Ripple effect
After a 4-2 win against the Edmonton Oilers last night in which he had 3 points, Alex Burrows does the best job of summing up the effect of Mats Sundin’s addition to the Vancouver Canucks lineup (Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver Sun):
“We didn’t see their top four defencemen all night,” Burrows explained of the Oiler matchups. “We saw a lot of their third pairing, so obviously that’s going to open up ice for us. I think everybody will be benefit from him.”
Kyle Wellwood also added:
“I was talking to Henrik and Daniel before the game, telling them the other team’s coach has to make a decision now [about which Canucks to check] with Mats out there,” Wellwood said. “He can’t play his top defencemen 60 minutes. I thought Mats had a strong game.”
Mats Sundin didn’t score last night. He logged a very average 15 minutes of ice-time and didn’t have any shots on goal (though he had a few scoring chances), but he sure made a difference. For the last couple of seasons, there was so much talk about how the Canucks need a second scoring line to help the Sedins. With Sundin in the lineup and how he attracts the defense, they may well have three.
Much, much more on Sundin’s debut:
- Not much from Mats, but it’s a win (Gordon McIntyre, Vancouver Province)
- Plenty of things to like about Sundin’s debut (Tony Gallagher, Vancouver Province)
- Welcome Mats (Joanne Ireland, Edmonton Journal)
- Bernier burns Oil (Robert Tychkowski, Edmonton Sun)
- Sundin saga ends (Derek Van Diest, Edmonton Sun)
- Predicting Sundin’s value to the Canucks (Scott Rintoul, Metro News Vancouver)
- Numbers add up in Canucks’ favour with Sundin (Alan Ryder, Globe and Mail)
- Sundin held in check (Eric Duhatschek, Globe and Mail)
- Sundin looks to the future (Eric Duhatschek, Globe and Mail)
