Seven Things – 22 May 2011
1. The Vancouver Canucks rode their power play through much of the regular season. They were first overall in goals and had the best PP in the league this year; when they win, the man advantage very often is one of the main reasons. Sunday afternoon was no exception, as the Canucks scored three goals on two-man advantages in unusually quick succession. In fact, the buck fifty-five between the first and third goals broke the franchise record for the fastest three goals of any kind scored by the Canucks in a playoff game. I’ve yet to find any time in NHL history where three goals were scored by one team on the 5-on-3, let alone in under two minutes.
Did I say the only reason? Because another solid part of the Canucks win in game four is explored in #5 below.
2. For the second game in a row, the Canucks started a parade to the penalty box early. Anyway, three of the five calls were chintzy whistles – but don’t blame the refs. Don Cherry got it right in the first intermission when he nailed Tanner Glass as the culprit. Glass sassed to the referee before the opening faceoff, giving the zebras license to call anything remotely borderline against the Canucks for the first 20 minutes. And that they did.
By contrast, San Jose’s two-man disadvantages were all dummy plays that weren’t up to referee discretion. A high stick, a blatant hook, too many men, and the puck flipped over the glass from the wrong side of the blueline? All calls the refs should not miss. Badda bing: Kesler slapshot. Badda bam: Salo slapshot. Badda bang: Salo bullet. The Canucks go up three-bagel on just four shots in the second period.
3. The man advantage in this series has been sick. First of all, refs in games three and four have been whistle-happy, sapping the flow from a potentially amazing series. Watch replays of the Sharks-Red Wings second round, or the best games from the Canucks-Blackhawks series, and there just aren’t a lot of iffy calls to go around. But looking past the officiating, these two teams are golden on the power play. More than half of the goals in the series have come on the PP – 15 out of 28 through four games, to be exact. The Canucks are operating at a ridiculous 39.1% in the series. Are you kidding me? Nearly forty freakin’ percent.
4. Where are all the Sedin haters now? Henrik Sedin currently leads the NHL in playoff scoring with 19 points. He has as many assists – 17 – as the next closest player has points. With plenty of hockey remaining, Henrik is tied for third in Vancouver Canucks history for the most points in a single playoff season (Pavel Bure is first with 31; Trevor Linden is second with 25. Both players did their damage in the Canucks run to the Cup final in 1994.) But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s examine the franchise record breakage that has already occurred, shall we?
- His four assists in the Sunday win are the most by any Canuck in a single playoff game.
- Henrik has now broken the Canucks record for the most assists in a single playoff series. Whose record did he break? Alexander Mogilny had eight assists in six games against Colorado in 1996. After just four games against San Jose, Hank has nine helpers.
- The team captain has also broken Bure’s record for most assists in a single playoff year. He already has two more than Bure’s 15 assists in 1994. Henrik has the chance to demolish this particular mark if the Sharks make this a series and/or when the Canucks play a healthy, long Cup final.
(Article continued after the following sports-related ad content, which you really ought to read.)
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(Okay, now back to your regularly scheduled chicanery.)
5. Alain Vigneault ended his post-game press conference with a good natured shaming of the media: “No one’s going to ask me about my goaltender?” Once again, Bobby Lou shrugged off suggestions that he is the weak link in the Vancouver juggernaut and put in a solid performance under pressure from an opposition with firepower to spare. The first five minor penalties in the game were against Vancouver, whose penalty killers (including Bobby Lou) had to be perfect. Remember, these are the same guys who gave up five consecutive power play goals to the Sharks in the first three games before turning on the PK. Since midway through game three, Vancouver’s penalty kill has been as dangerous as the Shark power play, largely thanks to just how comfortable Luongo looks standing up to the big guns from San Jose.
6. If you’ve listened to our podcast, you know that I’m the first guy to slam the NHL for expanding into non-traditional markets at the expense of hockey hotbeds. I’m sorry, Atlanta, but your team should be in Winnipeg. There’s no way California should have three teams, while Ontario has two – or considering the Leafs and Sens the last couple of seasons, closer to one and a half. The point is, Tampa Bay should not be a team that I’m impressed by.
Au contraire, mon frère. Not only has Steve Yzerman reinstilled this group with the winning attitude that brought them a championship a few years back (a great young coach, a few good scouts and one of the hottest young goal scorers in the world haven’t hurt either). Nope, they’ve also benefitted from a surprisingly loyal fanbase. You expect four thousand rabid Canadians to jet down to San Jose for a weekend of playoff hockey. But just as Nashville surprised me with their down home country hostin’ during the second round, Tampa Bay has shown the rest of the league that they’ve got some pretty intense, pretty loyal fans, too. Check out this shot from Sunday as their charter taxied to the runway to head to Boston for game five in the Eastern Conference final. Hundreds of fans had gathered at the airport to see their heroes off, and they decided the typical crowd waving scene was not enough. So they marshaled all of that marching band and cheerleading background they developed from years of football-first brainwashing, and formed a giant human lightning bolt visible from the plane. Talk about a spirited sendoff. The players must have been soaring after that, even after their plane landed in Beantown.
7. Hey Bruins, what the hell is it with you guys and three-nothing leads? Last year, three-zip in the series against the Flyers. You buckle and let them get you to a seventh game. Then, a tres-nada lead in that deciding game, and you blow it. The Flyers complete the most improbable of comebacks and bounce you in embarrassing fashion. You’d think you’d have learned something from that, but oh no. Three-doughnut against Tampa after one period in game four on Saturday, and you fall back into a shell and let them come at you? Come on, boys, this is not the worst lead in hockey. You pretty much deserve to lose this series if you haven’t picked up any lessons about heart, full 60-minute games, every shift all out, yadda yadda yadda, et cetera. You just don’t give away home advantage like that. You just don’t.