Canada Sports News

Vancouver Canucks couldn’t win their third game in a row, but at least they extended their point-streak up to six games. The Canadian team lost last night in Anaheim after overtimes against the Ducks. The finals result was 2-1 for the hosts, whose goalie John Gibson had 39 saves, and was a critical piece in their game.

“We were able to hold the fort, especially with Gibby,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said.

Gibson was under heavy pressure in the first period, once his team had killed two penalties, mostly due to his reactions. The Ducks’ goalie posted 19 saves, killing the morale of the Canucks early on.

But that wasn’t all. Not only did he frustrated the rivals, but his team managed to score shorthanded. It was a shocker for the guests who couldn’t believe what happened to them.

Jakob Silfverberg took one loose puck at the right circle, then headed towards Vancouver’s goalie Jacob Markstrom and easily executed.

We haven’t seen many interesting things in the second,  and the game had to be decided in the final frame. The game was more than rough, as both sides had two penalties in the first 11 minutes of that sequence.

The Canucks finally got the goal at 13:42, when Adam Gaudette had a lot of luck. Canucks center wanted to pass the puck towards Brandon Sutter, but it accidentally deflected off Korbinian Holzer’s skate to deceive Gibson and enter the net. At the time, it appeared that the Canadian team might have some chances of turning the result upside down until the end of the regulations, but fortunately for the home team, that didn’ happen.

As for the game-winning goal, it happened at 2:30 into the OT, mostly due to a fantastic vision of Ducks’ Troy Terry, who sent a remarkable pass towards Ryan Getzlaf. Standing behind his net, Terry noticed the veteran center in the distance and decided to react quickly.

“My instinct was to pass to him, but I thought, ‘Is that the smartest thing?'” he said. “So I just ripped it to him, and he’s, so of course, he made a play.”

Anaheim’s legend, who played his 999th match for this team last night, stopped the puck with his glove and iced beside Markstrom, who went out in the hope of preventing the danger. Of course, finishing was just a routine.

“Troy made a great play from behind the net,” Getzlaf said. “He showed great patience. Showed what he can do with the puck.”

The Ducks (9-6-0) won their third over the recent four games, and since the season started, they have just one loss at home, against the Flames, 1-2. They have two more matches at home before heading on a four-game road trip. The first one is against the Blackhawks on Sunday, and then comes the clash vs. Wild on Tuesday.

Canucks (8-3-2) will appear on the ice already this Saturday when they visit the San Jose Sharks. They would come back home after that event, to face the NHL champions St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.