On the bright side, the Canucks did a lot of things better in Game 2 of their opening round series against the Kings. They played with a renewed focus on playing "whistle to whistle", not engaging in quite as many of the silly sideshow antics as they had in Game 1. They skated harder, they worked harder and they played a better game than they did in Game 1.
There was just one glaring area of weakness. The area was so bad, in fact, that Alain Vigneault succinctly and accurately pointed out that it cost them the game. That area was the power play.
When a power play doesn't score, it's usually a frustrating disappointment but it can be made up for with strong 5-on-5 play and a good penalty kill. However, when the power play not only doesn't score, but gives up shorthanded goals against, it becomes a critical backbreaker. Such was the case for the Canucks on Friday evening, when they gave up not one but two shorthanded goals to Kings' Captain Dustin Brown who emerged as the hero of Game 2 after Mike Richards had worn the crown for Game 1.
The Canucks tried. Captain Henrik Sedin was doing all he could to generate chances around the net, on several occasions channeling his inner Todd Bertuzzi and using his body to shield the puck. He also ended up being deposited into the net by Kings' Captain Brown, which kicked off a mini-scrum. David Booth continued to deliver thundering body checks, but has been unable to convert any offensive opportunities. Ryan Kesler seemed to come to life late in the second, but was similarly stymied by the combination of a stalwart Kings' defense and a steady Jonathan Quick.
Grinders Jannik Hansen and Samuel Pahlsson provided the goal-scoring for Vancouver, who lost Game 2 by an identical 4-2 score. The biggest issue at the moment is the anemic power play which cost the Canucks in so many ways. It lacks urgency and purpose and seems impotent in its attempts to get pucks to the net. The Canucks had a two-man advantage thanks to a late Kings' penalty and an empty net, but they couldn't even gain the zone much less generate a shot.
All of this has many wondering what Canuck coach Alain Vigneault can do to shake things up for a team that has shown an alarming lack of intensity through the first two games, even if Game 2 was an improvement. The one major card he has in his repertoire to play is Canuck backup Cory Schneider. Could Vigneault opt to send a message to his troops that their play is unacceptable by starting him in place of starter (and best Canuck in the series, to this stage) Roberto Luongo?
Speaking of Luongo, he has to be cross. He was in the crosshairs of every analyst, peanut gallery general manager and talking head before the series. The Canucks' weakest link; prone to mental meltdowns; the thing holding them back from winning the Cup. He has come out strong to start the series, but it almost seems as if he left his fellow Canucks at the gate. And with all the criticism he has received while they have been spared, you have to wonder if he is just a little bit upset at the overall lack of compete level and willingness to do the dirty work to get the job done that his teammates have shown.
Vigneault has to be mystified as well. This is a team that won its second consecutive President's Trophy. This is a team that went to the seventh game of a brutal Stanley Cup Final last year. They did not simply achieve all of that by not winning hard games. But now he is faced with a dilemma on how to kickstart his team's lacklustre beginning to the post-season. Schneider may be his hail mary pass, especially in light of the news on Saturday morning that star winger Daniel Sedin will not be available for Games 3 and 4, remaining in Vancouver while the rest of the team travels to Los Angeles.
A 2-0 series defecit is not the end of the world. Only just last year, a team dropped the first two games in not just one, but two series' against Canadian foes. That team was the Boston Bruins.
Minor detail? They won the Stanley Cup.
The Canucks need to find a way to dig deep and get this done. And given their impressive track record over the past two seasons, Canuck Nation has to assume - and desperately hope - that they can.
No comments:
Post a Comment