Canucks clipped by Wings

Woes continue as team
is outclassed despite the return of Salo

by Brandyn Cox

October 25th, 2007

 

Amid all the fuss over Detroit Red
Wing Henrik Zetterberg’s hot start, Vancouver
seemed to forget about his pesky linemate, Tomas Holmstrom. The disturbing
net-presence scored two goals to boost his team to a 3-2 victory in front of
17,015 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit
on Wednesday. Holmstrom now has seven goals to go along with four assists for
11 points in 10 games this season. 

The loss was Vancouver’s 4th in 5 games, as the
team’s overall record dropped to a disappointing 4-6 on the season. Detroit, on the other
hand, improved to 7-2-1 in formidable fashion, outshooting the Canucks 39-15 over
the course of the game. Had it not been for the excellent goaltending the
Canucks received from superstar Roberto Luongo, the game could have easily been
a blowout.

Matt Ellis opened the scoring at
17:34 of the first period, potting the second goal of his young NHL career. It
was also the Ontario
native’s second no-look goal, as he swept the puck past a displaced Luongo
without even looking at the net. The play itself was questionable as the Vancouver bench felt that
they had a case for a goaltender interference penalty, as Luongo had no chance
of making the save.

Holmstrom made it 2-0 Detroit at 2:23 of the
second by tipping home a high Brian Rafalski point shot on the power play.
Holmstrom was left wide open in front of Luongo, and made the Canucks pay.

Shortly after, Matt Cooke pulled Vancouver within one by rocketing home a slapshot past Detroit netminder Dominik
Hasek at 5:33.

Holmstrom scored his second goal of
the night from Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk at 15:40 due to a defensive lapse
by Vancouver in
the defensive zone. The Red Wings’ line of Zetterberg and Holmstrom, centered
by Datsyuk, dominated all night combining for 16 shots on goal, compared to Vancouver’s team effort
of 15.

Daniel Sedin ended a poor game on a
good note, by scoring his fourth goal of the season 1:47 into the third. Henrik
Sedin and Lukas Krajicek drew assists on the power play goal.

Sami Salo made his long awaited
season debut, returning from a fractured wrist that he suffered 4 weeks ago at
the Canucks’ annual training camp intra-squad game.  The defense was, however, still missing a key
cog as expectant father Kevin Bieksa flew home to meet his wife earlier that
day. The couple is expecting a baby boy within the next couple of days.

Vancouver will visit Alexander Ovechkin and
the Washington Capitals on Friday afternoon to finish up the four-game road
trip on which they are currently 1-2. In the only meeting between the two teams
last season, the Canucks prevailed in a shootout, 3-2.

 

 

NOTES:

 

-             Detroit’s Tomas Holmstrom has goals in all
but four games this season

 

-                         
Vancouver
defenseman Alexander Edler played in place of Mike Weaver on Wednesday night.

 

-                         
Henrik Zetterberg tallied an assist, meaning he has
scored at least a point in every game this season, and 18 straight games dating
back to last season. He now leads the NHL in scoring with 18 points (7-11).