Very Special Teams
As if the series couldn’t get better, despite the one-sided post game result (a Canucks win) and the Canucks now holding a 3-0 series lead, each game just gets more and more exciting. Not too long ago I coined a phrase that said being a Canucks fan comes with a heart attack and a defibrillator, the Canucks took that saying of mine to a whole new meaning in game 3.
In a first period the Canucks were playing with shovels not hockey sticks as they were digging themselves deeper and deeper with the never ending parade to the penalty box. St. Louis’ desperation got them an early goal and the Canucks frustration led to a few penalties. I don’t remember so many 5 on 3 power plays for both teams in one game, well, ever. The interesting thing is after the Canucks made it out of the first period ONLY down one it seemed like the momentum was in the Canucks favour even though they’d been dominated all period and were down one.
The refs who seemed against the Canucks all game leveled the playing field with a series of calls in favour of the Canucks and the Canucks went to work. Special teams were the story of tonight. The Blues powerplay just couldn’t solve the Canucks no matter how many chances they got, no matter how many 5 on 3 chances they got. The 3 stars of the game should have read 1. Johnson, 2. Johnson, 3. Johnson. Ryan Johnson was easily one of the best Canucks on the ice and shot after shot he was going down and sacrificing his body as he saw 16 minutes of ice time which was amongst the Canucks minute loggers on the night.
Sundin was a healthy scratch in tonight’s game due to a “lower body injury” and as a result rookie Jannik Hansen got to lace up. Last game Kesler notched his first career playoff points and tonight Kevin “Boom Boom” Bieksa and Kyle Wellwood notched their first career playoff points on assists to powerplay goals by Ohlund and Daniel Sedin. The Canucks made good on their chances where St. Louis lacked. The Canucks killed all penalties and scored 3 powerplay goals making St. Louis pay for their mistakes. Again, their inexperience and frustration boiled over and after the go ahead powerplay goal just a minute and a half into the third period the Blues looked deflated. Their inability to convert on two lengthy 5 on 3 opportunities was their downfall. With over 5 minutes of 5 on 3 powerplay time the Blues haven’t scored once.
The Canucks go into game 4 on Tuesday against a Blues team that has their backs up against the wall. It’s do or die and Canucks fans no doubt will be out in force with the brooms hoping for a 4th straight playoff win and 6th straight win in a row.
The Canucks have never swept a best of 7 playoff series. They have one sweep in their franchise’s history and that was back in ’82 when the Canucks beat the Flames 3 games to none.
