Ducks' Jason Blake back too soon to suit Canucks By Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun

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1 Ducks' Jason Blake back too soon to suit Canucks By Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun VANCOUVER - When Jason Blake had his left wrist sliced open by the skate of San Jose defenceman Brent Burns in game three of the season, he was told the cut could have been worse. Four tendons and two nerves were sliced and it could have been worse? He wasn't buying it. "I looked at it and I'm, like, I don't know if it could be worse because I can't feel any of this," Blake said, pointing to the lower part of his left arm and into his hand. It didn't seem to inhibit the little Anaheim Duck winger Sunday as he scored twice, added an assist and had an astonishing 10 shots on goal in the Ducks' 4-2 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. It was just his seventh game back after missing 34 with the injury. He was out for two and a half months. "Hopefully it's coming together," said Blake, 38. "I'm just trying to get the hand strong enough. I've been working hard in practice, trying to shoot pucks as much as I can. It was a great night for our hockey club." At his age, and on the last year of a contract paying him $3 million, Blake had every right to wonder if the hockey gods were punishing him. You miss nearly half the season and then maybe you come back and you're lousy and your career is over. "It was tough obviously," Blake conceded. "I wish this on no one. You want to go out there, participate, contribute and do whatever you can to help the team but you just have to sit on the sidelines." While Blake was sitting, the Ducks floundered. They sank to the bottom of the Pacific Division and to second last in the Western Conference. Longtime coach Randy Carlyle was fired and replaced by Mr. F-Bomb himself, Bruce Boudreau. The Ducks, now in their last six, entered Sunday's game 16 points below the playoff bar. It's a near impossible margin to make up in less than half a season. "We can't look at the standings right now," Blake said. "We just have to keep this going. With Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Bobby Ryan and Teeme Selanne, we have enough offence. The biggest thing is to keep the puck out of our net." The Ducks were superb in that department Sunday as their 25th-ranked defence held the Canucks to just three shots in the opening period and five halfway through the game. Even Boudreau couldn't believe it. "I mean, I looked up in the second period with five minutes to go and they had only five shots," he said. "This is unheard of for the Canucks. So I was really proud of our guys. It was the same thing in Calgary where the Flames had six shots after two periods. If we keep this up, I'll start to think it's not luck anymore."

2 Boudreau was also tickled pink with the effort put forth by his third line of Blake, Andrew Cogliano and Nick Bonino, the trio accounting for 14 shots of the Ducks' 34 attempts on Roberto Luongo. They also had another six shots that either were blocked or missed the net. "You get three lines going and, boy, it makes a difference in a hockey team," noted Boudreau. It did Sunday. Ducks return favour downing Canucks By Brad Ziemer, Vancouver Sun VANCOUVER - This one won't be stored away in the time capsule. In fact, goalie Roberto Luongo had the best idea after the Canucks' ugly 4-2 loss Sunday night to the Anaheim Ducks at Rogers Arena. "We are going to try and forget about this one as quick as we can," Luongo said. "Obviously, not up to our standards as a team. We'll put it behind us and move forward." About the only thing the Canucks did right Sunday night was not try and make any excuses for their virtual no-show in their homecoming after a successful four-game Eastern road trip. The Canucks were a mess offensively, managing just six shots through the better part of the first two periods. Gene Simmons was at the game and the Canucks could have used some advice from the aging rocker on how to score. Defensively, things weren't any better. "I don't think we got a shot five-on-five in the first period, I don't think we had a scoring chance five-on-five in that first period," said Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault. "Defensively, I stopped counting the turnovers after a while." "I think it was pretty evident to anyone at the game or watching the game, it didn't seem like we had a lot of jump and energy tonight," Vigneault added. "Our execution because of that lack of jump and energy wasn't very good. That being said, I think you have to give credit to Anaheim. They played a really solid game at both ends of the rink and they deserved to win." After Sunday morning's game-day skate, Ducks' coach Bruce Boudreau had talked about how the Canucks had toyed with his team in a 5-2 Vancouver win on Dec. 29 at the Honda Center. Sunday night, the Ducks pretty much toyed with the Canucks. Anaheim had a 10-3 edge in shots in the first period and with less than two minutes remaining in the second, the Ducks had a 22-6 advantage. "Not good enough," said Canuck captain Henrik Sedin, who refused to use fatigue as an excuse. "We felt good in the dressing room before the game, we were focused and I didn't think anyone was tired," he said. The Canucks just didn't seem to have the determination to make anything happen offensively. "We kept it (the puck) outside, we had no push to get to the goal and get screens and rebounds," Sedin said. "That was not a great effort."

