Vancouver Canucks eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs
How the Canucks win: Even when the Sedins don’t dominate, they still generate offense and are difficult to shut down for extended periods. What really puts the Canucks over the top is when they get that second wave of offense, whether it be from the returning Ryan Kesler, newcomer Derek Roy or the surprisingly productive Jannik Hansen, Mason Raymond or Chris Higgins.
Round 1: VAN vs SJ (Sharks win series 4-0) Game 1 Van 1 SJ 3 *if necessary. All times Eastern |
How the Sharks win: Largely by details. The Sharks are the NHL’s No. 2 faceoff team and block a ton of shots. They’ve been excellent on the penalty kill and Antti Niemi has put up Vezina-worthy numbers in net. Through mid-April they had just one regulation loss at home.
How the Canucks lose: Vancouver’s power play was among the league’s top six each of the past three seasons. So to see it 22nd (15.8 percent) and worst among locked-down playoff teams is a big reason why the Canucks didn’t challenge for the Presidents’ Trophy.
How the Sharks lose: Scoring has been a battle for San Jose, which struggled so much it moved mobile defenseman Brent Burns to right wing to shake things up. The switch yielded nice results, but underscored the problems inherent with a top-heavy team.
Canucks goaltending: Despite playing just three games in a month, Roberto Luongo looked sharp in relief duty. That bodes well should ace starter Cory Schneider come up flat in consecutive games. As always, the leash will be short in the Vancouver crease.
Sharks goaltending: Hidden on a good-but-not-great team in northern California, Niemi has been incredible, posting top-10 numbers in GAA and SP while playing more minutes than anyone in the league. He has a Cup from his days in Chicago and has lost just two playoff series versus six triumphs in his young career.
Canucks question mark: Vancouver’s big four on the blueline eat a lot of minutes, but there’s a drop off in effectiveness to the third pair. And each of Alexander Edler, Kevin Bieksa, Jason Garrison and Dan Hamhuis have had injury issues the past couple of seasons.
Sharks question mark: For years the Sharks have been the Big Team That Couldn’t. After trading staples Douglas Murray and Ryane Clowe at the deadline with Raffi Torres and Scott Hannan arriving in separate deals, the Fins have a new look, but will it help them finally break through to the Stanley Cup?
Canucks top three fantasy players: Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Ryan Kesler.
Sharks top three fantasy players: Joe Thornton, Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau
Odds to win the Cup: Vancouver: 10-1, San Jose: 20-1.
THE EDGE GOES TO… | |||||
TEAM | FORWARDS | DEFENSE | GOALTENDING | SPECIAL TEAMS | COACHING |
| Canucks | EVEN | EVEN |
|
| X |
| Sharks | EVEN | EVEN | X | X |
|
Winner and why: This is a series that not only features two evenly matched teams that sputtered down the stretch, but it also pits two of the league’s more underachieving teams against one another. Neither team has played with a lot of consistency this season and while both are capable of getting on a roll, things can also snowball in the other direction pretty quickly. The key to this series could be the extent to which Canucks goalie Cory Schneider is injured. Sharks in 7.
Comments