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Sources: NHL.com and TSN.ca
The Skinny
Nobody that’s still standing has played as much playoff hockey this season than the Canucks, who emerged from a thrilling seven-game first-round win against the Dallas Stars. In total, the Canucks played seven games, plus six additional periods of overtime, essentially competing in the equivalent of nine games in the first round. That’s a lot of hockey, especially when you have a date with the fearsome Ducks to look forward to.
Anaheim made quick work of the defensively sound Wild in the first round and continued to flash their deep scoring attack. They can put the puck in the net and they can play as big as anyone left in the tournament. Their forwards love to hit and as impressive as the Ducks are moving the puck around the rink, they’re just as happy to move opponents out of their way, too. The Ducks are mean and nasty and they’re on a mission, which could be a lot for the tired Canucks to deal with.
Vancouver didn’t score much in the first round. But in the games they scored at least a goal, they came out on top, thanks to the play of Roberto Luongo in net. As good as Luongo was in the first round, he wasn’t the best goalie in that series. The second-round matchup with the tandem of Ilya Bryzgalov and J.S. Giguere might also be a classic.
The Canucks let the Stars back into the series and were forced to go the distance in the first round. Could that lack of focus come back to hurt them?
Anaheim Ducks
Team Page | Roster | Stats
Regular Season Record: 48-20-14, 110 pts
Head-to-Head Record: 3-1
Last Stanley Cup Win: -
Last Stanley Cup Final Appearance: 2003
Last Postseason Appearance: 2006
Players with Stanley Cup Rings: Scott Niedermayer (3).
Team Analysis: Jacques Lemaire has long been known as a defensive specialist behind the bench, and Randy Carlyle welcomed his style of play with open arms throughout the first round. Playing, sound defensive hockey of their own, the Ducks hammered out three straight one-goal victories against the Wild and allowed just two power play goals in 27 chances. As with the early rounds last season, the Ducks got a lot of offence from the blueline. Chris Pronger leads all Ducks skaters in scoring with six points, while Francois Beauchemin and Scott Niedermayer have three points apiece. Up front, the Ducks' shutdown line of Samuel Pahlsson, Travis Moen and Rob Niedermayer haven't only been frustrating opposing forwards, but have made big contributions on offense with three points each. If Teemu Selanne, Corey Perry and Andy McDonald (who combined for three goals and two assists in Round 1) get going, they'll be even tougher to beat in the second round. Netminder Jean Sebastien Giguere (given time off to be with his wife and their son) was out for the final three games of the regular season and the first three games of the playoffs until he returned in the closing minutes of Game 4 and all of Game 5. Ilya Bryzgalov started in his place and held the Wild to a total of four goals in the opening three games before giving up all the goals in the loss at Minnesota. Giguere - who was excellent in Game 5 - should be back in regular duty in Round 2.
Anaheim Game Breakers
Chris Pronger – He plays defense, as we all know. But Pronger was Anaheim’s leading scorer in the first round with two goals and six points in the one-sided series win against Minnesota. In addition to helping produce on the offensive end, Pronger was regularly seeing ice time (a team-high 28:27 per) against the opposition’s top scoring lines. In the first round against the Wild, Pronger helped put the clamps on an enemy attack that mustered only nine goals in the series.
Scott Niedermayer – With three Cups on his resume and two of the quickest feet in the game, Niedermayer can literally change a game with a coast-to-coast rush from behind his own net. While Pronger brings the size and strength to the Anaheim blue line, Niedermayer brings loads of playoff experience, the ability to also take on the opponents’ top scoring threats, as well as quarterback the Ducks’ power play, which was the top-ranked unit in the postseason in the first round. Niedermayer was second on the team in ice time behind Pronger with 27:32 per game.
Francois Beauchemin – You’re saying, ‘Where are all the forwards?’ But here’s the thing when it comes to the Ducks: they have plenty of forwards capable of breaking open a game. Few teams actually have three defensemen capable of doing it, and Beauchemin is probably the most underrated player in the League. Such is life playing behind two thoroughbreds like Pronger and Niedermayer, but the 26-year old Beauchemin has proven to be every bit as good as those two Norris-caliber defensemen. He plays one second less per game than Niedermayer at 27:31 per, suffered a cracked jaw in the first round and was still one of Anaheim’s best players with two goals and a plus-1 in the first round. In his first game back after the jaw injury, Beauchemin led all Ducks skaters with 28:32 of ice time.
Vancouver Canucks
Team Page | Roster | Stats
Regular Season Record: 49-26-7, 105 pts
Head-to-Head Record: 1-3
Last Stanley Cup Win: -
Last Stanley Cup Final Appearance: 1994
Last Postseason Appearance: 2004
Players with Stanley Cup Rings: None.
