Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Stars 1 Canucks 4
Some will say the Vancouver Canucks were lucky that the crossbar was placed right where Mike Modano can hit it. Some will say the Canucks were lucky that the officiating crew gave them double the number of man-advantages than they gave the Stars. (Those people obviously hadn't seen the Canucks' powerplay this series.) I'll tell you this: You have to be good to be lucky, and last night, the Canucks were good. As Alain Vigneault asked for, they worked their tushies off and were good.
Roberto Luongo was good. Okay, he was great. Stu Barnes will attest to that. In Louie's first season as a Vancouver Canuck, he took them to the postseason, and in his first postseason appearance,won stole them a first playoff series.
Trevor Linden, the game seven scoring leader among active players, was good. The scoresheet recorded a goal and an assist, but he gave the Canucks more than that. He was as much a presence on the ice as he was to the team in '94.
The Sedins were good. Especially in the latter half of game seven, they got their cycle game going and created scoring chances and drew penalties.
Taylor Pyatt was good. Guess who threw his weight around to give the Sedins room for their cycle game?
Markus Naslund was good. So were Jan Bulis, Jannik Hansen, Bryan Smolinski, and the defense. Even the aforementioned powerplay, which had only scored one goal in the entire series, responded with two big goals. In fact, it's hard to find anyone in the lineup who didn't respond to Alain Vigneault's challenge to be better than they were after game six.
Hats off to the Marty Turco and the Dallas Stars for a fine series. And when I say fine, I mean competitive. Most of the games weren't pretty but they produced the best goaltending duel I've ever seen and kept me at the edge of my seats.
Now for their efforts, the Canucks get to meet Brian Burke and the Anaheim Ducks. In the second round of the playoffs. For the first time in four years and for only the second time at GM Place.
More from the Mainstream
About the game around the blogosphere
My 3 Stars of the Game
Official Statistics
Next Game
Round 2 stars tomorrow night in Anaheim.
______________
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, Dallas+Stars
Roberto Luongo was good. Okay, he was great. Stu Barnes will attest to that. In Louie's first season as a Vancouver Canuck, he took them to the postseason, and in his first postseason appearance,
Trevor Linden, the game seven scoring leader among active players, was good. The scoresheet recorded a goal and an assist, but he gave the Canucks more than that. He was as much a presence on the ice as he was to the team in '94.
The Sedins were good. Especially in the latter half of game seven, they got their cycle game going and created scoring chances and drew penalties.
Taylor Pyatt was good. Guess who threw his weight around to give the Sedins room for their cycle game?
Markus Naslund was good. So were Jan Bulis, Jannik Hansen, Bryan Smolinski, and the defense. Even the aforementioned powerplay, which had only scored one goal in the entire series, responded with two big goals. In fact, it's hard to find anyone in the lineup who didn't respond to Alain Vigneault's challenge to be better than they were after game six.
Hats off to the Marty Turco and the Dallas Stars for a fine series. And when I say fine, I mean competitive. Most of the games weren't pretty but they produced the best goaltending duel I've ever seen and kept me at the edge of my seats.
Now for their efforts, the Canucks get to meet Brian Burke and the Anaheim Ducks. In the second round of the playoffs. For the first time in four years and for only the second time at GM Place.
More from the Mainstream
- Ageless Linden in vintage (uni)form. (Ben Kuzma, Vancouver Province)
- Old guys show up when it's do or die. (Ben Kuzma, Vancouver Province)
- Sedins show no Euro-softyness. (Ed Willes, Vancouver Province)
- Fans finally have Luongo to float their hopes. (Ed Willes, Vancouver Province)
- After Luongo, the key guy was Mitchell. (Tony Gallagher, Vancouver Province)
- Luongo simply 'couldn't be happier'. (Jason Botchford, Vancouver Province)
- Dallas unable to fill huge void left by absence of star D-man Zubov. (Jason Botchford, Vancouver Province)
- Hockey gods smile on Canucks in crucial game. (Cam Cole, Vancouver Sun)
- Sweet 16: Trevor Linden leads the way. (Iain MacIntyre, Vancouver Sun)
- It's Duck season. (Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun)
- In a golden state. (Elliott Pap, Vancouver Sun)
- Tippet 'baffled' by proliferation of penalties. (Brad Ziemer, Vancouver Sun)
- Linden takes coach's tip, then tips in winner. (Grant Kerr, Globe and Mail)
- Linden seals the deal. (Terry Jones, Edmonton Sun)
- Vanquished. (Mike Heika, Dallas Morning News)
- Canucks break through in Game 7. (Kate Hairopoulos, Dallas Morning News)
- Stars vanish in Vancouver. (Jean-Jacques Taylor, Dallas Morning News)
- Injury forces Stars to go without Zubov. (Staff reports, Dallas Morning News)
- Another empty feeling for Stars. (Tracey Myers, DFW Star-Telegram)
- Stars show plenty of heart but ran out of gas in the end. (Jim Reeves, DFW Star-Telegram)
- Stars mad at penalty calls. (Jennifer Floyd-Engel, DFW Star-Telegram)
- Fans subdued by Turco effort. (Jennifer Floyd-Engel, DFW Star-Telegram)
About the game around the blogosphere
- James Mirtle's loving Trevor Linden.
