Vancouver Canucks Narrowly Beat Two Worst Teams in the West

Not quite fun times for Canucks haters, but rather funny times.

News flash: Slim victories against the NHL's bottom feeders—both coming late in the contests—classify as big wins.

Only in Vancouver, that is.

The Vancouver Canucks teased everyone by falling behind those absolutely marvelous powerhouses from St. Louis (Saturday) and Los Angeles (Monday) before bouncing back with late victories.

Wow.

A nail-biter at home against the Blues and a narrow OT win in Los Angeles are considered "big" wins? In case you didn't know: both teams are the worst two teams in the Western Conference.

The Kings are tied with the Eastern Conference's Tampa Bay Lightning with a league-low 60 points, while the Blues are just a tad above those two with 68.

And that means the Canucks had trouble with two of the three worst teams in the league.

Laughable. (And by the way, Vancouver lost to Tampa on January 31st as well.)

Yes, Canucks fans are no doubt back on the bandwagon.

At the start of the season, Canucks fans would have had you believe their squad would be where the Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars—the top two seeds in the conference—are right now.

(Oh, okay, the Canucks could be in Detroit or Dallas if they finish 7th or 8th and hook up with either one of those teams in the first round. Good luck there. That would be the worst case scenario for Canucks haters. Best case scenario: they miss the playoff, which is still possible.)

(For those that still insist on knocking Dallas' Marty Turco, don't forget he had three shutouts against Vancouver in last year's playoffs. Not one, not two, but three.)

Yet, there the Canucks were, battling to stay with floundering clubs like the Blues and Kings in the last couple games. And the Blues have been tanking of late, losing nine of their past ten contests, with the lone win coming against the Kings.

The Kings? With Monday's loss, they have just two wins in their past 11.

Vancouver, much to Canucks haters' delight, had trouble against these outfits.

On Monday, the Canucks were less than three minutes from a 1-0 shutout defeat against former friend Dan Cloutier, who chose this night to have his best game in ages in the Kings net.

Under three minutes away from going an embarrassing 0-4-0 against the NHL's worst team.

Ryan Kesler's two goals, however, rescued Vancouver, who outshot Los Angeles 40-18.

This latest victory came two nights after the Canucks got tying and winning goals from Alex Burrows and Brad Isbister for a 4-2 win in the St. Louis game.

In that contest, Isbister's winner came with 4:21 left, and the Canucks barely hung on--taking two penalties after taking the lead--before clinching it with an empty-netter with five seconds to go.

(The Calgary Flames, by the way, had their way against the Blues on Monday, blasting them 7-3.)

Ah yes, it's great that the Canucks are getting goals from the Keslers, Burrowses, and Isbisters of the world.

But shouldn't they be getting clutch tallies from the likes of the Sedins and captain Markus Naslund instead?

The Sedins, the Canucks' leading scorers (Henrik has 66 points, followed by Daniel's 65), have been plagued by a lack of goals lately, something that Vancouver needs.

Henrik Sedin has 11 points in his last 13 games, but his lone goal during that stretch was that empty-netter on Saturday against St. Louis. Daniel Sedin, goalless in his last nine games, has at least picked up five points during that span.

And Naslund? The Canucks captain, who has also gone nine straight games without a goal, was shut out by the Kings in the four-game season-series. The $6-million-a-year captain has just one assist in his last nine contests.

And in goal?

My, for a while on Monday, ex-Canuck Cloutier was outplaying current Canuck Roberto Luongo before the roof fell in.

Yes, yes, back to those two latest classics. Two straight wins over two lowly teams.

Go celebrate this pair of victories against two of the worst teams in the entire NHL.

Enjoy it while it lasts, Vancouver fans.

The Canucks will play seven of the next nine games on the road, with the next one Wednesday in Anaheim against the defending Stanley Cup champion Ducks.

The Ducks, by the way, have won seven straight on home ice.

But Canucks fans will have you believe that their slump is over, and point to the fact that Vancouver hasn't lost to the Cup champs this year in three tries.

Dream on, Vancouver.

Glad I don't root for this team.