The Building Block

Things are down to the old cliché of one game at a time and on Tuesday, the Vancouver Canucks claimed one of their first of the one game at a times.

Vancouver came out flying in the first period, playing the body with more authority than of late, their four lines were involved for that first twenty minutes and assisted by a serious case of the brain cramps by the Oilers, they quickly took the lead and never looked back on their way to a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers.

It wasn’t at all what many of the Canuck faithful was going to happen, the play of late had many wondering if the Canucks would be able to hold off an Oiler team that seems to have had their number this year, up until Tuesday night.

Alex Auld held his own in the Canuck net, making key saves and not giving up any troublesome rebounds in the Canuck end of the ice. Todd Bertuzzi was more involved in the flow on Tuesday, delivering some bone crusher hits and setting up shop in front of Dwayne Roloson, wreaking much havoc in the Oiler end of the rink.

The Sedins and Anson Carter continued their effective play as a unit, benefiting from numerous power play opportunities to control the puck and take some scoring chances. Daniel Sedin scored twice on the night, once on the power play and once into an empty net at the end of the game. Trevor Linden and Ryan Kesler also contributed to the Canuck score sheet on Tuesday.

It was by far a much better team effort than what Canuck fans have seen of late, with only the general ineffectiveness of the Canucks power plays to worry about on the night, from 5 on 3 to 5 on 4, the Canucks continued to have their problems in creating scoring chances and directing shots on target. The Oilers dug themselves some deep holes, but the Canucks couldn’t shovel the dirt into the hole to totally rout them on Tuesday.


But in the end, it’s all about the two points and on Tuesday the Canucks collected two very important points in the west. They can add to their total on Thursday night and again on Saturday, when they face the Oilers again, in rare back to back games at home against the same opponent. It’s in effect a three game mini series, and so far the Canucks have taken a 1-0 lead in the face off with the Oilers.