Team Analysis: There are no ifs, ands or buts about what the Canucks need to survive the second round. This team needs to score goals, goals and more goals. Alain Vigneault's squad was blanked three times in the first round by Dallas, and it never looks good when high profile scorers like Markus Naslund and the Sedins are held off the scoresheet. After a seven-game set with the Stars, Trevor Linden, Mattias Ohlund, Taylor Pyatt, Bryan Smolinski and Henrik Sedin led all Vancouver skaters with two goals apiece - and two of those goals were empty netters. Bad offence also means a bad power play, and the Canucks have the worst among the advancing teams with just two goals. Though the forwards haven't been scoring, they have certainly boasted their share of blocked shots. And if a shot does get through, the saving grace has been Roberto Luongo. The Vezina Trophy hopeful has kept the Canucks in every game and was the big difference from a 2-0 deficit becoming an 8-0 deficit. All he needs is some added run support.
Vancouver Game Breakers
Roberto Luongo – Luongo was great in the first round, but you can make a fine argument that he was not better than Marty Turco, who shut out Vancouver three times in the series. But in the final, deciding game, Luongo was the man, stopping 19 of 20 shots with his season on the line. After allowing Dallas’ lone goal in the first period, he was unbeatable. The save he made on Stu Barnes midway through the third period of Game 7 stood up as the biggest one he made in the series, an example of how valuable he is to the Canucks. Now if they would just block a few more shots for him.
Henrik Sedin – When the Canucks needed their stars most in Game 7, Sedin was one of those who admirably stepped up to fight off elimination. Sedin scored the tying goal in the second period against Dallas and then helped to set up Trevor Linden’s winner. A shifty playmaker, his brother, who has very similar DNA, led the Canucks with 36 goals in the regular season so he will be counted on to find the net more than he did in the first round when he scored two goals against Dallas in the defensive opening series.
Taylor Pyatt – Some people used to call him Taylor “Quiet” because he never really said much, but his play in the playoffs has spoken volumes as he tied for the team lead with five points in the first round. It was Pyatt’s empty-net goal in Game 7 that iced the series for the Canucks. Scoring two goals and three assists in the first round was an accomplishment against a dominant Turco and Pyatt figures to attract plenty of attention from the Anaheim defense.
X Factors
Teemu Selanne – The Ducks are among the deepest teams left in the tournament, which makes Selanne’s scoring output less important than ever. If he can’t get it done, the Ducks have plenty of shooters capable of putting the puck in the net. But when Selanne is in the zone, Anaheim is a better team by leaps and bounds. Still one of the dangerous shooters in the game, Selanne scored 48 goals in the regular season. But in the first round, Minnesota’s checkers held the Finnish Flash to one goal and two points in the series. Nobody wants to win a Cup in the room more than the 36-year old Selanne, so bank on him finding a groove as the tournament unfolds. Getting him going makes Anaheim that much more monstrous.
Trevor Linden – Another senior citizen, by hockey standards, Linden is like a second captain in the Vancouver dressing room. With 119 playoff games under his belt, Linden’s experience and street smarts were invaluable with the series on the line against the Stars. He scored the game-winning goal (his second of the tournament) in Game 7 and finished the first round tied with Pyatt for the team scoring lead with five points. At 37-years-old, Linden may not have many more chances to play for the Stanley Cup either.
SERIES SCHEDULE
GM 1: Canucks @ Ducks
Wed. 4/25 10 pm, VERSUS, CBC
GM 2: Canucks @ Ducks
Fri. 4/27 10 pm, VERSUS, CBC
GM 3: Ducks @ Canucks
Sun. 4/29 8:00 pm, VERSUS, CBC
GM 4: Ducks @ Canucks
Tue. 5/1 10 pm, VERSUS, CBC
*GM 5: Canucks @ Ducks
Thu. 5/3 9:00 pm, VERSUS, CBC
*GM 6: Ducks @ Canucks
Sun. 5/6 8:00 pm, VERSUS, CBC
*GM 7: Canucks @ Ducks
Tue. 5/8 TBD VERSUS, CBC
* if necessary
- ALL TIMES EASTERN
FIVE FAST FACTS
1. Thrice is nice -- Anaheim defenseman Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger have both won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman, but there’s a third Norris in the Ducks’ locker room. Head coach Randy Carlyle won the award in 1981.
2. Puck stops here -- As good as Luongo was in the first round, finishing the seven-game series with a 1.41 GAA and a .950 save-percentage, Jean-Sebastien Giguere, the Conn Smythe Winner in 2003, holds a 0.87 GAA and a .968 save-percentage after seeing time in only two games.
