Roberto Luongo stops Dustin Brown from in close in game 6
Much like watching Kyle Wellwood skate with the puck, the Canucks led the Kings into a false sense of security during the clinching game of the Western Conference Quarter-final. In the Canucks case, the team fell back at what they knew best, coming from behind in the third period. It’s not a game plan that the coach will ever attempt to draw up before the game but for whatever reason it has become a signature of the Canucks season. Of course if you were waiting for me to finish the Wellwood analogy, watching him glide with the puck through the neutral zone only to eventually still be holding the puck in front of the opponents goal is eerie similar to the way the Canucks win games late – it’s not pretty but it works.
The winning goal was hardly a thing of beauty, a one timer attempt by Mikael Samuelsson that broke his stick but still found its way over to Daniel Sedin skating along the left side. Jonathon Quick, who struggled in the second half of the series didn’t read the play all that well and didn’t get square to the Sedin shot and let Sedin’s wrister float over his shoulder.
Alex Burrows celebrates his empty net goal.
After the game coach Terry Murray was less than thrilled with the way the final goal was surrendered. When one reporter insisted it was a “well placed shot” Murray was quick to dismiss that notion by pointing to the fact that the intended shooter had his stick shattered. It also seemed as if he was throwing Quick under the bus without explicitly saying so. Quick was great in the first half of the series and certainly helped the Kings open up a two games to one lead in the series but somewhere in game four the tides changed and he went from outplaying Luongo to having more holes in him than swiss cheese.
Which brings us to Luongo. The captain struggled after winning the gold medal in February but game-by-game in the first round he got better and better. In game 7 he turned in one of his finest performances in recent memory that gave the Canucks the opportunity to come from behind in the second period. With the Canucks trailing in the second period, Luongo made one of the best stop we have seen him make in a Canucks uniform. Ryan Smyth had a wide open goal and what appeared to be a down and out Luongo. But Luongo never gave up on the play, throwing his glove hand out in desperation and robbing Smyth and the Kings of a two goal lead. Some might chalk the save up to luck but it was nothing of the sort. When you watch the clip check out Luongo’s head which never takes his eyes off the puck.
Perhaps the most encouraging thing about Luongo’s resurgence in the series was the fact that he overcame whatever was preventing him from playing well at the Staples Center. In his only start of the season in Los Angeles he allowed all eight goals in an 8-3 thumping. Then in game 3 he was shaky and eventually pulled for Andrew Raycroft while the Canucks battled back but still lost by a goal. In game four he grinded out a victory in a back and forth game. It certainly wasn’t a picture perfect win for Luongo but he shifted the momentum by stopping Alexander Frolov on a breakaway in the third. Without that save the Canucks could have easily found themselves coming home down 3-1. It was clearly a rallying point for the Canucks as they went on to pull out another come from behind victory in the third period and of course it was a Sedin who broke the tie late in that one as well.
The importance of Luongo being able to get over whatever was in his head will be important because he faces bigger demons in Chicago where the Madhouse on Madison is his worst nightmare. I’m sure it has been on the back of his mind for a year. The scene of Patrick Kane putting the dagger in the Canucks with a hat trick should be plenty of motivation for the Canucks. Luckily when Luongo gets a second chance he usually comes through. But more on that tomorrow.
