12/22/09 - Nashville at Vancouver: L 1-4

As I said in my final tweet of the evening yesterday, we can't win them all. And as Coach Trotz says, when we do lose, we always find a way to lose big. There was no spark in our game, no pep in our step, no sense of urgency this time out. Can this be attributed to the fact that it was the end of a long road trip? Or that most of the guys had family around and with a couple of days off in between Calgary and Vancouver, they had a little too much time away from the ice to stay conditioned? Or, were we just bound to lose to Vancouver because for some reason or another, the Canucks always play like they are trying to steamroll us every shift? Whatever the cause of our lackluster play might have been, it is still good to come out of a western Canadian road trip with 4 of 6 possible points. At least now the guys can come home, rest up, recuperate and get ready for a showdown against our Central Division leader, the Chicago Blackhawks.

Thoughts on the game:

Disappointed that Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Klein were paired up again for this game. Did the coaching staff not learn from their mistakes in Calgary?

Not really sure I want to know why there were two guys in full green body suits next to the visitor's penalty box. It was kind of creepy. Although, I think it would have been better if they had channelled their inner Blue Man and "Blue'd" themselves.

Vancouver managed to take four SOG during their first power play? We need to take notes.

Did I jinx us by getting all excited over the second line being praised in the paper yesterday morning? Jerred Smithson being hurt is not good, not good at all. I hold out hope though since he's almost more of an iron man than JP Dumont is.

I still feel bad for Darcy Hordichuk every time he's scratched. What happened to him playing more for Vancouver?

Holy crap! Where in the world did that Shea Weber-Ryan Kesler fight come from?! That was really odd. Shea definitely won but I am still trying to wrap my head around why it started in the first place.

Vancouver scored four goals against us but for the most part, I have to say it could have been way worse if not for the play of Dan Ellis. He made save after save and stayed very active in net all night. He's said before that he plays his best when there are a lot of pucks flying towards him. Based on the lopsided shot count for most of the game, he had plenty of opportunity to showcase his skills...unfortunately.

The SOG count with about six minutes left in the second was 23-9, Vancouver. Twenty three to NINE. Oooo, weeeeee...what up with that?

Tough Guy of the Night Award goes to Francis Bouillon. That spot under his eye looked bad, even after they cleaned it up.


I kind of don't want to say this because most of you would expect me to, but I'm going to say it anyway. If Jerred Smithson is out of the line up for an extended period of time due to his hand/wrist injury, it is definitely going to mess up our mojo for a bit. Wade Belak most certainly can not fill the void on that line. Ryan Jones might be a good replacement for Smithson for the time being but in all likelihood, I'll expect a call up from Milwaukee to help plug the holes. Needless to say, I'm hoping Jerred has minimal downtime or none at all.