3. Two minutes for hooking -- Anaheim was the most-penalized team in the regular season, drawing 1,427 penalty minutes, an average of 17.8 minutes per game.
4. Working overtime -- The longest game so far in the playoffs was played in Game 1 of the Vancouver-Dallas series, the Canucks picking up a 5-4 win in four overtimes. Vancouver defenseman Kevin Bieksa led the team with 54:27 of ice time, nearly a full regulation game.
5. Recipe for success? -- Vancouver won every game they scored at least one goal in the first round. The three losses they suffered against the Stars were by shutout.
QUOTABLE
“I asked them right away when I could play. They told me not in Game 4, but I could probably play in Game 5. I was pretty excited about it.” – Ducks defenseman Francois Beauchemin recounts the conversation he had with trainers after a puck cracked his jaw in the first round against Minnesota
“I know how much this city wanted this. For us, we wanted it just as bad. I’ve been here a long time. I understand; I understand the heartache.” – Trevor Linden after finally winning a series in seven games after two straight Game 7 losses on home ice the last two playoffs
CRYSTAL BALL
The Ducks will win if... they can get to Luongo. The Vancouver defense seems to let a lot get to their goalie and if the Ducks start crashing Luongo’s cage like the Stars did in the first round, you’re going to see a frustrated goaltender. Luongo took a swipe at some Stars in the first round when they got too close, and the Ducks seem like a team that loves to roll up their sleeves and get dirty. The Anaheim attack is deep and balanced and if they can keep Vancouver’s few snipers on the perimeter, it should be an easy advance for the Ducks.
The Canucks will win if... they can skate with the Ducks and limit their scoring chances. Luongo is a spectacular goalie capable of snatching an entire series on his own, but the only way the Canucks survive this one is to get down, block more shots, clear the big Anaheim forwards from in front of their net and limit the opposition’s chances in transition. They also must stay out of the penalty box against the top-ranked Ducks power play. If they give Anaheim too many chances, this series will be over in a hurry.
STATISTICAL KEYS
- Anaheim ranked third in the league on the power play, with a 22.4% success rate. Vancouver ranked 18th at 17.2%.
- Anaheim ranked fifth in the league in penalty killing, with an 85.1% success rate. Vancouver led the league at at 86.9%.
- Samuel Pahlsson (181), Chris Kunitz (159) and Travis Moen (128) are the Ducks' leading hitters.
- Matt Cooke (209), Kevin Bieksa (109) and Mattias Ohlund (106) are the Canucks' leading hitters.
- Andy McDonald is the Ducks' top face-off man -- 55.4%.
- Henrik Sedin is the Canucks' top face-off man -- 52.5%.
- Anaheim's Teemu Selanne led the league with 25 power play goals.
- Anaheim's Teemu Selanne tied for the league lead with 10 game-winning goals.
- Anaheim's Scott Niedermayer ranked second in the league with 27:30 of ice time per game.
- Anaheim's George Parros led the league with 18 major penalties this year.
- Vancouver's Daniel Sedin led the league with four overtime winning goals.
- Teemu Selanne led the Ducks with six points in four games against the Canucks this year.
- Daniel Sedin led the Canucks with three points in four games against the Ducks this year.
- Travis Moen and Sean O'Donnell led the Ducks with a plus-2 in Round One.
- Trevor Linden led the Canucks with a plus-4 in Round One.
- Chris Pronger led the Ducks with 28:28 of ice time per game in Round One.
- Kevin Bieksa led the Canucks with 28:37 of ice time per game in Round One.
- Anaheim's leaders in power play ice time (per game/regular season):
Scott Niedermayer 5:50
Chris Pronger 5:47
Teemu Selanne 4:38
Andy McDonald 4:19
Chris Kunitz 4:02
Ryan Getzlaf 3:22
- Vancouver's leaders in power play ice time (per game/regular season):
Daniel Sedin 4:23
Henrik Sedin 4:23
Mattias Ohlund 4:13
Markus Naslund 3:59
Kevin Bieksa 3:43
Sami Salo 3:37
- Anaheim's leaders in penalty killing ice time (per game/regular season):
Samuel Pahlsson 4:28
Scott Niedermayer 3:58
Francois Beauchemin 3:58
Chris Pronger 3:46
Rob Niedermayer 3:44
Sean O'Donnell 3:39
- Vancouver's leaders in penalty killing ice time (per game/regular season):
Willie Mitchell 4:57
Ryan Kesler 3:42
Kevin Bieksa 3:38
Mattias Ohlund 3:29
Alexandre Burrows 3:17
Sami Salo 3:13
My prediction:
Anaheim Ducks in 5.