3 "We're passing up (chances) and trying to make the extras pass and create scoring chances," added defenceman Kevin Bieksa. "Sometimes the best thing is to just put pucks on net and go to the net and get a litlte bit greasy. We are really good when we are doing that and we didn't do it tonight." The loss, combined with Chicago's 4-3 win over San Jose, dropped the Canucks out of first place in the Western Conference. The Ducks, meanwhile, are finally showing signs of life under Boudreau. Anaheim is in its last six games. The Canucks had scored first in their previous 10 games, but that streak ended at the 6:40 mark of the first period when Nick Bonino scored on his own rebound. Luongo had made a nice glove save on a shot from the slot by Ducks forward Jason Blake, but couldn't control the rebound. He stopped Bonino's first attempt from the edge of the crease, but Bonino put his second backhand shot past him. Cody Hodgson tied it on a Vancouver power play at 10:52 of the first. Hodgson took a pass from Chris Higgins and went top shelf on Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller from the left faceoff dot for his 11th of the season. The second period has been the Canucks' worst all season and it was again Sunday night. The Ducks scored twice in the second to build a 3-1 lead. Bobby Ryan gave the Ducks a 2-1 lead at 2:21 when he one-timed a Saku Koivu pass high to the short side past Luongo. The goal came five seconds after a Bieksa hooking penalty on Ryan had expired. Blake made it 3-1 when he scored on a two-on-one rush after defenceman Aaron Rome had been caught up ice. Blake beat Luongo to the glove side from deep in the left circle. "I would have liked to have made a save on the third one and keep it at 2-1," Luongo said. "But they have got some skill players on the other side and that is what we talked about earlier today. You can't give those guys that many chances because they are going to hurt you." Blake ended any thoughts of a Canuck comeback when he scored his second of the night on a Ducks power play at 12:40 of the third. He redirected a Luca Sbisa pass past Luongo. Ryan had delivered a nice cross-ice pass to Sbisa to start the play. Mason Raymond, on a wraparound, made it 4-2 at 17:04 of the third when he caught Hiller out of position. The Canucks must now regroup and get ready to face a Los Angeles Kings team that spanked them 4-1 on New Year's Eve at the Staples Center. "This is a real professional group," Vigneault said. "We've got 48 hours to get re-energized and get ready for an LA team that is playing really well." Winger David Booth returned after a missing 18 games with a knee injury. He skated on a line with Ryan Kesler and Chris Higgins. "I wish we had a better result tonight, but it felt good to get back," Booth said. "It will take some more time before I really feel comfortable, but it's all part of the process." Booth had one shot on goal, which was one more than Kesler managed in his 19:14 of ice time.

4 ICE CHIPS: With Booth back, the Canucks returned winger Mike Duco to the Chicago Wolves on Sunday...Defenceman Andrew Alberts was a healthy scratch for the Canucks...Rome finished the night minus-three...bieksa had all three of the Canuck minor penalties. Game Within Game: Ducks too much for Canucks By Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun GAME WITHIN GAME DUCKS AT CANUCKS THREE STARS 1. Jason Blake, Ducks. Little left winger wows 'em with two goals, one assist, plus-3, 10 shots on goal. 2. Bobby Ryan, Ducks. One goal, one assist, three shots, three takeaways. 3. Nick Bonino, Ducks. One goal, three shots, plus-2. PIVOTAL POINT - Late in the second period, with Ducks up 3-1, the Canucks finally exerted some rare pressure but Anaheim netminder Jonas Hiller made outstanding stops on Dan Hamhuis, Alex Burrows and Chris Higgins to keep it a two-goal game and deny Vancouver any life or momentum. SHOOTING BLANKS - In their last four games, the Canucks have had full 20-minute periods with two shots (Florida, 2nd period), four shots (Tampa, 3rd period), two shots (St. Louis, 3rd period) and three shots (Anaheim, 1st period). By THE NUMBERS - The Ducks were the first team to open the scoring on the Canucks since the Calgary Flames did it Dec. 22 at Rogers Arena. The Flames won that game 3-1, with all goals coming in the third period... The Canucks fell to when giving up the game's first goal and ] when trailing after 40 minutes... The Ducks improved to in the 20 games since Bruce Boudreau replaced Randy Carlyle behind the Ducks' bench. DID YOU NOTICE? With the Sedins looking lacklustre early in the game, Canuck coach Alain Vigneault started his second unit on Vancouver's second power play midway through the first period. Cody Hodgson made the coach look good when he scored 56 seconds later. FAMILY JEWELS - KISS bassist Gene Simmons, wife Shannon Tweed and daughter Sophie were all in the house Sunday. Not surprisingly, when the 'kiss cam' panned the crowd during a first-period TV timeout, it somehow 'discovered' Gene and Shannon, who smooched on cue. Canucks' powerplay still stellar, but missing Salo By Gordon McIntyre, The Province For all the ballyhoo over the Canucks awesome power play against Boston two weekends ago, there's been almost no advantage to having an extra man on the ice, outside of that Bruins game, for awhile now.

