  Colorado Avalanche players celebrate a goal against the Vancouver Canucks, as Canucks’ goalie Roberto Luongo looks on, during their game on April 6, 2010. (CARMINE MARINELLI/QMI Agency) |
THE BUZZ: With the third spot in the Western Conference already locked up, the Canucks dropped a 4-3 decision in a shootout to Colorado Tuesday at GM Place, meaning the Avalanche clinch the final playoff spot after the Calgary Flames lost earlier in the night. Matt Duchene scored the winner after the five shooters ahead of him all failed to find the back of the net.
OPENER: The Avs struck first when an Alex Edler turnover in the first led to a Darcy Tucker goal, his ninth of the season. The two teams then exchanged goals 57 seconds apart late in the period with Daniel Sedin tallying his 25th of the year for Vancouver and TJ Galiardi scoring his 15th for Colorado.
BACK UP: After Mason Raymond tied the game at two 7:11 into the middle frame, Paul Stastny regained the lead for Colorado, finishing a two-on-one with Chris Stewart. Daniel then scored the 3-3 goal and his second of the night with just over five minutes left in regulation to send the game into overtime.
ART ROSS WATCH: With Alex Ovechkin scoring twice against Pittsburgh and Henrik Sedin recording one assist Tuesday, the Canucks centre is back up atop the NHL scoring race with 107 points.
CAPTAIN TALK: "If you look at our effort, it would have been easy for us to go out there and go through the motions and for them to get an easy two points," said Roberto Luongo, who finished with 28 saves. "Like I said, it was an even battle and we’ve got nothing to be ashamed of."
NO RJ: The Canucks will be without Ryan Johnson for four to six weeks after the centre broke his foot in Sunday's game. However, Vancouver got Steve Bernier back Tuesday, after the forward missed 17 games with a sports hernia. Also returning to the lineup was Shane O'Brien, who sat out four games due to off-ice shenanigans.
UP NEXT: Andrew Raycroft gets the start Thursday when the Canucks head down to San Jose to play the Conference-leading Sharks.
