Playoff Potluck: Canucks show lack of resolve in third

Jeff Paterson

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Vancouver, BC – The Canucks were far from their best on Sunday night at the Saddledome and yet there they were down just a goal heading to the third period in Calgary. But that was the biggest disappointment of the night – and of the series so far. Instead of mounting a big third period push to get the equalizer the way the Flames had when trailing by a goal in the series opener, the Canucks stood around and watched the Flames torch them in the third last night. And when rookie Sam Bennett scored his first NHL goal to extend the lead to 3-1, just 2:14 into the period, the Canucks fate was sealed in Game 3. And so they find themselves in a position of having to bounce back on Tuesday night just as they did in Friday’s 4-1 win -- clearly their best performance to date in this opening round battle. But it won’t be easy. The Canucks coaching staff must use their Monday between games to make adjustments to the game plan to better counter Calgary’s physical presence and ability to create havoc on the forecheck. The Canucks are one win away from tying the series and regaining home ice advantage. But they saw on Sunday that the bar has been raised and it’s now up to them to elevate their game, too.

*The Canucks have played some of their best hockey this season after losses. In November they scratched out a 2-1 victory in Anaheim a night after getting thumped 5-1 in Los Angeles. In December, they went into San Jose and beat the Sharks 3-2 following a loss against the Ducks. They answered a 5-1 loss in Nashville in January with a 4-0 shutout win in Philadelphia. They blanked Pittsburgh 5-0 after getting blitzed 5-1 by San Jose. They went into Chicago and knocked off the Hawks two days after falling 5-3 in Minnesota. And maybe the best example was last month’s 4-1 win in Los Angeles on the heels of a 6-2 home ice loss to Columbus. The Canucks would be wise to review the game tapes of that victory over the Kings, as rather than allowing LA to dictate the way the game was played, the Canucks stayed away from the board battles, used open ice effectively and generated 42 shots in a 4-1 win over a big, strong Kings team that had pushed the Canucks around in previous match-ups. Sound familiar?

*The Canucks wanted to believe after Game 1 that they would be able to wear down the Flames top defensive duo of Kris Russell and Dennis Wideman as the series wears on. So far, that hasn’t been the case; Russell leads the Flames in both points (three) and at 27:00 is second only to Wideman (27:04) in time on ice through three games. The issue here is two-fold: one is that with days off between every game, Wideman and Russell can rest and recover. They can stay off the ice and don’t need to practice at this time of the year. Additionally, with no back to back games in the playoffs, the Flames’ workhorses aren’t required to play three games in four nights or four games in six and that’s where fatigue usually becomes evident. The other part of the equation is that the Flames’ dynamic duo faces the Canucks top lines on a regular basis and Vancouver’s top players just don’t leave their mark physically on opponents. Daniel and Henrik Sedin have yet to record a hit in this series, while Nick Bonino and Radim Vrbata have been credited with one apiece. That’s two hits through three games from the Canucks top four forwards. And that’s something that’s not likely to change much as the series wears on.

*That’s not the Radim Vrbata that led the Canucks with 31-goals in the regular season. Vrbata prided himself on his consistency throughout the season and up until he scored in St. Louis on March 30, he hadn’t gone more than four games without finding the back of the net. Since then, however, Vrbata has just one empty net goal (at the end of Game 2) in his past nine games. He has 11 shots on goal in the series, but outside of a chance on the power play in the first period of the series opener, he just hasn’t looked dangerous. The Canucks need their leading sniper to become a factor in this series

*One of the storylines heading into the series was Flames discipline and a Canucks power play that was on fire down the stretch. Would the Canucks get opportunities to work with the man-advantage? And, if so, could they use the power play to bury the Flames? The answer to the first question is ‘yes’, the Canucks have had power plays in this series, 10 of them, in fact. But the answer to the second question is a big fat ‘no.’ The Canucks are 1- 10 with the man advantage with Chris Higgins accounting for the only power play goal. Higgins is part of the Canucks second unit, which means the top unit has failed to produce a goal so far in this series. This is the same group that was 11-33 in its final 12 games of the regular season. And in Game 3 in Calgary, the Canucks had the first three power plays of the night – all of them coming with the Canucks down 2-1 – and did nothing with them. The third power play of the night lasted just 17 seconds before Alex Edler took a penalty of his own.

*The Canucks have prided themselves all season on being a third period team. The problem is that, so too have the Flames. In fact, in the regular season no team in the NHL was more productive in third periods than the Flames. So the Canucks perceived advantage of depth and balance paying off late in games hasn’t paid off through three games in this series. Calgary has outscored the Canucks 5-3 in the final periods of the first three games, scoring both of their game winners in the final frame.

*Quick hits: Daniel and Henrik Sedin have one point apiece in this series. The Canucks, obviously need more from them. Bo Horvat leads all Canucks with three points – picking up one in each of the three games so far in the series. Horvat was strong in the face-off circle Sunday going 7-2. The Canucks, one of the top road teams in the NHL this season, have now dropped their past three games away from home. It’s the first time all season they have lost three straight road games in regulation time. Calgary has outhit the Canucks 77-70. The Canucks have a 51.2-48.8 edge in faceoff win percentage in the series.