Heading into tonight’s game against the Oilers, the Canucks had proven to be a tough team to figure out, forget putting any money on these guys.

The Canucks started the month of December 2 and 2 on the road, beating the Devils and Flyers but ending the trip with two terrible performances against the Hurricanes and Predators.  One night they dominate the best team in the league, and three nights later they lay a complete egg against the worst team in the East.

Back at the garage, the Canucks continued their swings of highs and lows, winning three in a row, including a 3-1 contest against the Conference leading Kings, followed, of course, by a terrible effort against the Conference worst Anaheim Ducks.

The unpredictable Canucks continued to baffle fans by putting up a strong performance to beat the high powered Capitals only to turn around and again play down to their opponent, letting the St. Louis Blues take advantage of a lethargic Canucks squad two nights later.

The roller coaster ride continued against the red hot Predators, just when the Canucks looked like they would be blown out, they put up one of the best performances of the year against Nashville.

Naturally, when the struggling Oilers were next on the schedule, I assumed another lazy, lack-lustre performance against a lesser opponent was coming from the Canucks. Wrong – just when I thought I had the Canucks figured out, they snapped out of it. Merry Christmas.

Santa must have been good to the Canucks; I don’t know how you deliver consistency as a Christmas present, but the big guy in the red suit is one magical man. Fresh off a three day Christmas break, the Canucks took advantage of sloppy penalties and poor penalty killing by the Oilers, and made them pay in a convincing 4-1 victory. Normally I would bet the Canucks would dominate any team on a five game losing streak, but the unpredictability of the Canucks has left me bamboozled.

The Sedins continued their impressive scoring stretch with five points between the twins. Ryan Kesler also continued his strong play, battling through a tough knee on knee hit and a blocked shot off the stick of Sheldon Souray to score the eventual game winner. Christian Ehrhoff’s insurance goal in the third was a beauty as well; he seemed to hear Jim Hughson and Craig Simpson mention his scoring drought and responded with a beautiful give and go on the rush to restore the two goal lead.

A number of Canucks had solid games tonight, a solid team effort. Roberto Luongo was very strong all night long. If not for an almost impossible shot by Ryan Potulny, Luongo would have had the shutout. While they couldn’t necessarily be found on the score sheet, Mikael Samuelsson, Tanner Glass, and Rick Rypien also had especially good games. Samuelsson’s shot block followed by a drawn penalty on Sheldon Souray killed Edmonton’s momentum in the second; hell of a one man effort.

The Canucks will try and sweep all of Alberta tomorrow night as they take on the Flames in a rare back to back game. It will take a gritty effort from the Canucks, as the Flames have been resting at home over the Christmas break, waiting for the tired Canucks.

News and Notes

• Rick Rypien and Huggy Bear Zack Stortini renewed acquaintances again tonight in a (It kills me to admit this) pretty even tilt. Stortini seemed to be throwing fore-arms instead of real punches, which proves that he is well aware The Pit bull owns him straight up.

Update: Rypien is getting the decision over at hockeyfights.com, which makes me a very happy man.

• Brad Staubitz was the first player to throw MMA style punches in a NHL fight, and I was all for it at the time, so I`m not going to be a hypocrite and bash Stortini for using a different fighting style, but if this trend continues and fighters start using their giant elbow pads as weapons, an extra penalty needs to be accessed.
• Ryan Johnson was held out of the line-up tonight with a sore foot, and is listed as day-to-day, but will not travel with the team.
• Ryan Kesler had a rough night, he took a hard knee on knee hit from Ryan Stone and later blocked a hard slap shot from Sheldon Souray, but battled through to pot the game winner and finish the game.  Alain Vigneault said after the game “I was told he was fine“ in regards to his injury, but Kesler was more than fine tonight – he was a beauty.
• Vigneault also ended any speculation over Roberto Luongo getting a rest tomorrow night,  telling the Media that he will ride Lou`s hot hand again against the Flames.
• For those of you counting along at home, the Canucks record this month is 5 and 1 against teams currently in playoff position, and only 3-3 against teams currently out of playoff position. The Canucks need to stop playing down to lesser opponents in order to move up in the standings and join the elite NHL teams. Head to head they seem to have no trouble playing with the big boys.
• PPV game tomorrow night, so pile into your favourite bar or order it and invite the guys over (and a couple of puck bunnies, of course), It should be a good one. Tired or not, the Canucks shouldn`t have any trouble getting ready for a game against the Flames.