2011 WEEK 39 Pt. 3: Third Period

With the zambonis finished their work, the nets back in place and fresh ice awaiting, the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers hit the ice for the third period.

I snapped this one of Oiler team Captain, Shawn Horcoff, as he circled the net and psyched himself up for the final twenty minutes.

Every goaltender has their routine between plays. For Khabibulin its taking a swig from his bottle then skating off to the right of his net to adjust his mask until the play is ready to start. As soon as the players prepare for the face-off, he jams his stick into his blocker glove with determination then hustles back to his net and hunches down.

After his time in the sin-bin from the 2nd Period fight, Theo Peckham was put to the test by Henrik Sedin. Andy Sutton takes a different approach, not worrying about Henrik but instead keeping his eye on the puck.

Seconds later, Henrik had to slam on the brakes before slamming into the boards.

Five minutes and thirty-six seconds into the period, Jannik Hansen put the Canucks up by a goal. The Oilers came close to tying it several times. Jeff Petry tried an up-ice pass but Vancouver's defence quickly turned it back.

Both Henrik and Daniel Sedin looked to be in fine form again. Seeing their puck-handling skills up close really makes you appreciate their talent. They didn't make it on to the scoreboard on Saturday night but they certainly created lots of opportunities.

Every time they were on the ice their line mate Alex Burrows was causing all kinds of problems in the crease for Khabibulin as he circled the net.

Ultimately it was the combination of the hard work of the 2nd and 3rd scoring lines that made the difference in the third period.

With under one minute to go, Mikael Samuelsson wristed a shot into the back of the net off of a point shot from defenseman Dan Hamhuis. Both of whom I caught in this final shot a few seconds earlier.

That's Samuelsson leaning back to avoid the puck flying by. Oiler #93 is 18 year-old Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and the 2011 number one Draft Pick. I'm not sure what he was doing there but it looks like the puck might have clipped him. Either way, he has no idea where the puck is.

With seconds to go on the clock, that same puck was in the back of the Oiler net again care of Cody Hodgson for a 4-1 Vancouver win.

I'd love to shoot some sport action again - it's a huge challenge. Anyone got a spare ticket to a Lions game or a Vancouver Whitecaps game???

Thank you to everyone who's come to check out my blog this week especially to the many folks who came here from Canuck Nation. Thanks to you this weeks entries have been the most popular yet. I hope you come and visit again or I'll be "forced" to go to another game and capture some more action!

Until next time folks...