- Alanah's in a bragging mood.
- Mike the Yankee Canuck liveblogged the game.
- Jes shares his - and his girl's - postgame thoughts.
- So does Waiting For Stanley, The Chief Canuck and Canucks Fangirl.
My 3 Stars of the Game
- Roberto Luongo (VAN): Wouldn't let the Stars build on their 1-0 lead.
- Trevor Linden (VAN): Responded to Vigneault's rant with his best performance of the series.
- Henrik Sedin (VAN): Finally able to set up the cycle; one goal and an assist.
Official Statistics
Next Game
Round 2 stars tomorrow night in Anaheim.
______________
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, Dallas+Stars
Labels: Believe In Blue, game recap, Linden, Luongo
9 Comments:
Dude, was that you in the stands on a really quick cbc fan fly-by? Wearing the dark Canucks uni? I'm pretty sure it was... my wife was a bit wierded out I think that I recognized a random guy in the stands, but I'm SURE it was you...
Go Canucks go !
from here on out I"m happy :) of course 12 more wins would be nice ! :D but we finally won a playoff round! Its been too long !
Jenny
JJ,
Just want to say thanks for posting all these articles every morning. It's become my routine to print them all first thing when I get in my office. I could find them myself, but this makes things so much easier!
By the way: don't forget the LA Times for next series, they cover the Ducks as well as the OCR.
I was thinking the same thing as Steve. I swear I saw you out there.
I just can't downplay the fact that Dallas had 10 penalties against in the last 2 periods to the Nucks' 5. I guess it made it pretty exciting, but f**k that. Can you imagine a Stanley Cup final Game 7 being ref'd like that? The calls were for the most part absurd. And then the non-calls (like Lindros smoking Green, who didn't have the puck.) Yeah.
At least our PP is clicking now, finally. Just in time for the Ducks.
I also enjoyed how the Nucks kept all of their shoot-ins away from Turco last night. Turco wouldn't even try to get the puckafter a while.
Dominance.
I have been waiting for this for seven years (the cumulative length of my banishment from Vancouver to the land of silicon and stars). I just got my hands on four lower level tickets to game 1.
I have round up three other similarly banished Vancouverites to join me.
Look for us, 10th row behind Luongo for periods one and three causing havoc in the stands.
Hey Scott,
Awesome. Look for me right above you in the club seats, wearing my Larionov 18 from the 75th anniversary year.
If you know anyone else who needs tickets, let me know.
I just got a chance to watch the game at lunchtime today...wow. Linden was amazing...the Twins were amazing...
but, what happened to Morrison? The giveaways and the penalties were a bit too much for me.
steve and zanstorm - I was wearing a dark Canucks Morrison t-shirt so I don't think it was me. Plus, my seats are high, high, high up in the upper bowl so most likely not. hehe.
Jenny - I think the sense in the stadium was a lot of elation and a little bit of relief.
Jeff and Scott - Have a great time at the games. Feel free to share your experiences at the game. You can post them in the comments or send me an email and I'll post them for you. Always good to hear from Canucks fans in other cities.
gz - Linden was absolutely amazing. I had to check and make sure it wasn't 1994 again. As for Morrison, he looked very nervous out there at times. I know he passed the puck behind Nazzy a few times.
Actually, Alanah beat you to it. I'm going to be posting something for her tomorrow. Look for me there!
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