Most common lines
VAN
22 Sedin 33 Sedin 38 Demitra
14 Burrows 17 Kesler 42 Hansen
18 Bernier 4 2 Wellwood 9 Pyatt
8 Mitchell 6 Salo
55 OBrien 23 Edler
2 Ohlund 32 Nycholat
* Took me until the 2nd period to find out who was the 6th dman is for the Canucks. I dont think he has played at all in the 1st!
NYR
24 Callahan 23 Drury 91 Naslund
13 Zherdev 17 Dubinsky 34 Voros
20 Sjostrom ??? ???
* down by 3 goals early in the 2nd, things get muddled
6 Redden 5 Girardi
3 Rozsival 45 Kalinin
27 Mara 24 Staal
1st period 9:15 left
(vid 0:45) Wellwood completely dekes Lundqvist out of his skates on a breakaway to give VAN the lead.
Mason Raymond gets denied on another breakaway 30secs later... is the Rangers D too slow to keep up?
(vid 1:01) Shorthanded breakaway... This should never happen. Burrows slaps it home stick side. Once again, the Rangers defense can't keep up.
End of the 1st period (VAN 2-0 NYR)
That line of Burrows, Kesler and Hansen is buzzing around like crazy and noone seems able to stop them... maybe be better to wait until they lose the puck on their own than attempt to chase them!
Wellwood might be great offensively but he makes bonehead moves in his own zone... and I don't mean bad bounce or losing the puck on the other guy's strong effort, I just mean stupid slow passes down the middle.
Luongo has been strong in the first. The Rangers shoots often and from lots of different angles, very quick release that surprises the goalie and tests their reflexes and preparedness.
2nd period 16:30 left (VAN 4-1 NYR)
Hold on here! I can't keep up! The Rangers keep losing the battles in their own zones and the Canucks keep passing it in front and slamming it in the back of the net! First, Burrows from Hansen then Johnson on a very similar play.
(vid 2:16) Drury shows why he was named captain. He carries the puck from the blue line, skates around a slow moving dman and dekes Luongo to bring a semblance of competiveness into the game
2nd period 13:00 left (VAN 5-1 NYR)
I guess the rest of the Rangers aren't too much into it! They take two penalties in a row for a long 5 on 3. The Canucks are using an extremely wide pentagon for the 5-on-3 with both wingers along the goal line. They pass it around and the dmen slowly move in to close things down.
A long review on a puck trickling in (vid 2:40) comes out no goal but the Canucks scores a few seconds later... and then Lundqvist just bolts out of the goal for the bench! I don't know if that was planned... It didnt look like it, just look like King Henrik had enough and decided to let Valiquette handle the rest of that 5-on-3 and a 5-1 losing proposition... gotta watch that GAA!
End of the 2nd (VAN 5-2 NYR)
The Rangers scored on a broken play and gave a much better effort at the end of the period. We will see how the Canucks react as I am sure the Rangers will come out strong.
3rd period 4:00 left (VAN 5-3 NYR)
Do you wanna bet Shane O'Brien isn't playing the next game? He just took his 5th minor penalty of the game, none of them "good" penalties. The kid seems to panic and grab when he gets beaten. The Canucks killing this penalty with 2mins left afterwards will seal the deal.
End of the 3rd (VAN 6-3 NYR)
Overall, the Canucks play a very good possession game, relentless pursuit and everybody backchecking. It's a team that works hard and has some good speed with Mason Raymond, Kesler, Burrows and the Sedins who look slow but somehow get around faster than their pursuers. The defense is adequate only. Ohlund & Salo are overrated and can be easily pushed around defensively. Of course, with Luongo in goal, anybody would look good.
The Rangers did not look like a contender tonight. With Gomez out, it became apparent that this team needs to have 3 good lines rolling offensively to have a chance. Their defense looks awful, especially Redden and Rozsival.
Burrows was the best player on the ice and pesky Ryan Callahan one of the rare bright spots for the blueshirts.
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