I will not beg for time to pout...
Tonight, after one days rest the Vancouver Canucks stepped on to the ice to face the dreaded Anahiem Ducks. Early on it looked like the Canucks had an early jump, Markus Naslund had a glorious opportunity, then Trevor Linden had a chance, and then Jeff Cowan scored the games first goal, but that was it for the visitors.
The Ducks showed exactly why they have the best power-play in the post season. The Ducks offensive stars stepped to the forefront against a Vancouver Canucks defense that was missing the likes of Sami Salo and Kevin Bieksa. The Ducks showed why they are so heavily favoured.
With Salo and Bieska out of the line-up meant the Canucks had to use the likes of Rory Fitzpatrick, Alex Edler and Brent Sopel on the penalty-kill. Not only did mean a weaker penalty-kill but it also meant the Canucks would have to use Willie Mitchell on an already anemic power-play. With that in mind the Ducks stars decided to take advantage as MacDonald, Selanne, and Kunitz combined for three goals and seven points in first period of play.
Roberto Luongo was pulled after the fourth goal but not due to poor play but rather as a moment of rest for the often used netminder. Luongo did not look as sharp as he as recently been but that is not to say that he was the reason for the Canucks defeat.
In the end, it was a lesson learned. Coach Alain Vigneault will review the tapes and adjust his game plan accordingly. For this is the second round, a new opponent and a better opponent (than Dallas) at that. The players will rest, the coaches will implement the new system and...
Shoot more... that's all I have to say, I'm not worried about bouncing back defensively, but we still need to score goals to win. :D
LOL!!! Do you really think the Loungo was pulled, to rest him. NO WAY, he was pulled because he was sucking really bad in net, otherwise the game would have been 10-1, if he was to stay in there. Just like I said before, you might want to change your screen name after this playoff series with Ducks, because Loungo will get pulled more as the Ducks are comming in for a sweep.
Ditto that KA! With Vancouver's ALL-STAR defensemen, Luongo doesn't stand a chance!
Do I sense bitter grapes from Stars' fans? Thought you were classier than that. Canucks got their clocks cleaned plain and simple..they don't match up well against the Ducks. That being said let's watch and see if they go away easily or play it tough the rest of the way. Remember how missing Zubov hurt? Well, although none of the players Canuks were missing is as good as Zubov, missing Bieksa, Salo, Cooke, and Kesler (not to mention Naslund and Morrison MIA) limits a team far more than missing "just" Zubov. Luongo didn't suck, but his defense (including forwards) did. That's not to say he had his best game either -- remember game 1 against Dallas. He didn't play well (nor did Turco) and still won the game...of course Anaheim is no Dallas (they're far better than the Stars) and Canucks can't win unless they're all going top of their game.
Of course I am bitter...that's obvious...and for good reason. But missing Zubov did not lose game 7 for us nor did you win because of it. The fact is... you defense has yet to settle down. Luongo is the one and only reason you advanced...but I don't think even his greatness can save you against the Ducks. And yes, Luongo played poorly...he was simply not the same guy we faced...including the the major turnover before goal #4.
Can you say bitter? I would probably take more stock in your comments if you weren't as disgruntled Stars fan. Anytime the public address announcer has to announce that the home team in on the power-play, you have to question the knowledge of that teams fans. If you knew anything about hockey you would understand that Luongo is probably the best goalie in the league, next to Martin Broduer. That's about all the time I have for a Stars fan.
2 of our top 4 d-men were out of the line-up. We'll shake it off, at least we don't have to wait 129 days to do so right kahockey? Like I said I have wasted enough time on Stars fans.
Nice Blogs...my respect for Vancouver fans moved up a notch. I like how you are not afraid to pick the Ducks to win the series but you make it clear that you won't run and hide. Respect.I agree that Van will probably lose the series but I hope you give them a hell of a fight...
Dude, don't even compare that Loungo to Broduer...Broduer has been in the league for far too long than your goalie...I guess you don't read your comments but Vancuver only has 3 more games until their next season. If there is one person in here who doesn't know about hockey is you, who is comparing Loungo to Broduer and your crazy talk about the penalty and all the crap, that doesn't make any sense.