Saturday, April 28, 2007
Canucks 2 Ducks 1 (2 OT)
First of all, to those who hopped back on the bandwagon after last night's 2-1 double overtime win against the Ducks, welcome back.
You had to be impressed with the Canucks' effort last night. Many people wrote them off after game one, and especially with the Sami Salo and Kevin Bieksa still missing from the defense corps and Willie Mitchell supposedly playing on one leg, they dug deep and came up with a solid, solid game.
To a man, they responded to the beating they got from us fans and from the media. Like all good teams do, they adjusted their game and neutralized the high-flying Ducks. While they still had problems at times matching Anaheim's speed, they matched them in effort and kept a lot of the Ducks' chances on the outside. The Canucks outplayed the Ducks on even-strength, and in fact, most of Anaheim's chances only came with the man-advantage. They forechecked and forced turnovers and created scoring chances. They went into the corners, got dirty and won puck battles. In other words, they stopped playing like they were scared of the big, bad Ducks and came out of it with home-ice advantage in this series.
Markus Naslund stripped the puck from Chris Pronger for his first goal since game one of round one. Jeff Cowan scored his second in two games in this series. Lukas Krajicek stepped it up and did his best Jyrki Lumme impression. The rookies, Alex Edler and Jannik Hansen, looked unintimidated. I could go through the entire lineup and find something good about the way they played.
And Roberto Luongo? He answered his critics who said that the Ducks have figured him out and have gotten to his head. He stopped 43 shots and now has his first career win against the Ducks.
Now, while the win to even this series at 1-1 was huge, the more important victory for the Canucks is knowing they can beat the Ducks. They hadn't been able to solve them all season long and certainly not in game one. Now, they head home for games three and four knowing otherwise.
More from the Mainstream
About the game around the blogosphere
My 3 Stars of the Game
Official Statistics
Next Game
Sunday night back at the Garage.
______________
Comments/Questions: Feel free to post in the comments section or email me at gocanucksgo10 (at) hotmail (dot) com.
Technorati Tags: NHL, hockey, Vancouver, Canucks, Anaheim+Ducks
You had to be impressed with the Canucks' effort last night. Many people wrote them off after game one, and especially with the Sami Salo and Kevin Bieksa still missing from the defense corps and Willie Mitchell supposedly playing on one leg, they dug deep and came up with a solid, solid game.
To a man, they responded to the beating they got from us fans and from the media. Like all good teams do, they adjusted their game and neutralized the high-flying Ducks. While they still had problems at times matching Anaheim's speed, they matched them in effort and kept a lot of the Ducks' chances on the outside. The Canucks outplayed the Ducks on even-strength, and in fact, most of Anaheim's chances only came with the man-advantage. They forechecked and forced turnovers and created scoring chances. They went into the corners, got dirty and won puck battles. In other words, they stopped playing like they were scared of the big, bad Ducks and came out of it with home-ice advantage in this series.
Markus Naslund stripped the puck from Chris Pronger for his first goal since game one of round one. Jeff Cowan scored his second in two games in this series. Lukas Krajicek stepped it up and did his best Jyrki Lumme impression. The rookies, Alex Edler and Jannik Hansen, looked unintimidated. I could go through the entire lineup and find something good about the way they played.
And Roberto Luongo? He answered his critics who said that the Ducks have figured him out and have gotten to his head. He stopped 43 shots and now has his first career win against the Ducks.
Now, while the win to even this series at 1-1 was huge, the more important victory for the Canucks is knowing they can beat the Ducks. They hadn't been able to solve them all season long and certainly not in game one. Now, they head home for games three and four knowing otherwise.
More from the Mainstream
- Duck this, Anaheim. (Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver Sun)
- Burke's bullies fail to intimidate. (Cam Cole, Vancouver Sun)
- Mother of a Duck. (Cam Cole, Vancouver Sun)
- Ducks come up short. (Dan Wood, OC Register)
- Extra effort. (Mark Whicker, OC Register)
- Fresher Canucks see result doubled. (Curtis Zupke, OC Register)
- Ducks alter course on playoff travel. (Dan Wood, OC Register)
- Canucks late-night magic beats Ducks in second overtime. (Eric Stephens, LA Times)
- Canucks defensemen hurting. (Lonnie White and Helene Elliott, LA Times)
- The onus is on the Ducks. (Helene Elliott, LA Times)
- Ducks' Pahlsson well acquainted with Sedin brothers. (Eric Stephens and Helene Elliott, LA Times)
- Squeeze play wins it. (Elliott Teaford, Daily Breeze).
About the game around the blogosphere
- Alanah from Canucks and Beyond recaps the game.
- So does Hanna from Canucks Fangirl and zanstorm from Waiting for Stanley.
- Mike the Yankee Canuck liveblogged the game and called the Cowan game-winner.
- James Mirtle called Cowan's goal a weird one. (We're just used to seeing those sorts of goals happen now.)
- For the SoCal view, check Earl Sleek from Battle of California, Finny from Girl with a Puck, and Anaheim Duck Fan.
My 3 Stars of the Game
- Roberto Luongo (VAN): 43 saves including a lot of huge ones on the Ducks powerplay.
- Jean-Sebastian Giguere (ANA): 47 saves for the home team.
- Lukas Krajicek (VAN): Stepped up his game and was great in 32:07 minutes of ice-time.
Official Statistics
Next Game
Sunday night back at the Garage.
______________
Comments/Questions: Feel free to post in the comments section or email me at gocanucksgo10 (at) hotmail (dot) com.
Technorati Tags: NHL, hockey, Vancouver, Canucks, Anaheim+Ducks
Labels: Cowan, Ducks, game recap
4 Comments:
I'm willing to open the doors back to those who were so quick to leave the bandwagon. It's ok, I forgive y'all
Man, all my friends were so writing off the Canucks after the first game but I told em once they play their system and tighten things up and Luongo gets his back up after being peppered it'll all be alright.
Also - I scored 4 tickets at face value to game 4 through Ticketreserve.com and am so stoked to see them now!
Go nucks!!!!!!!!
I am a loyal Ducks fan. I admit it. However with all due respect to Mr. Luongo and the Canucks...the Ducks gave Game 2 away. No doubt Vancouver played better and was more dangerous...however consider the Perry close call and 3 gaping nets that Selanne alone shot wide or over the net. The score easily could have been 5 or 6 or 1 Ducks. Hockey truly is a game of inches. Anyone would have to say that the winning goal was freakish and lucky at best. The undeniable truth is that the Ducks were starting to play THEIR game in the 3rd and throughout OT. I honestly don't think that the Ducks will be outplayed by VC nor do I think they will suffer the bad luck they experienced in Game 2 again!
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