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The Vancouver Canucks have taken full advantage of home ice in the first two games of their Western Conference quarterfinal series with the St. Louis Blues, winning by 2-1 and 3-0 scores. Roberto Luongo has lived up to his billing, stopping 55 of 56 shots so far, including recording his first playoff shutout Friday night.
But now the series is shifting to St. Louis for Games 3 and 4, and the Canucks will be hard-pressed the maintain their momentum at Scottrade Center. During the regular season, the Blues performed much better at home, compiling a 23-13-5 record (vs. 18-18-5 on the road). They were +14 in goal differential at home (119 for, 105 against), vs. -2 (114/116) on the road. And they scored 16 more power play goals at home than on the road (44 vs. 28).
This last statistic should be of particular concern for the Canucks: Through the first two games of the series, the Canucks have given the Blues eleven power play opportunities, including a 5-on-3 chance that lasted over a minute and a half in Game 1. Oh, and the Canucks should also be careful with the puck while they’re on the power play: The Blues have seven shorthanded tallies at home as well.
Offensively, the Canucks have been led by the Sedin twins. Daniel’s four points (1g, 3a) and Henrik’s three points (1g, 2a) lead the club so far. The second line of Sundin-Kesler-Demitra has been relatively quiet, although Mats Sundin has hopefully shaken the monkey off his back by scoring his first playoff goal as a Canuck on Friday. The Wellwood-Bernier-Raymond line has looked good at times, but none of the three players has registered a point thus far. The fourth line of Johnson-Rypien-Hordichuk has been used sparingly (although Johnson and Rypien have also seen some penalty-killing duty) to wreak havoc and generate energy.
From a defensive standpoint, the Canucks have looked solid. St. Louis has generated shots, but have not had many second-chance opportunities. The defensemen have also done a good job clearing traffic, giving Luongo a good look at most of the shots. Sami Salo has contributed offensively with a goal and an assist.
The Canucks should be feeling confident at this point in the series. If they can continue the defensive effort shown in the first two games while limiting the number of penalties taken, winning at least one of the two games in the Show Me state should be well within their grasp.
Derek Jung is a contributing writer covering the Vancouver Canucks for The Hockey Writers.
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