Redemption- seeking Miller finds shootout the perfect way to pay back team
Goalies don’t often look forward to shootouts, but Ryan Miller welcomed the penaltyshot competition that decided the Vancouver Canucks’ homeopener.
Miller was seeking a little redemption and wanted a chance to pay back his teammates for bailing him out earlier in the game.
“It’s a nice way to finish,” Miller said after the Canucks’ escaped with a 5- 4 come- frombehind win over the Edmonton Oilers. “The boys worked really hard and bailed me out. It’s going to take all different ways this year so it’s good to see they all stuck together and weren’t fazed by a couple of tough goals from their perspective.”
Miller stopped all three Oiler shooters in the shootout — Jordan Eberle, David Perron and Benoit Pouliot. Miller suggested it was the least he could do after allowing a couple of soft goals.
“I was not really thrilled with my positioning on the two secondperiod goals,” Miller said.
He looked particularly bad when Nail Yakupov skated around Vancouver defenceman Luca Sbisa and slid the puck through Miller early in the second period to give Edmonton a 3- 1 lead.
“It doesn’t matter how you get there, you have to contribute,” Miller said. “The boys were skating well all night, so I had to hang in there and make a few adjustments and not let that first and second period linger too long in my head. Like I said, it wasn’t the way I envisioned to get going, but I’m happy to get a win and happy I contributed later in the game.”
Vancouver Chris Higgins got the only shootout goal. NAUGHTY BOY: It was a fight no one expected to see. Vancouver defenceman Dan Hamhuis and Oilers centre Ryan Nugent- Hopkins had a spirited scrap in the third period of Saturday night’s game.
Afterwards, a smiling Hamhuis said he hoped his three young daughters weren’t watching.
“I hope they weren’t in the stands for that one,” Hamhuis said. “I’ll have some explaining to do about spending some time in the naughty box.”
It was Hamhuis’ first fight since he dropped the gloves with current teammate Alex Burrows while a member of the Nashville Predators on March 7, 2010. NICE TIMING: Centre Linden Vey’s first NHL goal came in his 20th game, but just his second as a Canuck. Vey skated into the slot to take a pass from Daniel Sedin and beat Edmonton goalie Viktor Fasth five- hole to tie Saturday’s game and force overtime. “Home- opener, lots of nerves, lots of family and friends had flown in — it was a good time to score a goal to tie the game,” Vey said.
The goal came on the power play, where Vey feels blessed to play with the Sedins.
“You always have to be ready,” he said. “They’ll throw passes behind the back. My job is just to find the open area and I was lucky that one got through.”
OFF THE MARK: If you haven’t noticed, you’re not alone. The NHL has moved the hash marks further apart — from three feet to five feet, seven inches, which is the current international standard. The idea is to minimize the pre- faceoff battles between wingers and defencemen lined against one another. The hope is the additional space will create more offence.
But Canuck winger Derek Dorsett said it took him some time to even notice the change, which was tested during the pre- season and has now been implemented for the regular season.
“To be honest with you I played the first two pre- season games and I didn’t even realize it,” Dorsett said. “I don’t think it makes that much difference. Obviously there is a little more room to jump through off the draws.”
COMETS SPLIT OPENERS: The Utica Comets, Vancouver’s AHL affiliate, split their opening two games of the regular season on the road against the Toronto Marlies. Utica won the opener 2- 1 and then dropped the second game 3- 2 in overtime.
Dustin Jeffrey, with two, Cal O’Reilly and Brandon DeFazio scored Utica’s goals. Hunter Shinkaruk picked up an assist in Sunday’s loss to earn his first professional point.
Jacob Markstrom and Joacim Eriksson split goaltending duties in the first two games. Joe Cannata, the odd man out in goal, has been assigned to the ECHL’s Ontario Reign in Southern California.
ICE CHIPS: When they do finally play again Friday night in Edmonton, the Canucks will be attempting to go 3- 0- 0 to start the season for the first time since the 1999- 2000 campaign. Marc Crawford’s Canucks team opened that season with wins over three Original Six opponents, the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens. ... Coach Willie Desjardins hopes injured centre Bo Horvat could return to practice this week. “I think he is getting real close,” Desjardins said Monday. Horvat has been out since suffering an apparent shoulder injury in an Oct. 2 preseason game in Edmonton.