Since it's the playoffs, I figured we should do something special for the post on the first game of the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Canucks open things up at home against the Blues tonight, and I'll be providing an update after each period to keep you posted on the LSF side of the story.
Period 1 (it's 7:53 pm): I'll just first point out how crazy the crowd was going as the game started. Probably for the first 2 minutes of the game, the entirety of Canucks Nation was on their feet clapping in anticipation of this glorious cup run. Excitement in the air! The game started out with a quick pace and back and forth. Luongo made a thrilling first glove save to get himself going. The Blues decided they wanted to make this interesting by giving Lu ice showers on the first couple of cover ups. The Canucks obviously took exception to that, and some brawl ensued. Alex Edler got flagged for a elbowing call at 7:37 on a big collision with Jay McClement. The Canucks killed the penalty really well, showing that they at least appear to be the squad that outmatches St. Louis. That fact was even more validated at 10:03 when my boys had Pavol Demitra hop on as an extra attacked on a delayed penalty. Demitra streaked into the zone, grabbed the puck, and fired a perfect slap pass to the slot where Daniel Sedin. Everyone, including Blues keeper Chris Mason, thought Po Po's puck was headed to the net, which easily allowed Daniel's shot to go into the net for the first goal of the playoffs. It was Nintendo DS' sixth career playoff goal, and it was so clutch money. Right after the goal, the Vannies got called on two penalties, resulting in a 1:30+ 5 on 3 for the Blues. Um, no worries for the Blue & Green. Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows, and Willie Mitchell stayed out the whole time and killed the thing like WHAT! Exceptional. The second period is starting with the game 1-0 for the good guys, so I'll be back.
Period 2 (it's 8:48 pm): Going into the second period, a lot of different things could have happened. And they did. The second frame was just as chippy as the first 20 minutes, and the back and forth playoff opportunities made the game that much more exciting. Jay McKee got called for interfering with Stevie Bernier at 3:19, and it was on. The power play was less than perfect until about 5:11 of the period. Daniel Sedin finally got the puck behind the net and fed a crazy long pass all the way out to the blue line where Sami Salo was waiting. The Turku, Finland native bombed a slapper like only he knows how to the net. Steve Bernier was standing in front of Chris Mason and deflected the puck for the 2-0 lead. The box score still has Sami Salo as the goal scorer, but the deflection was pretty clear, and hopefully they'll get it right for Stevie's sake. The 2-0 lead seemed to deflated St. Louis, and despite power plays going back and forth, the Blues would get back to things after Hank got called for hooking Barret Jackman at 16:43. The Canucks were working on killing their seventh power play of the night, but it wasn't meant to be. Tkachuk won the power play, Andy McDonald fed a pass to Alex Steen, the former Leaf took a hard shot that resulted in a wild rebound, and Brad Boyes easily put home the Blues first goal. I can't even remember the last time that Bobby Lu let the rubber tickle the twine, but here we are. After 40 minutes of play, we're looking at a narrow 2-1 lead, and the Vannies are going to need to keep up the speed and strength to finish off this game 1. Enjoy the final period, pals.
Period 3 (it's 9:43 pm): Was all of Canucks Nation as nervous about the third period as I was? A complacent Vannie side held tight to their 1 goal lead through the final 20 minutes. The Orca didn't push hard for another goal, but didn't lay back an allow one either. The power plays were much reduced in the final frame, a 4-on-4 at 2:29, followed by a Vancouver power play at 11:17 on the heels of a David Perron hooking penalty. The Canucks didn't do much on the power play, and made it look like Coachie V was playing the sit back, defend the zone, and wait for the win strategy that often blows up in his face. Not tonight, through. Roberto Luongo and the Canucks held strong to the 2-1 lead to earn the first win of the playoff series. I have to admit that I was crouched in front of the TV when the Blues pulled Mason to get the one man advantage toward the end. It was scary, but we held on. When the final horn sounded, the towels around GM Place erupted in joy, and the Canucks earned a 1-0 lead in the Western Conference Quaterfinals. Totally awesome intensity.
My 3 stars for the game are as follows: 1) El Roberto (25 saves and his .962 save percentage. He was solid like a brick wall), 2) Daniel Sedin (1 goal, 1 assist, a +1 rating, and 6 shots on goal. Can you ask for more?), and 3) Alex Edler (1 assist and a +1 rating with a mostly solid defensive game. Nice stuff for the Swedish youngster). Honorable mention goes to Ryan Kesler, who was just all over the ice tonight.
The Canucks will bring their 1-0 lead back to the Garage this Friday evening when they go for win #2 of 4 against St. Louis. All I can say is, thanks for a tremendous game tonight, and when it comes to Friday, GO CANUCKS GO!
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