With the shortened season coming to a close, teams are focused on narrowing the race in the Northwest Division continues to be a tight fit between the Canucks and the Minnesota Wild.
Phoenix continues to fight for position barely outside of the top eight in the Western Conference, with each game meaning more than the last one. There uphill climb clearly does them no favors as we near the end of the shortened season.
Phoenix has three straight wins, with two against LA and the Wings, but don’t count them out just yet. Phoenix is 4-8-5 away from the desert with seven of the team’s last 10 games on the road. This game opens a three-game swing by Phoenix through Western Canada, with one in Phoenix (next Monday) only to be followed by a three-game swing through the Midwest.
This could wear a team down but if Phoenix is to make the playoffs, the team must continue to play top hockey in the stretch run of the season. The Canucks do not play Minny again this season; but both are still playing a domino game over their final 10 games.
The Canucks enter a stretch that might see them win a fifth-consecutive Northwest Division title. They take to the road for five game’s which takes them through Alberta and the Midwest in a period of eight days.
The pitfalls of such a brutal travel schedule make the two points up for grab Monday night all the more important. The Canucks have won eight of their past 10 games, but much of that was due to superior goaltending by Schneider, who has re-established himself as the team’s starter. For much of the past month Vancouver’s offense has struggled, but after two big nights by Sedin the Canucks appear to be scoring again, with nine goals over their past two games.
The Coyotes hot-handed player is Martin Hanzal who has four points in the past two games, while the Canucks hot-hand is Daniel has two goals and three assists over the past two games. Both teams have an injury plagued line-up with Phoenix having Korpikoski and Michalek out of the line-up.
The Canucks are missing Ballard who is out with a foot injury and has been out for five games, Fan favorite Ryan Kesler’s foot is fully healed and is in the line-up and in this contest managed to get the games first goal, which was the eventual game winner.
The game was tight-checking with neither team wanting to give the other the edge, but in the end it was the Canucks that came out on top in what some called a “slow affair” with no real tempo.
As the Canucks pressed Phoenix “tender” Mike Smith was constantly in the middle of traffic and at times getting run over by players of either his team or the Canucks.
His comments following the game was “it is what it is and no doubt it will be addressed at the end of the season, so in the mean time we (all goalies) deal with it.” Great way to look at it, considering they can’t change it in the middle of the season, nor will they try too.
The Canucks put this game behind them and focus on the remaining end of the season.
