Wednesday April 15 - Game 1 - Calgary Flames 2 - Vancouver Canucks 1
The Vancouver Canucks did a lot of good things in the first 40 minutes of their opening-night playoff game against the Calgary Flames, but bad luck and a couple of bad decisions late in the game were enough to put them down 0-1 in their best-of-seven series.
I was lulled into a false sense of security because I had forgotten Calgary's predisposition to put together late comebacks. The Flames earned 24 points this season in games where they trailed after two periods, tied for second in the league.
That late surge is one of their most important tools, but I was feeling confident in Vancouver's 30-1-3 record when leading after 40 minutes this season. Late-game collapses were the norm in that *other* era—the one we don't talk about anymore.
Because things are different now, I won't harp too much on Vancouver's growing streak of playoff futility. Looking at how this year is unfolding, maybe it all went wrong when the Canucks scored the first goal? Or perhaps the problem was that Vancouver won the face-off battle?
In case you missed it or are ready for a refresher, here are the highlights from Game 1:
The building was basically full and the atmosphere was rockin' at Rogers Arena. The Canucks had a new intro when they hit the ice, using The Who's "Baba O'Riley," and we've even got a new live band led by guitar whiz Shaun Verreault of Wide Mouth Mason:
This'll make for a fine workplace/vantage point during the Canucks' playoff home games. pic.twitter.com/d2DpIBGsc2
The team also did a good job of tapping into nostalgia from past playoff runs with plenty of flashbacks to 1994 and 1982 hero Stan Smyl leading the crowd in the waving of the towels to kick off the game.
Once the game got underway, the first period was a bit tentative on both sides, but I thought Vancouver had the edge. Henrik Sedin went a stunning 7-0 on the draw and Radim Vrbata picked up five shots on two power plays, which looked dangerous but failed to capitalize. The Canucks looked like the more disciplined team as they outshot Calgary 13-10 in a scoreless opening frame.
Calgary carried more of the play in the second, outshooting the Canucks 10-4, but Vancouver got the only goal of the period on a nice fourth-line sequence led by Bo Horvat and Jannik Hansen.
Just 37 seconds after the goal, Calgary earned its only power play of the game thanks to a highly questionable tripping call on Chris Higgins, but the Canucks killed it tidily and locked down defensively to take us into the second intermission.
So it stood, until the 7:59 mark of the third, when David Jones evened the score at one.
It wasn't until well after the game that TSN's Aaron Ward pointed out that Jones had used a high stick to keep the puck in the zone in the sequence before the goal was scored. The play should have been whistled dead.
Fast-forward to about 2:30 of this video unless you want to hear the re-hash of the bad blood from Game 1 between Montreal and Ottawa as well:
Nothing like controversy to start the NHL playoffs.David Jones goal should have been blown down for high stick http://t.co/vboD10r2mT#TSN
The goal-that-shouldn't-have-counted was certainly a game-changer. Not only did it tie the game, it also gave the Flames a big burst of energy.
More than the Canucks letting down in the second half of the third period, I though the Flames picked it up, with more pressure and better-quality scoring chances.
I thought we were headed for a nail-biting overtime, but the Canucks' back broke before that, when the Horvat line got hemmed in their own zone with just a couple of minutes to play. The Flames' big defense finally stepped up with a game-winning goal through traffic by Kris Russell after a pass from Dennis Wideman.
Willie's getting heat for continuing to roll his lines in the third period. He'd been subbing Derek Dorsett in for Ronalds Kenins in key defensive situations over most of the last month, but it was Kenins on the ice this time for the winning goal, as Dorsett had just finished a shift of his own.
Sure, in hindsight, it looks terrible, but the Horvat line *was* the only one that had success against Jonas Hiller on Wednesday—and we were 30 seconds from an overtime that could have gone on for god-knows-how-long. Rolling the lines probably would have worked in our favour if we'd gone into a long OT session.
Maybe rookie Willie Desjardins did get outcoached in the second half of the third period of his first-ever NHL playoff game but let's face it—most of us did not expect this series to end in four games.
I'm going to treat the Game 1 loss sort of like giving up the first goal. This Canucks group has come back strong when faced with adversity, so I'm looking forward to seeing what they bring in Game 2 on Friday night.
To wrap up today on a fun note, what would be better than a goalie fight?
Jacob Markstrom got into it with Peter Mannino of the Binghamton Senators on Wednesday night. He was ejected from the game after drawing 29 minutes in penalties. The Comets are still finishing out their regular season, with two more games to go this weekend before the playoffs.
With his big frame and long reach, Markstrom does all right here!
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