Jon's review of last nights game

Man do I love road trips like last night.  Sure makes the drive home so nice.
First 10 minutes were not good for Seattle.
But once they got that taken care of, it was complete domination from there on.
I would estimate Vancouver had 3 scoring chances the entire game.

Thanks to a very nice friend of ours, she won a prize of 4 tickets to the Red Rock Lounge.
So we sat front row, directly behind the goal judge at the end Seattle shoots at twice.
Very nice view.

As I mentioned, the first 10 minutes Seattle couldn't put any passes together.
So things looked really sloppy, choppy, and no flow.
But then something clicked, and Seattle started connecting on passes, skating, checking, and took control.
The rest of the game was basically all Seattle.

I personally thought the best line of Seattle's didn't even appear on the scoresheet (except penalties).
The Holub, Benoit, and Kolesar (I think that was other winger) line provided so much energy every time they hit the ice.  They got some good scoring chances also.

Because of Seattle's hustle and forecheck, Vancouver could never really get going.
They had no room to pass or skate, and any time they did, the defenders kept them so far to the outside, the shots were somewhat easy saves.
I will say that I thought Mumaugh was still a little wild in net, kind of flopping around.  But, it worked, he got the shutout, and congrats to him on that one.
The first 10 minutes he had to be good to keep the team in it, and he was up to the challenge.

There was a first period goal by Seattle that was waved off.  I was 5 feet away, and the goalies glove nailed the water bottle.  I cant see how that puck was not across the line.
Tyler has shown me screenshots of the video that make it appear very close.
But this is what I am going to say (and Tyler disagrees with me).
The call on the ice was goal, so you need definitive proof to overturn it.  And what I have seen, you can not be 100% sure.  So how do you overturn any call (even if you think it wasnt a goal).
But, even if you are going to overturn the call, the faceoff was dropped outside to Vancouver zone.  If the play is dead when the puck goes in the net, and the goal is overturned, then why is Seattle penalized by having the faceoff moved out.

A few bullet notes

• First goal by Honey was a snipers goal.  He picked the upper corner, and so hard a shot.
• Delnov's goal was all created by Troock knocking the puck out of mid air, and controlling it.  The puck he pulled down I dont even think it was supposed to go to him.
• The middle goals by Seattle were shots into wide open nets, off rebounds, or strange bounces.
• Swenson's goal was almost a thing of beauty, as he swung at a puck in mid air, and tried to baseball swing it in.  He missed, and got the second change, and put it in.
• Jared Hauf with a massive game.  A +4 on the scoresheet backed that up.
• Ethan Bear again looked very strong.  Working the powerplay, being very calm under pressure, and not afraid to shoot the puck.
• The penalty kill when Seattle was down 2 men, then when they were only down one man.  I'm not sure Vancouver even got a good shot.
• I have been very critical of Troock, and I will be the first to admit he is playing so well.  The fight was great to see, standing up for a teammate that was dumped in front of the net.  He deserved the instigator, but at that point in the game, it was worth it.
• Everyone will be happy to know that Barzal didn't get thrown out of the faceoffs as much as the first game.
• Erik Benoit looked a lot better and fitting in more then he did game one.
• Former Thunderbird Ryan Gibbons was a linesmen last night, and lets just say he started Movember in September.
• Luke Lockhart stopped by the game last night, was great seeing him there.
• So many parents were in attendance, wonderful chatting it up with them
• Speaking of parents, if Kevin Wolf's father is reading this, I have a question on Minnesota hockey, so please email me.
• Smallest crowd I have seen in a game up there.  They say 4000, and that is about right.
• The game was on Shaw, but wasn't delayed at all because of that.
• GM Farwell was interviewed during the 2nd intermission on Shaw.  I couldn't hear what they were asking, but would have loved to.
• The border was so easy.

One funny story, on the way up, we stopped by the duty free store.  One passenger purchased jolly rancher candy, chocolate candy, and a bottle of water.  When you purchase alcohol, you get in your car, drive to a window, and pick it up.  We had to do that for candy and water.  It was so strange, and seemed so useless.