canucks have some time off (5 days again?!?) before they start a 5 game western home stand that could go a long way towards helping them make up some ground and get back to where they should be – at the top of the Northwest standings.  Sure, only two of those games are against NW teams (Avs again and Oilers), but it’s safe to say that they’ll probably wind up chasing either the Hawks or Sharks for playoff position as well.  And the Kings aren’t what they were last year.  No pushovers this time around.

Hopefully the layoff will give them a little more time to get the regulars back and ready to play.  Henrik, after all, is more than halfway past his season best mark of 22 goals in a season.  It’ll be interesting to see what happens when his brother gets back on the ice.

So, what could be better than a Saturday night victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs?  A win over the Oilers as a chaser?  Yep, that would make for a pretty damn good weekend. 

The Canucks played better in the first half of both games, trying hard not to allow a tying goal in the Leafs game, before Mason Raymond managed to finally put the game out of reach after Alex Burrows had hit the post on a shot at an empty net (the *second* time they hit the post after the Leafs pulled Joey McDonald).

It felt like the Canucks were trying to sit on their 2-1 lead, but it became pretty clear that that wasn’t in fact the goal.  They were hanging on for dear life after more failed attempts to get the puck out of their own end than I could count.  Rather weak attempts.  This would have been one of those times that it would have been fine to ice the puck, and then have Alain Vigneault call a time-out to give those stuck on the ice a break.  Yeah, the puck still would have been in the Canucks’ end, but it might have been enough to break the momentum.

Failing that, and I know they’re paranoid about putting the puck over the glass and taking a penalty, but here’s a tip.  Don’t aim for the glass.  Try and scoop the puck up and hit the damn scoreboard.  It’ll get the puck out of the zone, and no chance of taking a penalty because the puck caught the top of the glass.

All in all, a good win, though, with Ryan Kesler also picking up a goal on a great wrist-shot from the point.

And then the Oilers came to town.  Roberto Luongo picked up his first shutout of the season, and 21st as a Canuck to move him past Kirk McLean as the all-time leader in shutouts as a Canuck. 

It wasn’t the typical extremely physical contest when the Oil come to town, but still entertaining.  Michael Grabner bagged his second goal, and Henrik Sedin  managed to tip in a shot from the point and ice the game. 

Neither of the games was particularly thrilling, in my opinion, other than the fact that the Canucks picked up four points.  They were just…wins.  Even with the whole thing in the media about Brian Burke and Mike Gillis, it seems to have been more of a creation of the MSM.  Kind of like when two teams have a brawl filled game and play each other again four or five days later.  The followup game has none of the issues of the first game.  But the MSM makes it sound like WWIII is going to happen.

Meh.

One more home game against the Wings on Tuesday, and then it’s off on a road trip for a bit.  Things appear to have turned the corner, particularly with Luongo, who gives the impression that he’s finally hit his stride after his traditional slow start.

Which is a good thing, because they’ve got some work to do catching the Flames and Avs (!) before the tough work starts after the new year.

I wrote yesterday that a pissed off Roberto Luongo usually means that he’s destined to have an incredible game in his next outing.  Seems that I was a little wrong in this case.  While Luongo certainly played well, it was the rest of the Canucks that looked like they were pissed off about the outcome of the previous three games.  As they should have been.

But, damn, that was a good game last night.

Henrik Sedin scored twice, including a 2 on 0 break where he would normally have passed the puck.  This time he took the shot, and was well rewarded.  He should remember that good things happen when you shoot sometimes, too.

But it seemed like everyone was scoring last night.  Mason Raymond, Ryan Kesler, and Steve Bernier all got their first goals of the season, with Alex Burrows and Mikael Samuelsson rounding things out.

The best moment of the night for me, though, was watching 5’11” Rick Rypien squaring off with 6’7” Hal Gill.  And Rypien handled himself perfectly.  I really thought the crowd would respond more vocally than they did. 

