The Vancouver Canucks began their 2012 playoff run in less-than-overwhelming fashion April 11, as the Los Angeles Kings outplayed the Canucks in Rogers Arena to take Game 1 in their Western Conference quarterfinal.
In spite of being off their game for big stretches and giving up crucial penalty minutes, the Canucks still had a chance to win with the score knotted at 3-3 in the third period. Then an defensive gaffe changed that. Alex Elder gave up the puck and the Kings got a nice bounce.
The puck came in off a pass from Mike Richards that glanced off the skate of Jeff Carter and went right to Dustin Penner, who had a mostly open net as Canucks' goalie Roberto Luongo was guarding to the other side. At 3-2, the Kings were in control of the final minutes and got a fourth on an empty-net score by Dustin Brown in the final minute of action.
Luongo is sometimes the focus of ire when the Canucks falter, but he shares little of the fault in this loss, and in fact helped keep Vancouver in the game late when they could have been put away much earlier.
Daniel Sedin not the only Canuck not in the game
Not able to play because of his concussion suffered in the regular season, Sedin was missing from the ice against L.A. Some others might as well have sat out the game too, as their game was absent for long stretches. The Canucks' vaunted power play let them down when they were a man up, and they gave away the power play far too often.
The Kings eight power plays and a total of 12:36 of man-advantage time was a big part of what helped Los Angeles. Throw in the lackluster play at full-strength Vancouver exhibited, and the outcome shouldn't be a surprise.
It's a series, the Canucks can rise to the challenge
It might be easy to jump back on the bandwagon that finds reasons to doubt, but I'm confident the team will respond in the appropriate fashion. It's a great time for the team to get a reminder that there aren't any easy games in the playoffs. If there's anything the team has shown us, it's that they can beat anyone on any given night. Look for Vancouver to come back strong and take this series in six.
Jeff Musall has been a fan of the Vancouver Canucks since he started following hockey. He is excited about the playoffs and wants to see a Stanley Cup run.
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