So the road trip goes on. Despite some late game heroics and a lucky double minor in the latter half of the third period, the Canucks were unable to come from behind yet again against the Montreal Canadiens. Or should I say the Canucks could not find a way to solve Jaroslav Halak and subsequently are STILL without a win in February.

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.

The Vancouver Canucks were facing a depleted, struggling Pittsburgh Penguins club. The Penguins were without the services of Marc Andre Fleury, who suffered a broken finger and regular backup goalie Brent Johnson. Star forward Evgeni Malkin was going through a 11 game goalless drought which can serve as a microcosm of the Penguins general offensive woes: 29th rated powerplay in the league.

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.

You sort of had a sense that this was going to happen. The Columbus Blue Jackets had lost 12 straight on the road, have managed 3 wins in their last 20 or so games. So it was only natural to think in the first period, with the Canucks down 2-0 off of 2 rather quick goals from RJ Umberger and Kristian Huselius, that the Canucks were back to being their inconsistent selves.

But expecting consistency of any kind from the Canucks this year is silly.

Well, what did you think I was going to lead this with? Yes, for the time being, Henrik Sedin is now tied with Joe Thornton for #1 overall in the NHL scoring race. It may be short lived, he may continue with the torrid pace he’s been on, but this is an outstanding accomplishment and shows that Mike Gillis was absolutely correct when he decided to sign the twins this past off-season.

The Vancouver Canucks have a couple of things to be thankful for after tonight’s win over the Los Angeles Kings. Top of the list is that they’re thankful for the stellar play of Roberto Luongo, who had a brilliant glove save in the second period and stopped 32 of 33 shots, all while looking like the potential Team Canada netminder we all know he can be.

Contributions from their role players is another thing the Canucks faithful can be thankful for, as Tanner Glass has continued to quietly put together a strong season, notching his third goal of the year.

They’ve also got to be thankful for the end to a couple of streaks. Alex Burrows managed to break a 6 game goalless streak, bulging the twine in the first period and adding an assist.