NHL Saturday night Match Analysis: Vancouver Canucks vs. Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3
After four straight victories, it looked as if Vancouver was back in form after a less than exciting start to the 2011-2012 National Hockey League (NHL) regular season but when they lost two back-to-back to Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets, things started to look down again.
The Canucks bounced back and routed the Toronto Maple Leafs, 5-3, on Saturday night, December 17, 2011, at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, handing down the team their second straight loss after a 5-4 loss against Buffalo Sabres, earlier on Friday.
Vancouver now stands in the sixth number spot of the Western Conference with 40 points and is tied with the St. Louis Blues. Toronto, on the other hand, is barely above the playoff entry line at the eight-number position with 35 points, tied with Buffalo Sabres.
Both teams will have to play in top notch form in their upcoming contests in order to move up in the rankings and improve their positions as the season progresses with the playoffs getting closer day by day.
Toronto failed to make the postseason earlier this year due to the lack of positioning and a poor performance despite having a talented roster on their side. This season is extremely crucial for Toronto’s survival in the league as one of the best teams as they will have to prove themselves this time around.
With a special rivalry between then Canucks and Maple Leafs, every contest in between the two makes every match even more special.
"The Leafs have always been a team I hated as a kid," Vancouver’s Alex Burrows said. "For some reason it feels good to play here -- it's a great building, the fans are great, it's nice to play. I know a lot of fans in Vancouver don't like this team. ... It just makes it extra special."
Christopher Higgins kicked off the scoring with his ninth of the season, 1:02 into the opening period, off an assist by Alexander Edler and Sami Salo.
Toronto did not stay behind for long as Joffrey Lupul found the open spot behind Canucks' veteran goalie, Roberto Luongo, to level the match, four minutes in on their first power play opportunity of the night with Vancouver’s Keith Ballard booked at the 3:17 mark for holding.
Keith Aulie of Toronto faced the music as well for boarding with a minor penalty a little over midway through the opening period but Vancouver failed to capitalise on their initial added man advantage.
Mason Raymond made the tie-breaker, 49 seconds into the second for his third, giving Vancouver the boost, but Tyler Bozak followed right back, nearly midway through to equalise it once again.
Daniel Sedin made the crucial goal which put Vancouver ahead with less than a minute to go in the second period and gave them a lead to work on in the final 20 minutes.
Alex Burrows made the extension shot 14:06 in while Phil Kessel added his 19th to keep Toronto alive with less than three minutes remaining but it was Jannik Hansen who took the match out of the Maple Leafs' hands with a breakaway goal, unassisted, nearly a minute later.
"They turned the puck over in a bad area," said Henrik Sedin, "If that happens usually you get a lot of room, we we're up against a team that played the second day of a back to back and they looked a little tired, but we played well and didn't give them a whole lot."
Vancouver has the next four at home, starting off with the Minnesota Wild on Monday, while Toronto hosts the Los Angeles Kings on the same day.
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