Nobody that’s still standing has played as much playoff hockey this
season than the Canucks, who emerged from a thrilling seven-game
first-round win against the Dallas Stars. In total, the Canucks played
seven games, plus six additional periods of overtime, essentially
competing in the equivalent of nine games in the first round. That’s a
lot of hockey, especially when you have a date with the fearsome Ducks
to look forward to.
Anaheim made quick work of the defensively sound Wild in the first
round and continued to flash their deep scoring attack. They can put
the puck in the net and they can play as big as anyone left in the
tournament. Their forwards love to hit and as impressive as the Ducks
are moving the puck around the rink, they’re just as happy to move
opponents out of their way, too. The Ducks are mean and nasty and
they’re on a mission, which could be a lot for the tired Canucks to
deal with.
Vancouver didn’t score much in the first round. But in the games they
scored at least a goal, they came out on top, thanks to the play of
Roberto Luongo in net. As good as Luongo was in the first round, he
wasn’t the best goalie in that series. The second-round matchup with
the tandem of Ilya Bryzgalov and J.S. Giguere might also be a classic.
The Canucks let the Stars back into the series and were forced to go
the distance in the first round. Could that lack of focus come back to
hurt them?
Vancouver Game Breakers
Roberto Luongo
– Luongo was
great in the first round, but you can make a fine argument that he was
not better than Marty Turco, who shut out Vancouver three times in the
series. But in the final, deciding game, Luongo was the man, stopping
19 of 20 shots with his season on the line. After allowing Dallas’
lone goal in the first period, he was unbeatable. The save he made on
Stu Barnes midway through the third period of Game 7 stood up as the
biggest one he made in the series, an example of how valuable he is to
the Canucks. Now if they would just block a few more shots for him.
Henrik Sedin
– When the Canucks
needed their stars most in Game 7, Sedin was one of those who
admirably stepped up to fight off elimination. Sedin scored the tying
goal in the second period against Dallas and then helped to set up
Trevor Linden’s winner. A shifty playmaker, he led the Canucks with 71
assists in the regular season and will be counted on to provide more
offense than he did in the first round when he scored two goals
against Dallas in the defensive opening series.
Taylor Pyatt
– Some people used
to call him Taylor “Quiet” because he never really said much, but his
play in the playoffs has spoken volumes as he tied for the team lead
with five points in the first round. It was Pyatt’s empty-net goal in
Game 7 that iced the series for the Canucks. Scoring two goals and
three assists in the first round was an accomplishment against a
dominant Turco and Pyatt figures to attract plenty of attention from
the Anaheim defense.
