It was a battle of special teams on Sunday afternoon between the Canucks and the Blues, which if you listen to the media would mean that St. Louis would earn the win. Lucky for Canucks Nation, however, Vancouver was able to stand strong on the penalty kill (including two different 1:00+ 5-on-3s) and smash things up on the power play. In the end, Vancouver prevailed in a 3-2 battle that helps my boys tighten their grip on the necks of the entire Blues Nation.
This game had a madly increased physicality going down, as the Blues tried to pick things up for their home fans (who eventually sold the game out to get their mascot off the arena roof!). It paid off early. Unfortunately, Minnie native David Backes was able to get the action going first, getting a feed from Brad Boyes as he streaked toward the net with an easy wrister past Luongo. I don't think anyone would have stopped it, but it was still tough to take as things got started. One thing that differed in this game was the pure amount of penalties. The Canucks had 5 power play opportunities (scoring on three of them, bitch), and the Blues got 6 chances (two 5 on 3s as mentioned, and they didn't score a single goal with the advantage. But their soooo good!) on the night. In the opening frame, the Canucks got whistled down five times, and the Blues just twice. I was waiting for Coachie V to start waving the white towels! The penalty kill was on point, however, and we were down just 1 after 20. The second period saw Vancouver come out like the team we saw in games 1 & 2. Things started with the Canucks getting a 5-on-3 chance after both McClement and Crombeen getting called for slashing. The 5 on 3 seemed pretty damned easy. Kyle Wellwood sent a pass to the blue line for Edler, Edler sent the puck across to Mattias Ohlund, and the Pieta, Sweden native bomed a perfect five hole slapper that tied things up. Just over 2 minutes later, the Blues had McClement back off for holding Ryan Kesler's stick (although the Versus announcers could have sworn it was a high stick by Kes), and Daniel Sedin was able to softly push the puck passed Mason in a mad scramble. The St. Louis fans were deflated. Rough stuff went back and forth until Andy McDonald (1 of 2 Blues players I've ever heard of) scored at 16:13 to tie things back up at 2. David Perron sent a heavy cross ice pass to Andy Mac, and he got it passed a sliding Bobby Lu. As the period ended, B.J. Crombeen got called for roughing Mason Raymod, and with 20 minutes to decide things, the Canucks would start the final frame with a 2 minute man advantage. Stevie Bernier would make good at 1:41 of the third period. Sami Salo shot the puck off the back board, it came to Hank, and a quick pass to Steve Bernier set up the game winning goal. Nice work from Karen's favorite Canuck. There was some back and forth after that, but the Blues never made much of an effort to come back. In fact, when the pulled their goalie to get an advantage at the end, David Backes got called at 19:53 for jacking Henrik Sedin up, which sealed the deal for good. A 3-2 win, and a 3-0 series lead.
The pro-Blues three stars were 1) Daniel Sedin (1 goal), 2) Andy McDonald (1 goal, 1 assist), and 3) Steve Bernier (game winning goal). I'll put my own little twist on it with the LSF Underrated 3 Stars: 1) Steve Bernier (hello!? Game winning goal), 2) Sami Salo (do assists count for anything anymore? Salo had 2), and 3) Willie Mitchell (not only did the defender block 4 shots, but Versus also called him the "difference maker"). Keys to the game? Come on on dummy! The Canucks nailed down 3 out of their 5 power plays and stopped St. Louis on all of theirs. Are you kidding me? When is the media going to give up on this St. Louis dominance on special teams bologna? I'm over it. What did everyone else think about Mats sitting in favor of Jannik "The Great Dane" Hansen? I liked it.
Now time for my "take that" of the post: A fan wearing a St. Louis jersey held up a sign that read, "LuonGO Home." El Roberto finished with 24 saves on 26 shots to help his team earn their third straight playoff win. TAKE THAT!
The Vannies try to close out the series against St. Louis on Tuesday night in the "Show Me State" at 5:00 pm. Versus is saying that they will be showing the game starting at 6:30 pm, and this has me plenty nervous. Will the Orca being able to win their fourth straight game, and then get a little time off before the Semifinals? Will they lose on purpose to have the chance to clinch the opening round series at home? Will they find some way to blow this amazing 3-0 start? So many questions, and they'll all be answered in two short days. Can't wait! I guess the Canucks win also has Jon happy, as the Hawks have been following our lead. Make it happen Sharp.
Sharks are already down 0-1 to the Ducks in game 2. What the hell is going on?
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