LOWLY AVS BLAST CANUCKS IN VANCOUVER

Hockey players are a special breed of athlete.  Outside of professional prizefighting, no other sport requires the combination of skill, finesse, toughness, heart and dedication that hockey demands.  For that reason, you’ll seldom see NHL teams ‘quit’ late in the season even if they’re out of the running for the playoffs.  An example of this was seen in Vancouver last night where the host Canucks were outplayed and outworked by the lowly Colorado Avalanche, eventually dropping a 4-1 decision.

The Canucks are in a tight battle with Calgary for the Northwest Division crown, with the two teams currently tied for the lead.  They’ve also been one of the hottest teams in the NHL down the stretch, having posted a 20-5-1 record in February and March.  Colorado, meanwhile, is going to finish last in the NHL’s Western Conference and with either the second or third worst record in the entire league.  They entered Sunday’s game at Vancouver’s GM Place having lost eight straight games—seven of those in regulation.  On paper, it would have been a perfect spot for the Canucks to take control of the division and for the Avs to lie down and let them do it.  Hockey players, however, are simply not wired that way.

T.J. Galiardi got Colorado on the board at 7:32 of the first period as he lit the lamp, assisted by Milan Hejduk and Darcy Tucker.  The Avs took a 1-0 lead into the break and stretched that advantage in the second period when Ben Guite scored at 7:44 assisted by Wojtek Wolski and Marek Svatos.  Colorado blew the game open in the final period with Milan Hejduk scoring unassisted at the 5:00 mark, and Galiardi netting his second goal of the game at 12:04 assisted by Hejduk and Darcy Tucker.  Pavol Demitra would get the Canucks on the board with just under five minutes remaining in the game but it was too little too late as the Avs shocked the home crowd with the 4-1 victory.

After the game, Calgary native Galiardi said that his parents were in attendance but more concerned about the hometown Flames than their son’s Avs:

"My parents were here and my dad is a big Calgary fan so he was saying to get the win for them because obviously Vancouver is on their tail, so it's kind of funny it worked out that way. But we're more focused on ourselves in here, and we want to finish the year off hard."

Canucks coach Alain Vignault admitted that his team was simply outworked and outplayed:

"It's certainly not what we expected. In everybody's mind this was a game that would put us one step closer to a championship in our division and possibly home ice and we didn't play very well. They were the better team on the ice tonight."

It could also have been a case where the Canucks were caught in a classic ‘look-ahead’ situation:  they’ll host the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night.  The Los Angeles Kings will come to town on Thursday, and they’ll get a rematch against the Avs in Denver on Saturday.  Colorado will have a chance to compete against another high level opponent Tuesday as they travel to the HP Pavilion to play the NHL’s top team, the San Jose Sharks.  They’ll then return home to host Dallas on Thursday before welcoming the Canucks to town on Saturday.