5 Take the power play's 4-of-11 at Boston out of the equation and look at the other half dozen games the Canucks have played in their last seven: The power play has gone 2-of-19 in those games. To be fair, it's really the No. 1 unit that has pulled the disappearing act, and it can't be coincidence that the Sedin-led unit has struggled so since Sami Salo suffered a concussion in that Boston game and hasn't played since. Cody Hodgson, meanwhile, is doing his best to keep teams afraid of Canucks power plays, scoring again in Sunday's 4-2 loss to Anaheim to give him three of the Canucks' last six powerplay goals. "We were 1-for-3 tonight, weren't we," Kevin Bieksa said when asked about the mad-advantage struggles. "That's 33 per cent, so tonight we were on fire. "Before that, we struggled." Alex Burrows is taking Salo's place on the point with Alex Edler on the first PP unit. That's replacing a world-class Olympian with a howitzer of a shot on the blueline with a guy who gets his goals the greasy way up close and personal to goalies. "At this point for the first unit right now, I feel our best option is Eddy and Alex Burrows," Alain Vigneault said. Maybe. But it is a scary look at what could happen to the power play in the playoffs if Salo is unable to return or gets hurt again. Or if Edler gets hurt, for that matter. "The twins' unit is probably the best unit in the league, but throughout the course of a season they are going to go through lulls," Bieksa said. "They're not going to just dominate for 82 games. "We'll go back to basics. You're not going to keep them off the scoresheet for too long on the power play." The Ducks did, but Hodgson's power-play goal was pretty to watch. Chris Higgins and Dan Hamhuis controlling the puck with nice passes before Higgins gave the puck to Hodgson in the circle. The rookie roofed a hard wrist shot into the goal before Jonas Hiller knew what was going on. The Canucks still lead the league with a power-play proficiency of 23.8 per cent, a full two percentage points ahead of No. 2 Edmonton. But that's a percentage point behind the almost 25 per cent they were at after the Boston game. "There are going to be ups and downs in a season," Henrik Sedin said. "Before the last road trip we didn't have a lot of power-play chances, just one or two a game and it was tough to get any rhythm." The Canucks captain agreed the first unit isn't making the pretty tic-tac-toe plays it had been, isn't creating enough movement. "But we have a second unit now that can score goals," Sedin said, "we scored four goals against Boston on the power play, we scored the game-winner in St. Louis on the power play.

6 "You have to look at some positives." Anemic Canucks outplayed by relentless Ducks By Jim Jamieson, The Province The Canucks just finished a killer stretch of 16 games in 31 days coming off a four-game road trip and they looked like it on Sunday night at Rogers Arena. At least you have to hope that was the problem, because a team that thrives on speed and puck possession couldn't muster either, as the Anaheim Ducks dominated much of the game and took a 4-2 win. With the Canucks loss and a win for Chicago over San Jose earlier, the Hawks moved one point past Vancouver for the lead in the Western Conference. The Ducks' forecheck was relentless and the Canucks had no answer for it, with Vancouver committing enough turnovers in their own end to last a week or two of games. How bad was it? You'd have to go back to the Canucks' poor start to the season to find a performance as anemic and emotionally flat. The Canucks managed just three shots in the first period and were being outshot 22-7 with 1:32 left in the second period before Cody Hodgson's backhand attempt drew a sarcastic cheer from the crowd. Overall, Anaheim out-shot the Canucks Vancouver may be near the top of NHL in terms of goalscoring, but their usual suspects - the Sedins, Alex Burrows and Ryan Kesler - could find no traction against the Ducks. "We had some games early on where it wasn't very good, but the way we've been playing the last couple months this is the worst if you look at scoring chances," said Canucks captain Henrik Sedin. "We've played a lot of hockey, but we don't want to make excuses. We didn't play good enough tonight. There were a few cases on the road where it wasn't good enough. We've got high standards and we want to live up to them." The Ducks have dug themselves into a hole that has them second last in the Western Conference but showed their record in the previous five games was no mirage. Jason Blake led the way with two goals, an assist and an eye-popping 10 shots for Anaheim. Defenceman Aaron Rome was just one of a few D-men who had tough games, but his bad pinch led directly to a two-on-one that resulted in Blake's second period goal that increased Anaheim's lead to 3-1. Rome, just in his second game back from a broken thumb, finished minus-3. Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault said there wasn't much to choose from his team's game at either end of the ice. "Offensively, I don't think we got a shot five on five in the first period, or a scoring chance," said Vigneault. "Defensively, we stopped counting the turnovers after a while." The Canucks' league-leading power play couldn't bail them out of this one, although Hodgson did pull the Canucks into a 1-1 tie in the first period with another laser beam shot that went in off the crossbar. The Canucks' power play went one-for-three and the first unit, with the Sedins and Ryan Kesler up front, rarely threatened.

