Ducks shoot down Canucks in barn burner

Last night, at the garage, in what turned out to be a pretty entertaining contest, the visiting Anaheim Ducks kept their playoff hopes alive with a 6-5 shootout victory over the Vancouver Canucks. The 2 points leapfrogged the Ducks into 7^th spot for the moment, while the single point for the Canucks put them into a tie with the Calgary Flames for the division lead, and more importantly guaranteed a playoff spot.

The first 40 minutes was a wide open brand of hockey that had the fans on the edge of their seats, but the third period was rather tight, with the score tied at 5, both teams were erring on the side of caution. Twice the Canucks took two goal leads, and twice the Ducks battled back hard to tie it. They showed a lot of resilience fighting for their playoff lives.

Although the fans definitely found it entertaining, I don’t think Anaheim coach Randy Carlyle was loving it, at least it does not seem that way from his comments. “It kills you as a coach…We live another day…that’s all it is. Win a game, and here we go.”

Vancouver’s 11 game home winning streak came to an end with the loss, but the Canucks were more concerned with securing the playoff spot. The point put them 9 points ahead of the 8^th place St. Louis Blues, with the Blues only able to gain a maximum 8 points, it would be impossible to catch Vancouver, thus guaranteeing the Canucks a spot. Now that a playoff spot is clinched, the Canucks can focus on trying to win the division.

The Canucks will play tomorrow night on Hockey Night in Canada against the struggling Edmonton Oilers, who are desperately battling for their playoff lives.