"The story lines were supposed to be strength versus strength in a featured matchup of first lines and Roberto Luongo taking on all crease-crashers in a show of resiliency Wednesday. And in the end, it played out that way but not before much drama. On a night where the Anaheim Ducks often needed a map to get the puck out of their own zone, all they needed were a pair of 5-on-3 power plays to turn a dominant performance by the Vancouver Canucks into a contest that was only close on the scoreboard for the longest time. But the Ducks rallied in the third period to claim a 4-3 victory to end a three-game losing streak to start the season because their big guys finally woke up. And the Canucks fell asleep. With the Canucks in control after Christian Ehrhoff gave them a 3-2 lead with a power-play slapper that deflected off rookie defenceman Cam Fowler, the Ducks struck twice in 64 seconds. First, it was Perry taking a cross-ice feed from Getzlaf and then the Ducks captain returning the favor to set up Ryan in the slot on a 3-on-1 play in which it appeared the Ducks had too many men on the ice and that Ryan had set a pick on Henrik Sedin. Did Ryan come off the bench too soon? "It would have been a tough call to make," said Canucks coach Alain Vigneault. "The guy is almost at the bench and the other guy steps on the ice. We turned it over and got caught at half speed on that change and they made us pay for it. We had to make a better decision, we should have seen that change coming." Ryan bolted up ice and appeared to contact Henrik before netting the winner. "I think I caught him by surprise," Ryan said of getting by the Canucks captain. "I haven't seen the replays so it's tough for me to say," responded Sedin. "Guys at the bench said it was close. Tough to say. A lot of things were happening out there." It was a strange ending to a game in which the top-line matchup looked misleading. Ryan, Getzlaf and Perry were often stuck in the neutral zone and without a mobile defence to get them the puck, there was little cohesion for much of the matchup. But Getzlaf finished with four points. However, it was the second two-man advantage for the Ducks against the run of play in the second period that gave the winless team some life and raised some eyebrows. After Keith Ballard was called for a questionable holding call on Jason Blake, as the two tumbled behind the net and the Ducks centre threw punches, Kevin Bieksa was then sent off for slashing the stick out of Perry's hands." http://www.theprovince.com/sports/hockey/canucks-hockey/Canucks luck loss Anaheim/3668649/story.html
