'Nucks IceMan

Written by: Larry “The Nucks IceMan” Johnson

I watched about four games yesterday, not all in their entirety except for the Vancouver Canucks vs. Chicago Blackhawks. There was a similar pattern to all of them as playoff hockey always dictates. Lots of heavy duty body-checks, fast pace of the games, great goaltending and emotional crowds.

The Canucks won their first game of this series and in the first period dominated the Hawks, but after that were fortunate that they won. If not for outstanding saves by Roberto Luongo on Brain Campbell near the end of the first period, Patrick Sharp in the second and four goal posts, the score could have easily swung the other way in favour of the Hawks.

The Hawks had the edge in the play after the first period and the Canucks were very sloppy in their own zone, which is one of the reasons the Hawks had a number of quality scoring chances.

I mentioned in my previous article that there were a number of Canuck players that would be keys to them advancing further into the playoffs. Three of the five players showed why and the other two not so much.

Canucks - Alex Edler with Hawks - Patrick Sharp

Alex Edler looked in mid season form as he was dishing out body checks (7) like he was the Flyers’ Chris Pronger in another uniform. If you were watching closely you would have also noticed that his ice time was increased during the game. Obviously the coaching staff noticed that also.

This season has been Edler’s coming out party in the physical department, which started in last season’s playoffs against the Los Angeles Kings. He continued on this season until he was injured and from what I witnessed in game one, it looks like his back surgery was a success.

No other Canucks D-man was even close in physical play which was really surprising. What happened to Kevin Bieksa? Zero hits don’t sound like a Bieksa type of game.

Now that the Hawks are aware of Edler’s physical play, watch for them to target him every time he touches the puck. It was good to see Edler back on the power play even if it was the second unit.

Makes sense for now to have Mikael Samuelsson back on the point because if it aint broke, then don’t fix it. 

Roberto Luongo

 

Roberto Luongo continued on with the exact same play that earned him a share of the Jennings Trophy this season. By that, I mean he was stingy and superb. The toe-save on Brian Campbell and the arm save of Patrick Sharps bunt single, were just a few of the highlight night.

He was a difference maker in all periods coming up with the timely saves that changed the complexion of the game and its outcome.

As Luongo said after the game, he just prepares and plays the same way he has done all season. The impact that Canucks goaltender coach Rollie Melanson has had on Luongo, has been very noticeable. .

Last season Luongo probably wouldn’t have made that toe-save on Campbell, because he would have been out too far in his crease, off balance and out of position. Playing deeper in his net this season has allowed Luongo to cover more of the net down low and move laterally quicker, especially on the opposition’s back-door plays.

This looks like a Luongo that I have not seen since he arrived in Vancouver. On the ice is a confident goaltender that is going to be very hard to beat, and one that is determined to correct the past failures in the playoffs.

It’s only game one, so the Canuck fans should just take it for what it’s worth – the first win in a seven game series. In case you forgot, the Canucks started out the other two playoff series against the Hawks with a win also.

Mikael Samuelsson must be hurting because he did not register a body-check but did hit two goal posts. I still expect him to produce if he is healthy. I have a feeling that his late season absence from a couple of games and opting out of a few practices, has more to do with an injury being kept quite.

It shows you how far this team has come, when the Sedins don’t pick up a point at home and the Canucks still win. Not to many times have that happened in the playoffs.

They did not play well as even Henrik Sedin attested to that in his statement. “Our line didn’t play our best game tonight. But we have a lot of other guys who can score goals and that is going to be key for us.”

When the Sedins are not dominating in the offensive zone, they become a liability in their own zone. They are not very good at defensive zone coverage, that’s another reason that Alex Burrows is on that line. Watch for them to turn in a more Sedin like performance in game two.

Although Ryan Kesler did not score, he did pick up an assist, was a -/plus one, finished with four hits and did a superb job of shutting down Hawks Jonathan Toews. The Kesler line scored the opening goal as Chris Higgins deflected Kevin Bieksa’s point shot in. Higgins turned in a playoff like performance with four hits, a -/plus two and now you know why he is playing on that line, instead of Mason Raymond.

What a timely addition to the team at the trade deadline. Higgins has made the Kesler line much more physical and dangerous offensively.

I could go on and on about a number of other players (Victor Oreskovich, Maxim Lapierre, Sami Salo) that played well but let’s see how game two goes, because let’s remember, it was only game one and the Hawks will be better.

Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images, Goggle Images and Yahoo Sports!

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