You can count the Canucks as in favour of never leaving the division for the rest of the year, as the last week of December turned in their favour.With games against Calgary and Edmonton all registering in the win column over the last seven days, the Canucks are finding that staying close to home has its benefits.
The Canucks who have been rather inconsistent over the year thus far, have put things together over the last number of games and Saturday night’s thumping of the Edmonton Oilers showcased the newly confident Canucks at the top of their game.
The Sedin’s once away led the way, as they continue to take larger steps into the spotlight and become the scoring force for the Canucks game in and game out. Daniel Sedin in particular had a big night Saturday as he registered two goals and an assist on the way to Vancouver’s 6-2 victory over a struggling Oiler squad.
Roberto Luongo continued to play solid goal, knocking back a number of Oiler attempts, the goals scored on him on Saturday were more indicative of lack of attention than of any flaws. A shot that careened wildly off of the lively boards caught Luongo by surprise and provided the Oilers with a gift of a goal, but on the whole the Canucks’ goaltender shut down the Oiler attack quite well.
Sami Salo and Mathius Ohlund were strong on defence and played well into the offensive zone as well as Alan Vigneault’s squad began to shake off the tentativeness of the early part of the season and found the rhythm they need to take charge of the Northwest Division.
Vancouver has scored fifteen goals in their last three games a marked change from the lethargic ways of even a few weeks ago, while it’s possibly a bit early yet it does seem that they have finally turned the corner and may soon resemble the team that so many Vancouver fans thought they had at the start of the season.
The Canucks have New Years Eve off to celebrate and plan for a successful 2007, the Oilers and Flames will renew Auld Lang Syne one more time before the year is out with a New years eve battle in Calgary.
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