I’m pretty sure no one expected last night’s game to go down the way it did. No, seriously. If you were able to predict that the Canucks were going to go down three goals in the first, Luongo was going to get pulled and Andrew freaking Raycroft was going to save the day, I’d like to sit down with you and pick your brain for the upcoming lottery numbers.  I guess, though, it was to be expected, to an extent. After all, the last time the Canucks came through Hogtown, Mats Sundin was the one who put the Leafs away. That it was Andrew Raycroft, the guy who was bought out by the Leafs, that stood tall in net for the Canucks was a delicious and poetic twist to last night’s game. For those keeping track, Raycroft’s buyout  is still on the books in Toronto and the Leafs were actually paying Rayzor roughly $130,000 more than the Canucks.  Enough gloating over the win. You’re here for analysis and insight from me. Seriously, let’s be mature and…   Okay, with smug Raycroft out of the way, let’s talk about the game!   There was a bit of surprise made over Alain Vigneault’s decision to scratch Ryan Johnson for tonight’s game and insert Tanner Glass back into the lineup. I think I’ve made it clear that I enjoy Glass and he’s been a pleasant surprise for the Canucks this year, so this isn’t meant to be disrespectful towards The Mullet. That said, AV’s decision to scratch Johnson, coupled with the decision to demote Hansen the day previous weren’t moves that I’m not fond of and I feel could have cost the Canucks the game.  Again, I don’t think ANYONE would have expected Raycroft to come in and save the day, just as no one figured the Leafs would have gone up 3-0 after 1 period of play. I think that Alain Vigneault was expecting a knock down, drag out war. Not necessarily a bad call: Brian Burke is all about ‘truculence’ and he probably was still smarting over the tampering charges Mike Gillis laid against him. Burke is known to hold a grudge (see: Lowe, Kevin) so it isn’t surprising that AV may have wanted to have some physical tools in the lineup.  I can’t help but wonder, though, if it’s these sorts of decisions that lead to the Canucks playing down to the level of their opponents. Rather than trying to engage the Leafs at their own game and beat them, it would’ve been better to have simply gone out there and played Canucks hockey instead of trying to match truculence with the Leafs. Doing so put the Canucks down by three and resulted in Luongo getting the hook.  Major kudos have to go to the Canucks for weathering the storm and coming back to win the game. As many have pointed out already, props have to be given to Darcy Hordichuk. His tilt against Colton Orr really was the spark that got the Leafs to wake up. I know that sounds contradicting, to be criticizing Vigneault for wanting to play a physical, mucking game of hockey while saying Hordichuk’s fight was the game changer, but I’d argue that the Canucks wouldn’t have found themselves needing to engage in fisticuffs had their strategy been different to start with.  The Sedins, after being quiet the last couple of days, exploded in the third period and completely owned the Leafs. Burrows also managed to keep up, establishing a new franchise record with the pair he scored. His 15 goals for the month of January puts him ahead of Pavel Bure and Tony Tanti for most goals scored in January. Additionally, the shorthanded goal which opened things up for the Canucks puts him first in the league for short handed goals scored. A great performance from him tonight that will probably have Ron MacLean having nightmares for the next week or so. Only fair, given the sweater he was wearing was great nightmare fuel in and of itself.  Alex Edler continues to come on and seems to be relishing having more icetime. He was a +4 on the night and was playing some solid hockey. No points from him, but he’s been playing great. His confidence has to be building from all of this and he’s starting to look more and more like the player who Mike Gillis had signed to the contract extension.   Nolan Baumgartner, on the other hand, looked pretty brutal, making a cavalcade of errors culminating in a momentum killing missed pass after the Sedins were working their magic. There’s a reason why he hasn’t managed to stick in the NHL and the sooner he can be back down on the Moose and helping them out, the better.   I also gotta give some credit to Wellwood. He looked good out there tonight as he and Demitra seem to be finding some chemistry together. That said, and this is becoming a cliche when discussing Wellwood, he needs to start putting up some points rather than simply ‘looking good.’  Lastly, Roberto Luongo, you need some rest. The Blues game or last night’s game would’ve been great opportunities for Luongo to have gotten some rest and let Raycroft get into the lineup. I imagine Luongo would’ve wanted to play in Montreal, considering he’s from there. Thus, giving him the night off in one of the two games leading up to the Montreal game would’ve made sense. That first goal was just brutal, as was the third goal.  Oh well. Onto bigger and better things. Okay, maybe not bigger things, as the Canucks are facing off against the diminuitive Montreal Canadiens Tuesday in what should be a great game…tilts in the Habs barn usually tend to be!