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Schneider, Sedins slip Canucks past Blackhawks

Cory Schneider

Vancouver Canucks goalie Cory Schneider dives across the crease to make a glove save on a Chicago Blackhawks shot during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)

AP

For the second game in a row, the Vancouver Canucks decided to start Cory Schneider instead of Roberto Luongo in a high-profile match. Much like that Jan. 7 contest against the Boston Bruins, that overblown decision paid off as the high-profile backup nabbed a 3-2 overtime win against the Chicago Blackhawks.

If the victory wasn’t a good enough argument for Alain Vigneault’s decision, this save says it all:

Ultimately it came down to a fantastic performance by Schneider (37 out of 39 made) and this great overtime goal by the Sedin twins:

(Interesting note: that tally makes Daniel Sedin the team’s all-time leader in OT goals.)

As far as the Blackhawks went, pot-stirrer Dave Bolland had a rough night with a -1 rating, zero points, and went 6-14 in the faceoff circle. Jonathan Toews (one assist, -1, five shots) and Patrick Sharp (zero points, even rating, three shots) seemed solid enough in their returns from injury as they played about 19:10 each.
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Sure, it’s just two points for the Canucks and one charity point for the Blackhawks, but nights as excited as these have a nice way of breaking the monotony of an 82-game season. Did you take anything else away from that contest, though?