7 Goaltender Roberto Luongo kept the Canucks in the game through the first 30 minutes, but would likely want Blake's 3-1 goal back. It was just his fourth loss in 17 games (11-4-2). Defenceman Keith Ballard, back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch in the previous game in St. Louis, said the Ducks' forecheck was effective because the Canucks allowed it to be. "Everybody forechecks hard, but we didn't do anything to help ourselves," he said. "It doesn't matter if they forecheck hard, you can make the proper plays to beat it and get it in their end. We just didn't do that. It was mental and physical errors." ICING - Mason Raymond scored the Canucks other goal, with 2:56 left in the game. Winger David Booth returned to the lineup after missing six weeks with a knee sprain.he had no shots and was a minus-1 in 15:50 of ice-time. With Booth's return, the Canucks returned winger Mike Duco to their Chicago Wolves AHL affiliate on Sunday. The van provies nightly awards Gordon Mcintyre, The Province BEST SHOT Cody Hodgson has scored a couple of goals recently that goalies have barely seen. His slapshot in Boston was behind Tim Thomas before the Bruins goalie even moved and last night he wired a hard wrister past Jonas Hiller. Was Kevin Bieksa aware how hard CoHo can shoot? "No, not actually," he said. "He's got kind of an unorthodox release and it's a good thing because it catches goalies off-guard. He shoots it harder and more accurately than people think." BEST DUCK When the Ducks dominate the Canucks, it's almost always either because Ryan Getzlaf, Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry have woken up or Jonas Hiller has played lights-out. Not on Sunday. Last night it was 38-year-old Jason Blake, who had two goals and an assist, was plus-3, had 10 shots on goal and even two hits. BEST DRAW Ryan Kesler owned Ryan Getzlaf in the faceoff circle. Kesler was 3-of-4 against the Ducks captain in faceoffs in the Canucks zone and 4-of-6 against Getzlaf in the Ducks zone, finishing up 8-of-11 overall. Not that it mattered, since the Canucks couldn't get any shots on net. BEST KISS To the soundtrack of KISS's disco hit 'I Was Made For Lovin' You,' the final couple to appear on the first-period Kiss Cam at Rogers Arena last night was songwriter Paul Stanley's band-mate Gene Simmons and his wife Shannon Tweed. The Family Jewels couple was also at the Canucks' New Year's Eve game in Los Angeles. Willes: Patriots path to Super Bowl just got easier

