Canucks rally with solid team effort
They couldn’t clinch, but they didn’t flinch.
The salivating scenario of a regulation loss by Winnipeg in Minnesota and a regulation Canucks victory over Los Angeles at Rogers Arena could have propelled Vancouver into the playoffs Monday. But the Jets blanked the Wild 2-0 and the obvious challenge was to not beat themselves in hopes of beating the Kings. And in that respect, the Canucks can take something from a 2-1 shootout victory.
On a night where it looked like they were going to be beat by Jonathan Quick — and a post — some slick Sedinery and Eddie Lack’s bounce-back effort made it memorable. When Henrik Sedin went behind the net and threw a blind back pass into the slot midway through the third period, Daniel Sedin wired it past Quick’s glove to make it 1-1. It was the captain’s 700th career assist.
The issue was settled when Chris Higgins out-waited Quick and roofed a shootout backhander. And Lack put an exclamation mark on it with three shootout saves.
“Before the game, I was thinking back to the summer and this is one of those games you work for all summer and all year,” said Lack. “I wanted to be sharp. I tried to focus on the process and think about my technique and not get too carried away.”
It could have ended earlier. There was a sharp Quick pad save off an Alex Burrows backhand in the slot, robbing Ronalds Kenins on a cross-ice, slap-pass by Jannik Hansen. There was Yannick Weber’s backhander on a 2-on-1 break clanging off the post with Quick flopped on this back. And there was also Lack. His 36-save performance provided the chance for victory.
Even though they surrendered an early Dwight King goal — the seventh time in the last eight games the opposition has scored first — the Canucks chipped away. Bo Horvat was a horse and strong in the circle, Burrows couldn’t get a penalty call until the third period and the Canucks never quit. An 0-for-3 power play was a sour point, but the overall effort wasn’t.