This game had more twists and turns than riding shotgun with Chris Chelios after 2 for 1 night at the local watering hole. I don’t even know where to begin, as this game had EVERYTHING.

A win for the good guys? Check.

Fights? Glass and Hordichuk obliged, with Raymond (!) getting in there.

A shutout? You betcha. Luongo proved to be the superior in a battle between two of the league’s best goaltenders.

A penalty shot? Yup, although Mason Raymond was unable to convert.

A hat trick? Burrows with back to back hat tricks, something which the Canucks haven’t seen since 1986/87. WOW.

Blood? Yeah, unfortunately, Aaron Rome got thumped by Taylor Pyatt and had to leave the game. Sami Salo also got cut open by Willie Mitchell and bled, but was fine and returned.

Milestones being achieved? Take your pick. Samuelsson notched his 100th point, Luongo got his 50th career shutout and Henrik Sedin took sole possession of the NHL scoring race with a huge three point night.

The Canucks performance tonight can be summed up as such:

I mean, I hate to sound completely homertastic, but there’s not a whole lot of negative you can take out of tonight’s game. The Canucks flew in and destroyed the Coyotes, a team that handed them their only loss in their last 7 games.

The top line (we really need a name for the Sedins/Burrows line) were scoring often. We got some timely secondary scoring from the second line, with Samuelsson contributing the second goal of the game with 4 seconds left in the second period. Our role guys were out there contributing: Hordichuk and Bernier were throwing some big hits, the rest of the bottom six weren’t really doing anything horrible to stand out. Top to bottom, I thought the Canucks played a great game once again. Despite having said it for the last couple of games, I am not getting sick of saying this.

I will say that the second period was godawful for the Canucks, as they only mustered 1 shot on goal and things were kept in their end of the rink for the most part. Luongo stood tall and the Canucks penalty killers were awesome, as the Yotes enjoyed several man advantages. The PK was improving before Johnson and Bieksa went down with their injuries, but I can’t help but wonder if their absence has actually led to things improving for the Canucks shorthanded. We’ll see when/if they get back.

Still, the fact that the Canucks managed to batten down and endure a huge, period-long shift in momentum is a great sign for the team and one that speaks really well of their chances in the post season. As great as it would be to see the team dominate every period of every game, there are going to be some rough patches. Good that they don’t buckle when tested.

Back to back hat tricks. Goddamn. I think that we can safely say that the argument that Alain Vigneault doesn’t know how to coach exciting or ‘offense based’ hockey is now dead and buried.

And to be fair, I thought that Bolduc had a pretty rough game, all things being equal. A lazy hooking call late in the third could’ve put an end to Luongo’s shutout bid, but he’s young and still adapting to the NHL game. I thought he was great on the PK, though.

I must again give props to Hordichuk. That tilt against Bissonette where he made him look like a Bichon Frise was beautiful. Where have you been this season, Mr. Darcy?

That’s about all I can think of for tonight’s game. The Canucks square off against the Flames Saturday and look to make it 5 in a row and take sole possession atop the Northwest Division. Based on tonight, I’d say that things are lucky pretty darn good for the Canucks.

Also, Burrows, Henrik and Daniel will all be on Hockey Night In Canada’s After Hours. Burrows is usually awesome on After Hours, so make sure to check it out if you can!