Yeah, it’s only one game, but the Canucks showed what they were capable of last night.  Complete domination of another team.  And Jacques Martin is supposed to be a defensive specialist of a coach?  Uh, not from what I saw last night. 

So that’s the first win of the season and now the whining can stop (okay, okay, at least die down a bit).  But it’s time to get ready for the Stars on Sunday night.  It should be interesting to see what they do with three days off between home games.

Back in 1982, when I was lucky enough to see all of the games at the Pacific Coliseum during the Canucks run to the Finals, one thing that was well known was that the Chicago Stadium was a hostile, scary place to play.  The loudest place in the NHL by far.  Evidently not much has changed.

The Hawks rolled Bobby Hull out last night to try and get the crowed roiled up, and it sure seemed to work at first.  But the Canucks refused to be intimidated by the whole thing, and within the first eight minutes or so, it was as quite as a baseball game between a couple of teams who are 25 games out.  Just what the Canucks needed.

Jumping out to a 3-0 lead helped even more, with Mason Raymond, Steve Bernier, and Henrik Sedin scoring for the Canucks.  This time, though, they didn’t let the Hawks back into the game, playing their best technical game of this series.  Now they’ve got their split at least, and if they’re able to do the same thing on Thursday, they could close the whole thing out on Saturday night here at the Garage. 

Think it was loud downtown when they swept the Blues?  Get ready for even louder.

If they can just keep their focus for Thursday night, and not try and play above their heads, coming home with a 3-1 series lead shouldn’t be an issue.  Bringing back a bit more of the physicality wouldn’t hurt, either.  Take the crowd out of the game, and a big part of it’s already won.

Rather amazing to think, isn’t it?  That the Vancouver Canucks, that team that couldn’t win a game in the month of January, the team that lost 9 straight at home, would end that streak and start one going in the other direction.  They lost 9 in a row at home, and they’ve gone on to win their last 10 at GM Place, setting a new club record in the process.

Their killing of the 5-on-3 in the third period was almost text-book perfect.  The only way it could have gone better was if Ryan Kesler had gotten to that puck that had been chipped out, and had a breakaway from his own blueline.  Damn Marty Turco.  Other than that, though, it was great.  They followed one simpe rule, which they should keep in mind for the balance of the season:  If the puck touches your stick, slap it down the ice. Simple but very effective.

That was about the only thing that didn’t work out for Kes, though, picking up another goal and an assist.  And it was great to see Mason Raymond chip in too, with an assist on Steve Bernier’s goal.  The kid just hasn’t been able to get any kind of a break lately.

And the team that was in danger of missing the playoffs if it didn’t get itself turned around has now pulled even with the Chicago Blackhawks for fourth in the Western Conference, and sits just three points back of the Calgary Flames for the lead in the Northwest.  Not many people saw that happening back in January when the lead was a dozen points, did they?

Home ice advantage in the playoffs would sure make a difference if they were to start today.  But, they don’t, of course, and the Blues are back in town tomorrow night.  The Canucks need to step on them early and often to make sure that the streak climbs to 11 in a row at home, and 16-3-1 in their last 20.

Sure does feel good to say that, doesn’t it?

When the Sabres scored on their first shot of the game, it had the potential to turn into a long night.  And when it suddenly turned into a 3-0 lead before the end of the first period, it was pretty much a given.  Obviously it wasn’t the best performance of the year, but the Canucks weren’t up for it like they obviously were for the Detroit game the night before.

All they can really do is forget about it and focus on Chicago for tomorrow night.  Being outshot 31 – 25 isn’t really going to win you a lot of games either, especially if you only get 8 shots in the final period.

Maybe shaking the lines up a bit will help, as it did with Steve Bernier, Mason Raymond and Henrik Sedin being in on the second Canucks goal.  The third line chipped in yet again with Kesler putting one in as well.

All they can do is try and forget about this one.  There’s too much time left in the season to dwell on the odd bad game in October.

Next up is Chicago tomorrow night.

Nathan McIver finally scored a game winning goal on Sunday night. Only problem was, he no longer played for the Canucks when he did it. The Canucks had to put McIver on waivers in order to send him to the Moose late last week, and the Anaheim Ducks snapped him up.

