When the second round series between Nashville and Vancouver began, the much ballyhooed matchup was Vancouver's Twin Art Ross Trophy winners, Daniel and Henrik Sedin, going up against the Olympic defensive pairing (one Canadian, one American) of Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. Neutralize the Twins, it appeared, and you would effectively neuter the Canucks' attack.
That was until Ryan Kesler popped in his first goal of the playoffs. And then his second. And his third.
All told, of the 9 goals the Canucks have scored through this series so far, Ryan Kesler has been in on 6 of them, scoring three. Last night's game was perhaps one of the best that Kesler has ever played in a Canuck uniform, and his go-ahead goal will likely be the subject of some water cooler discussion until the puck drops for Game 5 on Saturday night. The goal, in which Kesler got the puck just before the red line, was a teriffic power move that saw Kesler cross the blueline, bull his way between Nashville defenders Shea Weber and Shane O'Brien, and then unleash a shot that ripped past a stunned Pekka Rinne.
Patience is finally paying off for Kesler, who was goal-less throughout the first round but was still considered to be the top player night in and night out for the Canucks. He has continued that in this series against Nashville, with the added bonus that he is now putting pucks in the net.
Almost as encouraging was the play of the Sedin Twins last night. While not quite at their level of regular season dominance, last night was another important stepping stone for the brothers. Henrik had one of his best offensvie games of the playoffs, setting up two goals before finally burying his first of the playoffs into an empty net (after a wonderful play by Alexandre Burrows along the boards to get him the puck). Daniel only received one assist but as one would expect, just about every time Henrik set up a play, Daniel was right there too.
If the Twins can continue to improve, it gives the Canucks much needed offensive depth.
But yet another (this list is getting rather long) encouraging sign last night was the offense from the back end. One of the many reasons the Canucks won the President's Trophy as the league's top team in the regular season was the firepower that came from their blueline. Christian Ehrhoff and Alexander Edler both found the back of the net tonight and, in Edler's case in particular, they needed that.
Edler has looked somewhat out of sorts since returning from a back injury. There is some speculation that he was running on adrenaline when he was an absolute wrecking ball in Games 1-3 against Chicago before finally coming back down and struggling a bit to keep pace. That would seem to be an excellent point. Hopefully his goal last night will serve as a confidence booster and help him to get back on track.
The other storyline from last night's game was some of the animosity that began to come to the fore, no case moreso than at the end of the 1st period. Jerrod Smithson delivered a solid gloved punch to the face of Alexandre Burrows while a referee watched, and Jordin Tootoo took a good shot at Dan Hamhuis while a referee stood directly between them. This was after Tootoo had shaken a glove of and taken a swipe at the lid of Daniel Sedin--yes, Daniel Sedin, that isn't a typo.
On the one hand, it can be seen as discouraging (or a validation of my own thoughts from yesterday) that no calls were made on the play. But going back to my typical "glass half full" ideology, it would seem the Canucks are getting the Predators rattled and off their game. Ryan Kesler commented earlier in the season that the Predators were like robots, and they'd been brainwashed into a certain style. That style is calm, composed and resilient. Last night, they certainly seemed to lose the first two of those three components.
But positivity aside, the Vancouver Canucks have a chance to move onto the Western Conference Final for the first time in 17 years on Friday. The hope will certainly be that the Canucks learned a harsh lesson in Round 1 against Chicago about letting your opponent get up off the mat when you have him vulnerable. Have the Canucks developed a killer instinct in light of that push back from Chicago?
We'll find out on Saturday.
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