Will the Canucks kiss Kes goodbye?
Agent calls report of a trade request ‘bunch of BS’ and Gillis won’t comment
This much we know for sure.
Ryan Kesler’s left hand is a mess. And the Vancouver Canucks will be in a world of hurt on their long climb to a playoff position if the centre is sidelined with a fracture from his Sochi shot-blocking sacrifice — or if Kesler is dealt before or at the March 5 deadline. Either way, it will be hard to manage the pain. Did somebody say trade? A pre-game report that Kesler has asked to be dealt brought a swift “it’s a bunch of BS” denial from his agent, an “I won’t comment on it under any circumstances” response from general manager Mike Gillis and plenty of speculation.
After all, the former Selke Trophy winner has a team-high 20 goals and was leading all NHL forwards in average ice time (22:12). He was third in blocked shots (59), fifth in shots (205) and sixth in road goals (15).
Kesler is also a prime shutdown centre and special-teams performer. His absence in any projected scenario could have easily overshadowed a 1-0 victory as the Canucks held the Blues to three third-period shots, ended a seven-game losing streak and beat the Western Conference powerhouse for the third time this season.
The suspense ended when Tom Sesito lifted a backhand pass in the neutral zone and Jannik Hansen sped away from Roman Polak to beat Jaroslav Halak to the stick side at 11:13. It vaulted the Canucks from 10th to eighth in the conference and Eddie Lack to fan-favourite status with his third career shutout and third win over the Blues this campaign.
“A great play by Tommy,” Hansen said of his 10th goal. “He saw that I was sprung and feathered a nice pass and it was a matter of getting it through the goalie. This was the 60-minute game that we’ve been talking about for a while now. We put out that kind of effort, we’ve got a good chance to win games.”
On a night where there was plenty of post-Olympic break rust, there were also some encouraging signs.
Goaltending isn’t going to be a problem down the stretch. Lack’s 20-save performance was crisp and the team played better in front of its net than it has in a long time.
“I had some good D-men who did an excellent job and our forwards blocked a couple of big shots,” said Lack. “It was a really good game overall for us. We’ve been talking for quite a while about being able to shut the door and I barely saw the puck in the third period. Rollie (goaltending coach Melanson) has been bugging me a for a few weeks that we need to win these 1-0 games and this was huge.”
If that giddy-up that David Booth had in his stride stays — it created three first-period shots and a sequence where he released a heavy wrist shot from the slot and got his own rebound — there may be something on a third line with Zack Kassian and Brad Richardson. Then again, what continues to concern the Canucks is their 24thranked offence. They were reminded before the game that they needed to go 14-4-4 — or 16-6-0 according to an optimistic Alex Burrows — just to get to the projected 95-point playoff bar and squeeze into the post-season. And with the top line reunited with Henrik Sedin healed from bruised ribs, Burrows from a sprained hand and Daniel Sedin buoyed by his Olympic experience, one thing didn’t change. Daniel hasn’t scored in 20 games, Henrik in 18 and Burrows in all of his 29 outings. Burrows did slide a puck wide in the third period after hanging on to it too long on another chance.
The second line now consists of Jordan Schroeder between Chris Higgins and Hansen. But they won. “In my mind, they (Blues) are probably the most complete team in the league and we’ve played them well and did again tonight,” said Henrik. “If they would have scored in the third and we’re standing here talking about how good we played and lost another game — that would have been tough.”
“We stayed within ourselves,” said Canucks coach John Tortorella. “We stayed with our game. People wanted the puck. They didn’t want to get rid of it. They wanted to make plays.”