T.N.T.

The Vancouver Canucks have been called a lot of things by their opponents in this NHL playoff season. It all started with Chicago captain Jonathan Toews in the first round when the Blackhawks were down 3-0 to the Canucks in the series. Toews angrily expressed to the media that the Canucks were not as good as everyone (outside of the Blackhawks' dressing room) was making them out to be and that the Blackhawks had not "exposed them for what they are".

What they are remains to be seen, but the Canucks ended up edging the Blackhawks out of the playoffs.

In the second round, Nashville Predators' coach Barry Trotz accused the Canucks of diving and embellishing. He specifically highlighted Ryan Kesler's play in Game 3 in overtime that lead to the game winning goal, where he "chickenwinged" (trademark pending) the stick of Nashville defensemen Shea Weber to draw a hooking penalty. The NHL became aware of embellishment going on in the playoffs and warned the remaining teams that it would be called more closely.

In an ironic twist, Daniel Sedin's series-clinching goal against Nashville was scored on a power play, with Jordin Tootoo sitting two minutes for--you guessed it--embellishing.

So now it's the Vancouver Canucks and the San Jose Sharks. The Canucks have arrived in San Jose holding a 2-0 series lead against a Shark team that is seeing red. The venom spewing from the mouths of the Sharks' players makes the comments from Toews and Trotz seem like child's play in comparison.

It began after Game 1. Logan Couture said the Canucks had been ordinary, and that the Sharks had lost themselves the game. Dan Boyle jumped on the embellishment bandwagon and accused the Canucks of "snapping their heads back like they've been shot with a gun".

It only got worse after the Game 2 blowout. Ben Eager was able to bang rocks together to the press to communicate that he thought Kevin Bieksa was a phony. Ryan Clowe called Canuck agitator Maxim Lapierre a coward.

Throughout all of this, the Canucks have been calm, both on the ice and off it. Roberto Luongo said on Thursday that the Canucks will take a punch in the face in order to get ahead in these playoffs, and he isn't lying.

The Canucks have a major opportunity ahead of them tonight to put the San Jose Sharks on the ropes. San Jose--like Vancouver--has had a reputation of wilting under pressure. This is the second straight season they have been in the Conference Final, and thus far between those two seasons, they are 0-6 in Conference Final games.

The Canucks can further plant a seed of doubt tonight with a win that would put the Sharks on the brink. That win has to come in the HP Pavillion, affectionately known as "the Shark Tank". It's a building that has not been friendly to the Canucks in recent years, although they are 2-0 in visits this season. The caveat to that is that Roberto Luongo hasn't started a game there this year--Cory Schneider got both the starts in San Jose.

I would guess that the Canucks see a lot of themselves in their opponent. It was just last year that the Canucks were coming apart at the seams playing against the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round. They were frustrated, they were angry. They took a number of bad penalties and the Blackhawks made them pay dearly on the scoreboard. They voiced their frustration to the media, they accused the Blackhawks of showboating and playing dirty hockey.

The Blackhawks' response was to shrug it off and remain focussed on hockey.

Now--at least through two games--the tables are turned. If the Sharks are to come back in this series, it is critical that they keep their composure and stick to the game on the ice. They certainly have the talent to do it, and the Canucks need to be extremely wary of that fact.

For the Canucks, there are two keys. The first is to improve their penalty kill, which has a 100% failure rate thus far in this series (0-for-3). But the second is to keep doing what they are doing: play hard, don't get down after goals, and try to light the powder keg that is San Jose's temper.

We'll find out who is more successful in their execution tonight.