Canucks vs. Hawks: Even Great Goaltenders Have Off Nights
Written by: Larry “The Nucks IceMan” Johnson
Even the great goaltenders of the past had off nights in the playoffs, so I figure Roberto Luongo’s game last night (.885 Sv %) in the Canucks 4-3 win over Chicago, was just a blip in the scheme of things. He did not look good on goals by Viktor Stalberg (a quick shot that seemed to fool him) or Benn Smith (off a rebound he would normally control).
Luongo has played unbelievable for over three months now, so let’s chalk it up to what it was, an off night. In fact, you have to go back 13 games to find the last time that Luongo gave up three goals in a game, and that was on March 12thagainst the Flames when the Canucks won 4-3.
Finishing the season with a 2.11 GAA also indicates that most nights Lou did not give up much more than that per night, so three goals is a rarity. I would expect Luongo to bounce back in Chicago and return to his Jennings Trophy ways, because the Hawks will be desperate facing that crucial third game.
Down 3-0 in a seven game series would be difficult to come back from, even by the Stanley Cup Champions.
Jonathan Toews
I am concerned about the face-off percentage of the Canucks because this was a key for them during the regular season. Puck possession for the Canucks was always about starting off with it and that has not been the theme in this series to date.
Jonathan Toews has owned any of the Canucks he has faced in the face-off circle and is in tenth spot in the playoffs with 57.5%. Meanwhile, the leading Canuck is Henrik Sedin in 21st position with 51.4%.
What has happened to Ryan Kesler? He sits at 27th and is close to 10% off his regular season of 57.4 with 47.5%. Is there an injury to him that is limiting him from performing well in the face-off circle that is being kept quiet? Also, he has no goals yet and does not look as dangerous as he was in the regular season.
No one can question Kesler’s defensive play on Toews, who has yet to register a point. But the Canucks will have to get some goals from Kesler to make the second line effective.
Jannik Hansen
Speaking of being effective, Jannik Hansen has two goals in two games. That’s pretty effective for a third line player who is not noted for being a goal producer. Hansen has also been a leader in the Hits department and is playing a solid two-way game.
He’s a player that I had always stated had “hands of stone”. It’s always enjoyable to be proven wrong, and what better time than in the playoffs.
Alex Edler finally has come down a notch and we should all remember that this is only his fourth game back, after missing 29 games due to back surgery. For Edler it must be still like pre-season games with playoff intensity.
His physical play has not slowed down but he seemed to run out of gas in the second period. Edler finished in the +/- category with an even rating of 0, but he was on for the three Hawks goals.
Daniel Sedin mentioned that he himself flat-lined before he progressed after his back surgery several years ago. Let’s hope that Edler does not fall too far back from his, because he really is a stud when he plays that physical game.
Are the Canucks keeping an injury to Mikael Samuelsson quiet because it’s the playoffs? The official reason that Samuelsson did not play was due to the flu, but he did not look himself in game one.
You may remember that he did not play the last few games of the regular season and has opted out of a few off day skates since then. Samuelsson did sustain a shoulder injury towards the end of last season. Has this perhaps been re-injured?
Raffi Torres should draw back into the lineup for game three in Chicago, after serving his four game suspension. This will will mean someone will have to sit out. With Torres’ return, the third line will be three quarters of itself and I wonder if Coach Vigneault will leave rookie Cody Hodgson in the middle of those two?
Hodgson’s minutes increased from around seven in the first game to 10:22 in the second but he was a +/minus 1 in his most recent game. The plus/minus category was a big concern for the Canucks before they brought him up from Manitoba, where he led the Moose with a minus 12.
Might Mason Raymond slide down to centre the third line if Samuelsson is healthy enough to play? That would leave Hodgson in the press box along with Jeff Tambellini. The other alternative would be to return Hodgson to the Manitoba Moose who have just started Calder Cup playoffs themselves.
Manitoba Moose
The Moose did not have a good opening game today as they lost 6-4 to the Lake Erie Monsters. Eddie Lack, after playing so well in the regular season (7th in the AHL), had a tough day giving up five goals on 25 shots and was pulled in the third in favour of Tyler Weimann.
The best Manitoba player continues to be centre Marco Rosa who scored two goals. I’ll say this again, since I wrote a piece on Rosa towards the end of the season, why isn’t he up with the Canucks instead of Hodgson?
I’ll talk to you all again after the Sunday game.
Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images, Goggle Images and Yahoo Sports!
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