8 By Ed Willes, The Province Thought the Denver Broncos had a chance to beat the New England Patriots if they could hold Tom Brady to under 24 points. And they did. For the first quarter. Speaking of hopeless causes, here are the Monday morning musings and meditations on the world of sports. The Canucks have built up a sizable account of goodwill over the last 10 weeks and they didn't squander it all with one substandard outing on Sunday night. Still, something about their play since the epic win in Boston nine days ago has been disconcerting and their performance against the Ducks one even strength shot in the game's first 30 minutes????? - was symptomatic of a larger malaise. Their three franchise forwards the Sedin twins and Ryan Kesler have all been average to below average over the last four games and Kesler's game is now officially on orange alert. The blueline clearly misses Sami Salo in a big way. Aaron Rome was exposed last night trying to play top-four minutes and Keith Ballard can't be counted on for anything more than a depth role. There's also been a lack of emotion and energy to their game for the last week. Maybe it's simply an inevitable flat spot encountered in an 82-game schedule. But there are enough signs there to justify a certain level of concern. At least fans can say they were the night Jason Blake launched his late charge for the Art Ross. The Ducks third-liner, who's missed 34 games this season with a lacerated wrist, scored two, added a helper, produced 10 shots on Roberto Luongo and generally looked like Max Bentley on this night. He now has three goals on the season but, remember, the Canucks have one more game with the Ducks. Here s our take on the NHL at the midway point of the season. Hart Trophy: Henrik Lundqvist. Runners-up: Jonathan Toews, Evgeni Malkin. Lundqvist has been the best player on the Eastern Conference-leaders. That s good news for the Rangers. It s bad news for the NHL which is starting to drift back toward the dead-puck era. Vezina: Lundqvist. Runners-up: Jimmy Howard. Jonathan Quick. Lundqvist is a slam-dunk but Howard and Quick have received little press for monster years. Norris: Shea Weber. Runners-up: Zdeno Chara, Nicklas Lidstrom.

9 Maybe the most interesting race of all. Weber was jobbed last year. This year his overall numbers are slightly better than Chara s and he doesn t have the same supporting cast. Calder: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Runners-up: Adam Henrique, Cody Hodgson. This race isn t particularly close right now. It will be by the time Nugent-Hopkins returns to the lineup from injury. Selke: Patrice Bergeron. Runners-up: Mikko Koivu, Toews. Last year s winner, Ryan Kesler, isn t in the conversation. Adams: John Tortorella. Runners-up: Ken Hitchcock, Paul MacLean. Another interesting battle. Tortorella can be a first-class jerk but there s no denying his work on Broadway this season. Storyline of the half-season: Injuries. It starts with Sidney Crosby but the game is simply missing too many of its marquee players. Look around the league, in fact, and there aren t a lot of happy stories. Phoenix is still in limbo. Seven coaches were fired. Goals are down. The one positive for the league is the big season from the New York Rangers. But there aren t a lot after that. And finally, O.K. smart guy. How do you handicap the NFL now? We ll give you it s the Patriots Super Bowl to lose. But who could have predicted an NFC championship game without Green Bay or New Orleans? Who could have predicted that offensive performance by the 49ers? Who could have predicted Tim Tebow... well, a lot of people as it turns out. The Giants upset of the Packers, of course, throws the whole thing wide open but keep a couple of things in mind. New York s Eli Manning might be the most under-appreciated big-game quarterback in the game and the Giants, throughout their history, have crashed more than one party. They wouldn t exactly be the betting favourite but a replay of the fabled 2008 Super Bowl, in which they ended the Pats bid for a perfect season, would also generate a bit of interest. A most successful 'slump' continues Sunday's no-show against Ducks all part of a two-week funk masked by 'lucky' points By Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver Sun

10 In the old days, the first game back from a road trip was an excuse to lose for the Vancouver Canucks. The flight home was a long way from anywhere. Body-clocks were off and everyone was tired. The opposition was often waiting or rested or both. And the Canucks, of course, frequently just weren't good enough. That first game back became almost an automatic loss. But the team got better. Their schedule became more care-fully planned and better man-aged. Charter aircraft made travel profoundly easier and less debilitating. The players' conditioning improved, and so did their expectations. Someone called The Sleep Doctor was hired and a mysterious Mind Room was built to help players recover mentally. And the first game back from a road trip became just another opportunity to win. The Canucks were last season in home games that followed road games, 13-1 the year before. That's an.875 winning percentage over two years. That would kick the 1977 Montreal Canadiens' butts. Home from the road, the Canucks were almost unbeatable. But with Sunday's 4-2 loss to Anaheim Ducks, the Canucks dropped to this season when returning from a trip. The first couple of losses came during the dead October, when little went right for the Canucks, and could be easily dismissed. Not so much Sunday. The Canucks were awful. Against a last-place team whose goals-against ranking was 25th, the Canucks managed only four shots in the first half of the game. The National Hockey League regular season is 82 games. Bad ones happen. But Sunday's no-show wasn't so much a new trend in home games after travel, but the continuation of mediocrity that the Canucks have struggled to extinguish for two weeks. Starting with a dreadful 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on New Year's Eve, the Canucks are in their last eight games. The single point was stolen on a late equalizer against the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 2, and two of the four wins - last week in Tampa and St. Louis - were due largely to superior goaltending in games where the Canucks were outchanced. Strip away all that, and they've had two superior games in two weeks: a 3-0 win against the Minnesota Wild and 4-3 win in Boston against the Bruins, which was all about Vancouver's power play but any win against a hated Stanley Cup champion is a good one.

