Vancouver Canucks Are Now the NHL's Hottest Team After Hammering the Senators

The Vancouver Canucks hammered the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on the scoreboard, but the Senators may have come out ahead on the physical side of the ledger. 

Cody Hodgson left the game in the first period after Nick Foligno caught him with his head down. Hodgson was very unsteady on his skates when he got up, and he had to be helped off the ice.

It looked like a textbook concussion, but maybe Canucks fans have a reason to be optimistic. 

Hodgson wanted to return to the game after his NHL mandated evaluation in the quiet room. However, the Canucks staff overruled him to be safe as a precautionary measure.

Perhaps the Penguins might want to consider this option next time one of their players gets a hit to the head?  

After the game, head coach Alain Vigneault confirmed via the Canucks official Twitter account that Hodgson was fine.  

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"He's fine. He wanted to play, but our medical staff felt he should stay out. He should be okay." 

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So barring any setbacks tomorrow, it appears Hodgson was just stunned by the hit, and wasn't concussed.  

Ryan Kesler also took a hit to the head from Foligno, which resulted in a minor for boarding and a 10-minute misconduct penalty. 

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"I wasn't a fan of it, obviously," Kesler said of the hit when talking to the Province newspaper. "I saw the replay. I saw I was falling and he deliberately went down and targeted my head. I think the league should look at that one. It was his second head shot of the night." 

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Of course, Foligno had his own take on the hit.

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"I think he sold it pretty good and the ref had to call it. I was disappointed to see that one called a penalty." 

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Lastly, Dan Hamhuis left the game in the third period after taking a high stick and did not return, although that appears to be more due to the time remaining in the game rather than the seriousness of the injury. 

Of course, it wasn't all one-sided. The Canucks threw some big hits of their own, including Jannik Hansen taking Daniel Alfredsson out of the game for a few minutes after a cross check. 

Dale Weiss squared off with Foligno after the hit on Hodgson, and lost a spirited decision. But Weiss did get the better of Ottawa tough guy Chris Neil later on, outworking him along the boards and then leaving Neil in his dust as Weiss delivered the knockout 4-1 goal. 

All in all, this looked like one of the games from the Nashville series last spring. A chippy, physical game where the other team tries to take liberties with Canucks players, and the Canucks make them pay on the power play.  

And also reminiscent of last spring, Kesler outworked, out-hustled and outscored the other team single-handedly. When he wasn't having his head smashed into the boards by Foligno, Kesler was all over the ice, scoring a pair of goals and also picking up an assist on Edler's opening goal. 

The victory was the Canucks' 13th in their last 15 games during this recent hot streak, and was also the fourth win in a row.

It also made the Canucks the NHL's hottest team, with a 9-1 record in their last 10 games. 

The Canucks' next game is on Tuesday, Dec. 13th in Columbus.