[sandorski]

woo matthias for the tie

[sandorski]

woohoo weber for the lead

[sandorski]

booyah booth

[Hyack]

WoooooHoooo 2 wins in a row!!!! Even tho Buffalo, who scored twice on their first 3 shots of the game, is the absolute worst team in the NHL, a win is still worth 2 much needed points. Things don't get any easier with the team's next 7 games all being against teams well ahead of them in the standings, with 2 games against 7th place Colorado, a home and away, and 2 home games against 4th place Anaheim along with games against the NY Rangers, Minnesota Wild and LA Kings. The only possible respite could be the last 2 games of the season, a Saturday game in Edmonton followed the next day by a home game against Calgary. The team is now 3 points behind Phoenix, who have 2 games in hand, so to have any possibility of making a wild card spot the guys are going to pretty well have to win every game for the rest of the season, something I don't think they have a hope in Hell of pulling off.....next game goes Wednesday against the Wild.

[N_Fiddledog]

[sandorski]

Nice win tonight.

[Hyack]

Vancouver vs Minnesota



The Vancouver Canucks will seek their third straight victory tonight when they play their first of two games in two days on the road facing the Minnesota Wild.

If the Canucks do end up falling short of making the playoffs this season, they won't be using injuries as an excuse even though nobody would blame them if they did. This season the Canucks have endured lengthy injuries to key players including Mike Santorelli, Alex Burrows, Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin and now, once again, the latter is back on the list of walking wounded. Henrik suffered a lower body injury in Sunday's 4-2 win over the Sabres and will reportedly miss the next two weeks. Somehow, without their captain and emotional team leader, the Canucks will have to try and continue their push for a playoff spot by collecting two points against the Wild tonight. Vancouver, who will get Alex Burrows back in the lineup tonight, can move within four points of the final playoff spot in the West with a win but they will owe the eighth-place Coyotes a game in hand by the end of the night.

The Wild, meanwhile, are still relatively comfortable as far as making the playoffs are concerned despite sitting in seventh place in the Western Conference although they still have designs on catching the Kings to potentially move up to sixth place. They've stumbled a bit over the past couple of weeks, however, winning just three of their last 10 outings (3-3-4) although they are coming off a 4-3 overtime win over the Red Wings on Sunday. This is the third and final meeting between the former Northwest Division foes. The Wild have won both previous meetings albeit they needed a shootout both times to get the job done. Eddie Lack will get the start in goal for Vancouver. Darcy Kuemper is the expected starter for Minnesota.

Puck drop at 4:30 pm PT - Live on Sportsnet Pacific

[sandorski]

woot booth for the lead

[sandorski]

booyah booth restores the lead

[sandorski]

woo kassian

[sandorski]

sweet d sedin

[sandorski]

woo ppg kesler

[sandorski]

Victory!

They just might make it yet if they can sustain this.

[Hyack]

Vancouver vs Colorado



The Vancouver Canucks will look to sweep their two-game road trip and pick up their fourth straight win overall tonight when they battle the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center.

Don't look now but the Canucks are officially on a roll. And while most pundits' belief is that the hole they've dug themselves into will ultimately be too much to overcome to get back into the playoffs, the Canucks have at least succeeded in giving their fans some hope that perhaps they can pull off the impossible. Vancouver's 5-2 shellacking of Minnesota last night pulled them within four points of a playoff spot and, with some help from the out-of-town scoreboard tonight, they could potentially close that gap to two points with a victory over the Avalanche.

The Avalanche may be comfortably sitting in a playoff spot but don't expect them to lie down and let the Canucks have their way. Colorado is looking to right their own ship to a degree as they have just won just two of their last six outings (2-3-1) although they are coming off a 5-4 shootout win over the Predators on Tuesday. The Avs still have a realistic shot at catching the Ducks and the Blackhawks to potentially finish as high as third in the Western Conference. This is the second of three meetings between the Canucks and Avs this season. Vancouver was 3-1 victors way back on December 8. Barring the unforeseen, expect Eddie Lack to get the call between the Canucks' pipes again tonight.

Puck drop at 6 pm PT - Live on Sportsnet Pacific

[sandorski]

woo ppg weber for the lead