11 Taken as a whole, what the last 16 days prove is that the Canucks are one of those elite teams that find ways to generate wins and points even when they're not playing well. But it also shows that Sunday wasn't merely a one-game blip and that the Canucks have been off their game for a while. It's possible the Canucks are in the most successful slump in franchise history. "We're pretty realistic when it comes to reflecting on how we're playing and knowing what we need to do," Canuck defenceman Keith Ballard said. "We don't think that because we got a couple of points on the road [last week] when we didn't play our best, that it's going to come easily. "We know the things we need to do; it's just a matter of doing them. We're just not playing hard enough. We didn't play hard enough tonight. We're a good team when we play fast and get pucks in deep, and we didn't do that tonight." So the question is: Why didn't the Canucks play hard enough? There could be a lot of reasons - none of them to do with intent. The Canucks are driven to win every night. But they've exhausted a lot of physical and emotional energy the last six weeks and look increasingly like their reserves are low. They got a spark from no one on Sunday. The top players - start with Daniel and Henrik Sedin and Ryan Kesler and go down from there - did not elevate them-selves nor drag the team from its initial stupor. The role players did nothing to inspire team-mates, and if goalie Roberto Luongo hadn't been the best Canuck the team could have lost by four or five goals. "We know there are going to be a lot of games where we're down to 85 per cent, 80 per cent of our capacity," captain Henrik said. "That's when a lot of teams lose. But we stick to our game plan and get wins. Tonight it wasn't good enough." It was so not good enough that Sedin said the offensive effort was the Canucks' worst in two months. Brother Daniel concurred. "We've played a lot of games lately, no question about that," the younger twin said. "But I think we're a good team physically; we can handle this kind of schedule. We're used to travel and we're used to playing a lot of games, so that shouldn't be a problem.

12 "What makes us a good team is we have one bad game like we played today and we'll come back and play a good one the next one. We've shown that the last two or three years; that's why we get out of funks quickly." Sunday wasn't the bad one, only the worst one. AME OVER Monday, Jan. 2 at Vancouver Sharks 3 Canucks 2 Rested Sharks jump on Canucks, but still need shootout to win. Wednesday, Jan. 4 at Vancouver Canucks 3 Wild 0 Luongo preserves win for Vancouver, who had Boston on the brain. Win Saturday, Jan. 7 at Boston Canucks 4 Bruins 3 Intense Cup rematch lives up to the hype as tough Canucks prevail. Loss Monday, Jan. 9 at Florida Panthers 2 Canucks 1 Despite outshooting Florida 14-2 in third, Canucks can't find net. Future games

13 Tuesday, Jan. 10 at Tampa Bay Canucks 5 Lightning 4 Mason Raymond scores shootout winner for Canucks. Thursday, Jan. 12 at St. Louis Canucks 3 Blues 2 Power-play goal in OT by Daniel Sedin ends road trip on high note. Sunday, Jan. 15 at Vancouver Ducks 4 Canucks 2 Jason Blake scores two as Canucks lay an egg in poor game at home. Tuesday, Jan. 17 at Vancouver Canucks Kings 7 P.M. SNET-P/TEAM 1040 Saturday, Jan. 21 at Vancouver Canucks Sharks 1 P.M. SNET-P/TEAM 1040 Tuesday, Jan. 24 at Vancouver Canucks Oilers 7 P.M. SNET-P/TEAM 1040

