Washington Capitals vs Canucks || October, 29, 2011

Vancouver just needs to have Ovechkin in the building to fix their scoring woes.  The Washington Capitals are among the top of the standings and are the early benchmark in the league, just like the Canucks are when they go into other teams buildings.  Vancouver exploded for seven goals and, despite letting in 4 goals, I don't think anyone would argue that Luongo had a pretty good game (funny how a win will change everybody's attitude towards him).

Edler looked like the player that everybody expects him to be, while the 4th line is exceeding all expectations.  Don't say you knew that the 4th line was going to be this good because Lapierre might be the most consistent  Canuck this year so far - and nobody predicted that.  Lappy had 2 goals as well as Higgins and Edler with a pair each.

This isn't the best that the Canucks have played this year, they have played this well before.  The difference is, they played this well for a full 60 minutes.  There were no mini-coma's, where everybody just drones around for 10 minutes and then all the sudden they're losing 4-2.  It was a full three periods of hard, fore checking, getting shots through people and on the net, finishing your checks kind of hockey.  After this game, it felt like there were 2 first lines and 2 third lines.  Kesler didn't end up playing 26-minutes because he didn't have to.  The fourth line was on par for ice-time with the third and the defensive pairings were all about the same.  Well, except for Bieksa and Hamhuis, but once Rome comes back into the line up, expect that to change.

Now, there was a moment that all Canuck fans have been waiting for.  Half way through the third, the Canucks lead 6-4, Brooks Laich takes a shot on net, Ovechkin lurking in front.  Rebound bounces off Luongo, landing a couple feet outside of the crease.  Ovi pounces on the puck and gets a quick shot off, but Lou says, "Nay nay!".  The (in)famous quick glove flashes out and snares it out of the air (with a little Hollywood to let everybody know).  In the words of the Jim Hughson, "Grrreat save Luongo!".

The flare Luongo put on that save is going to be the turning point of his game.  That told me that it wasn't a fluke, and he's saying to Ovechkin, "Get that $h!t out of here!".  That's what we, as Canuck fans, want to see.  The swagger, the confidence.  When Luongo thinks he's the best in the NHL, he IS the best in the NHL. Now, you could argue that he did let in 4 goals, but none of them - except maybe the penalty shot - could be blamed on him.  The first one is just bad luck, it bounces up over his head off of his back and in.  The second Ovechkin goal is just a rocket, he's scored about 500 other goals just like that, and there is a reason he has done it that many times.

Scoring seven goals is always a good thing, especially against a team like Washington.  Letting in four isn't really the greatest scenario, but we know that Vancouver is going to tighten up defensively.  If this game was any indication, it's going to take a couple tweaks here and there, but everything should be just fine.