The Canucks and Ducks went into the third period of Friday night's game tied at one. The game still needed an ending, and it seemed easy enough to predict how it would go: No NHL team has surrendered more third-period goals than Vancouver. And no NHL team has allowed fewer third-period goals than Anaheim, who are also a superior hockey team to the Canucks in every way. So naturally, the Canucks won! April Fools!
Heck, maybe this whole season has been an April Fool's Day prank, with the Canucks feigning badness so we'd be well and truly shocked when they win in San Jose and Anaheim on back-to-back nights. If that's the case, I think they went too far -- you really shouldn't have to leave the country for your big prank. But in their defence, it was a pretty good prank. I was really, really surprised when I watched this game.
- Now, some might say the real April Fools are those who are still following this Canucks team into the final month of the season, but to them I say, you missed a win. And those same some might counter by pointing out that it's far better for the Canucks to lose right now. (They're all on Twitter, if you don't believe me. Watching the Canucks hashtag light up with rage when Vancouver turned a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 lead was darkly comical. Canucks fans are a house divided against themselves, which means they cannot stand. What can't they stand, you ask? Matt Bartkowski, mostly. But I digress.) I don't watch Canucks games to see them lose. If I did, this season would have been much more fun.
- You'd have been forgiven for watching this one to see Vancouver lose, especially since tonight's game had "Ducks win" written all over it from the outset. Ducks good, Canucks bad, for one thing. But you also had Vancouver coming in on the second night of a back-to-back, and without Sven Baertschi, which -- and take this however you want it -- is a devastating blow for this team. Then, to make matters worse, the Ducks opened the scoring 48 seconds in on their first shot of the game. But to Vancouver's credit, and eventual detriment, they never gave up.
- Vancouver pushed for the equalizer in the first. It didn't happen, even after Corey Perry took a terrible tripping penalty on Chris Tanev. I would have liked to see some pushback there, but honestly, I was more appalled by the Canucks' terrible puck movement on the powerplay. At this point it's a cause for celebration any time the sluggish and shockingly immobile Vancouver PP gains the zone. Any zone. Offensive zone. Neutral zone. Friendzone. Even the danger zone, although that's not quite as impressive, since there's a highway you can take.
- Early in the second period, Vancouver finally got the equalizer. With the Ducks on a change, Jannik Hansen found a seam up the middle of the ice and sprung Bo Horvat on a breakaway. With three Ducks hot on his tail, Horvat kept his cool and went five-hole on John Gibson. Gibson seemed genuinely frustrated to have been beaten, probably because there was so much room between his legs. And I know what you're thinking: if only he was a mer-man. But that's foolhardy: mer-men aren't even like that.
- The third initially followed the expected script. Nate Thompson made it 2-1 Ducks midway through the frame, thanks to some brutal puck management and defending from Vancouver's young guns -- Horvat, Emerson Etem, and Brendan Gaunce. All three made ugly errors on the play, leaving Thompson wide open to punch in a rebound after Chris Wagner's initial attempt. There's no excuse for that, and I'm not just talking about the shoddy defence. This goes beyond that. Life tip: Nates are never to be trusted. If there is a Nate anywhere, on the ice, in the supermarket, standing in the corner of your apartment and refusing to explain how he got in or what he wants, keep an eye on him. Nates are the worst.
- The Canucks challenged that goal, which should dispel any notion that they're trying to tank -- although the continued deployment of Matt Bartkowski serves as a counterpoint. It was a futile challenge, however. Basically, Willie said, I wanna challenge, and then the officials were like, Sure. Why? And then Willie was all, Because I want the goal to not count. And then they were like, Well, it does count. And then Willie was like, Rats. Real good challenge though, Willie.
- Incredibly, that wasn't the end of this game. The Canucks answered back with not one but two goals. It was weird. Dan Hamhuis got credit for the game-tying marker, beating Gibson with a sneaky shot (seriously -- the shot stole his wallet). Although it sure looked like it grazed Jannik Hansen's stick on the way in. I'm hoping they eventually give it to Hansen, because prolific Canucks tweeter and resident demagogue Taj had this to say after the Thompson goal: "There we go, now keep Hansen off the ice. He likes to try for some reason." And whaddya know, two shifts later, Hansen brings Taj's fears to fruition. Poor Hansen. He's having a career year and fans don't want him on the ice because of it. Although if you were to go back in time and tell the stone-handed Hansen of previous years, he'd probably be so flattered.
- And then it was Emerson Etem's time to shine. The former Duck scored the game-winner, and it was well-earned, as he was the one that got the play started behind the Anaheim goal, knocking his man off the puck before sending it to Horvat along the wall. Horvat moved the puck back to Alex Biega at the point, and he sent a shot into a maze of players. After a couple deflections, the big juicy rebound came right back to Etem, whose name refers to what he does to juicy rebounds, so the outcome was expected.
- Finally, a word on Nikita Tryamkin, who continues to impress in his first year with Vancouver. Tryamkin has already adjusted to the NHL game nicely, and it's interesting now to watch the rest of the skaters adjust to him. All throughout the evening, Anaheim players were backing off Tryamkin's corner and adjusting their lanes so as to avoid colliding with him. On one Duck dump-in, it initially looked like Tryamkin was going back for the puck, and the forecheckers held up. Then, when Hutton turned to retrieve it instead, they went in after him. Basically it's the same strategy teams use against Zdeno Chara. And it makes sense. Tryamkin's just so flippin' big. Trying to win a physical battle with him is like trying to win a muddle puddle tweetle poodle beetle noodle bottle paddle battle when you don't have a paddle or a poodle.