14 Ducks dump listless Canucks david ebner Vancouver From Monday's Globe and Mail The Anaheim Ducks strolled into Vancouver with the second-worst record in the NHL and the fewest road wins in the league but arrived somewhat buoyed, on a little roll of four wins in five games. Expected to be a playoff team, the 2007 Stanley Cup champs are arguably the biggest disappointment of the NHL season, as stars such as 2010 Olympian Ryan Getzlaf struggle and the team s scoring leader is a 41-year-old the ageless Teemu Selanne. But on Sunday night the Ducks piled on the at-times listless Canucks, freshly returned home from a successful trip and a stretch of 21 games in 43 days. The Ducks scored first snapping the Canucks 10-game score-first run and had badly outshot Vancouver 18-5 midway through the game, leading 2-1. The Canucks nearly tied the score shortly thereafter, during a burst when an Alex Burrows redirection of a Henrik Sedin shot glanced off the right post, but the Ducks blasted right back. On a two-on-one, winger Jason Blake charged up the left side of the ice and scored unassisted, wristing a shot past Roberto Luongo s far side, the goaltender s glove unable to snag the shot. Blake injured for much of this season scored again in the third. His three points on the night doubled his season total to six, and the Ducks won 4-2. We've got to bring it every night, said Blake after the game. We know the position we're in. Every game for us is a playoff game. Put the blame, perhaps, on Gene Simmons. The Kiss rocker was in attendance Sunday with wife Shannon Tweed. The last Vancouver game the couple saw was New Year s Eve in Los Angeles, when the Kings toasted the Canucks 4-1. Give them [Anaheim] credit they're a lot better team than they are in the standings but we didn t execute, said defenceman Kevin Bieksa after the game, one that lacked emotion on both sides of the puck. Not every game s going to be a Boston-Vancouver game. There s no reason for the lack of execution. More shots, less fancy, is Bieksa's prescription. We re trying to make the extra pass. To create scoring chances, sometimes the best thing to do is just put pucks on the net, go to the net and get a little greasy. We re really good when we re doing that and we didn t do it tonight.

15 The loss means the Canucks slip from their perch atop the Western Conference, passed by rival Chicago Blackhawks, who notched a 4-3 win against San Jose on Sunday. The Canucks play host to the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday night. Vancouver only occasionally displayed its top form. There was a busy flurry as the seconds ticked down in the second, when Burrows had a mini-breakaway but couldn t push a backhander past Jonas Hiller, the Anaheim goalie. The push did not continue in any sustained fashion in the third. Hiller s weak play is a big reason why Anaheim, despite a roster with Getzlaf and Selanne, along with Corey Perry and Bobby Ryan, is mired in the NHL basement. Going into Sunday night s game, Hiller s save percentage of was 45th in the league among goalies with at least 10 games played. But Hiller was, like his team, on a roll, having shut out Edmonton 5-0 last Friday and given up only one in a 1-0 overtime loss to Calgary on Thursday. Anaheim, under coach Bruce Boudreau (ousted from Washington earlier in the season), stuck to its game plan to get up on Vancouver early. The Ducks have won only once this season when they ve been scored on first. Boudreau recalled the teams last meeting, Dec. 29 in Anaheim, when the Canucks trounced the Ducks, toyed with us, in the words of the coach before the game. The Ducks got the first tally Sunday, striking at a Vancouver weakness: The Canucks have won just 28.6 per cent of their games this season when scored on first 21st in the league. Compare that with Boston: The Bruins are best in the NHL when scored on first, winning 54.5 per cent of such games. THE RETURN OF DAVID BOOTH Vancouver s American Express line David Booth, Ryan Kesler and Chris Higgins was reunited Sunday when Booth returned from a knee injury that kept him out of games since early December. While imperfect a few bobbles of the puck here and there Booth was strong, skating swiftly to create chances. He had two good ones on a power play early in the second, Hiller fending off the first shot after a rushing Booth made a nice move to get a good look, and the second, a slapper, missing wide right. On Dec. 6 Booth strained a ligament in his right knee in a knee-on-knee collision that saw the aggressor, Kevin Porter of Colorado, suspended four games. Booth was cautious to return, softly criticized by the local press for not joining the lineup sooner even though he was cleared to play by team medical staff a week ago. My leg is finally getting back to where it needs to be, Booth said before the game BLAKE SCORES PAIR OF GOALS AS DUCKS DOUBLE UP CANUCKS THE CANADIAN PRESS VANCOUVER -- Jason Blake might not have much feeling in his left hand but he hasn't lost his touch around the net.