Notwithstanding that, though, the Canucks were playing catch-up all night with the Ducks, never having the lead in the game which really turned into the Mason Raymond show. The guy played an awesome game, scoring two goals, including one that Canucks.com called ‘Bure-esque’.

So the undefeated pre-season didn’t happen, but considering how many thought the Canucks’ season was going to go, 6-0-1 is pretty damn good. Look – forget about what all of the experts say about Vancouver struggling to finish any higher than 10th or 11th in the West. If the season plays out like the pre-season did, it’s going to be an exciting season for Canucks fans, and the team could finish anywhere from 4th to 7th in the West. But then, that’s just my opinion. We’ll see how it pans out.

But it’s time to focus on the Flames for the next two games. Because now it matters.

Behind the bench:

• Canucks Vs. Ducks. End of Preseason. – The Humming Giraffe

I’d also like to point out that this marks the 100th post on CanuckNation.ca, and I’d like to thank all of those who read the site regularly and post comments. Your feedback and participation are very greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Well, now. I’m glad I was right about the outcome and wrong about the score. (And yeah, I realized that Bert didn’t play last night, so he wasn’t going to score).

For all of those who claim that the Canucks have no one who can score, I’d like to invite you to explain what happened last night, then. Obviously they aren’t going to put six into the net each night, but the fact that neither the Sedins, nor Steve Bernier played, and they sat the regular defensive corps, that was a pretty damn impressive win.

If Jannick Hansen and Mason Raymond don’t start the season here, there’s something seriously wrong with what Alain Vigneault and Mike Gillis are thinking. I mean, all Hansen did was score two goals on three shots in only 11:30 of ice time – less than any other skater for the Canucks last night. The guy deserves a shot at starting the season here. Mason Raymond, too. Another three points for him as well, and he was just flying. It was fun to watch. Even more fun than watching the Blues spank the Leafs.

About the only negative aspect of last night’s game was the penalty trouble that the Canucks got into late in the game, with Taylor Pyatt, Mike Brown, and Alex Burrows all going off in a span of one minute and 18 seconds, leaving the Canucks to play two men down for a long time. At least the game was well in hand, but, come on, usually it’s the team that’s down by 5 goals that takes the stupid penalties at the end of the game. Staying out of the penalty box at inopportune times is something else the Canucks have to work on.

Thankfully, Roberto Luongo played incredibly on the PK, and nothing else got by him. Not bad for a guy who wasn’t even scheduled to play last night.

And the Canucks are 5-0 – the only unbeaten team left in the pre-season. Sure would be nice to see this momentum roll over into the start of the regular season with 4 or 5 wins in a row coming out of the gate.

Sharks are in town tonight, and Bobby’s going to the game, so he’ll have his thoughts posted after the game or tomorrow morning.

6 – 0 isn’t too much to ask.

From the pressbox:

• Demolition of Flames ‘a lot of fun’ – Jason Botchford – The Province
• Kesler Hails Hansen After Two-Goal Night – Jim Jamieson – The Province
• Canucks Offense Too Much For Flames In 6-1 Loss – TSN

According to Canucks.com, it looks like Sami Salo will play either tonight against the Wings, or Friday against the Capitals. Hopefully this will be the shot that the defensive corps needs after falling way off from where they were for the second half of last season.

Taylor Pyatt is going to play after getting clipped by Mason Raymond’s stick the other night, although Kevin Bieksa flew home to be with his wife, who’s giving birth to their first baby. Congratulations.

A number of people said that maybe the Canucks just needed to get away from GM Place for a bit and pick up some wins on the road. I was among those people. But so far they’re 1-1 with two games left that aren’t going to be simple wins. It’s time for them to start focusing on what they’re capable of doing, and if they play with the same work ethic they employed last year, they’ll be OK. I guess we’ll see tonight.

J.J. at the Canucks Hockey Blog has his thoughts on tonight’s game as well.