16 The diminutive left-winger scored twice and helped set up the first goal Sunday as the suddenly surging Anaheim Ducks beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-2. The goals were the second and third in two games for the 38-year-old Blake whose season seemed in doubt after a severe skate cut threatened his career. There's an ugly scar on his left forearm, just back of the wrist, a result of an accidental collision with Brent Burns of San Jose in October. Blake returned Jan. 4 after missing 34 games. "A lot of people said it could have been worse," he said, pointing to the artery behind the palm of his hand. "I looked at it and I'm like, I don't know if it could be worse. I can't feel any of this (the back of his hand and index finger), still to this day." Blake scored what proved to be the winning goal on a second-period breakaway when Canuck defenceman Aaron Rome couldn't handle a pass at the Anaheim blue-line. He then provided a 4-1 lead with a third-period power-play tip-in. "I knew if I just stayed patient and did my rehab and my therapy... I'm just starting, hopefully to turn that corner," said Blake who scored his first goal of the season Friday in a 5-0 win in Edmonton. "My nerves were so damaged they had to put in a tube or something." Anaheim captain Ryan Getzlaf said Blake and his experience were missed by a team that has won five of its last six games with the only loss coming in overtime. "He took a step down to the third line," Getzlaf said of the undrafted former Toronto Maple Leaf who had 10 of his club's 34 shots on Vancouver netminder Roberto Luongo. "He could have come back and pouted but the way things are going everybody's buying in and everybody's doing the right thing." The Ducks ( ) have eight wins and three regulation ties in 20 games under new coach Bruce Boudreau who replaced the fired Randy Carlyle. The Canucks ( ) missed a chance to regain the NHL's overall lead. They have 59 points, one behind the New York Rangers and Western Conference-leading Chicago after their first loss since taking six of a possible eight points on a road trip.

17 Canuck coach Alain Vigneault said his club didn't get a scoring chance at even strength in the first period. "Defensively I stopped counting the turnovers after a while," Vigneault said. "I think it was pretty evident to anybody watching the game or at the game that it didn't seem like we had a lot of jump and energy tonight." The Ducks, who are playing their best hockey of the season, took an early lead on Nick Bonino's third goal since being called up from the American Hockey League's Syracuse Crunch a month ago. He eventually buried a rebound after Luongo made a glove save off Blake but couldn't corral the puck. "It's not a usual place to get a rebound, top glove, but it just fell there and I whacked it once," said Bonino, whose right shoulder was wrapped in ice after the game. "I didn't realize he saved it so I just kind of tried to stick with it." Bonino was impressed by Blake's effort after the injury. "It's amazing," Bonino said. "With the year he's had, how he got hurt and he came back... I guess plan right now is to get him the puck and it's going to go in the net." Boudreau noted Blake is in the last year of his contract. "At the age he is you probably start to wonder what's going on," Boudreau said. "Every game he's played a little more, every game he's played a little better and he's gotten his legs." Bobby Ryan got the other Anaheim goal. Cody Hodgson, on a power play, and Mason Raymond scored for the listless Canucks who mustered little offence after three wins on the trip that began with an emotional victory in Boston. "I looked up (at the scoreboard) in the second period with five minutes to go and I said 'holy crap, they only have five shots on goal?"' Boudreau said. "This is unheard of for the Canucks." Luongo, who had to make several saves on his doorstep just to keep the game close, said his club has to be ready to play even if it's tired from a road trip.

18 "If we are (tired) we (have to) put on a snoozefest and we play a boring game or whatever it takes, but obviously we weren't good enough tonight as a team," he said. Notes: Vancouver forward Jannick Hansen got Gene Simmons to autograph a stick during the pre-game warmup. He then exchanged fist bumps with the Kiss rocker.... David Booth returned to the Canuck lineup after missing 18 games with a sprained knee.... Vancouver defenceman Sami Salo missed a fourth game with concussion symptoms after a low hit along the boards Jan. 7 in Boston by Brad Marchand.... It was the first of four Canuck home games in a 10-day stretch leading to the all-star break.... The Ducks had outscored opponents 21-9 over their previous five games which included a 1-0 overtime loss in Calgary. Ducks down Canucks By Reuters Jason Blake continued to make up for lost time with two goals and an assist as the Anaheim Ducks stayed hot in a 4-2 victory over the host Vancouver Canucks on Sunday. Bobby Ryan added a goal and an assist and Jonas Hiller made 21 saves for the Ducks, who have gone over their last six games. Anaheim is averaging five goals in the five regulation wins. Blake missed 34 games after tearing a wrist tendon in the season opener. He picked up his first goal in Friday s 5-0 triumph at Edmonton and carried the momentum to Sunday with an assist on Nick Bonino s goal in the first period and a pair of tallies later in the contest. Ryan s 17th goal of the season gave the Ducks a 2-1 lead at the 2:21 mark of the second. Standing at the right faceoff dot, Ryan received a pass from Saku Koivu and one-timed a shot past Roberto Luongo on the high glove side. Blake scored unassisted later in the period, forcing a turnover and using Andrew Cogliano as a decoy on an odd-man rush before beating Luongo Blake scored on the power play with 7:20 left in the third, tipping a perfect pass from Luca Sbisa between the pads to make it 4-1. Vancouver had won four of its previous five.