[PGT] Flames @ Canucks | Flames lead series 1-0

[snucks]

The Canucks were horrible in their own end. What was weber doing passing the puck diagonally across from deep in his own end ? If the Canucks can't hit anybody they will lose again. In one particular incident Daniel Sedin was grabbed from behind by a Flame after the play behing the Calgary net. Sedin and his team mates did nothing. They didn't grab or shove anyone likely because they were told to stay out of the penalty box. Why when they had second best PK in the regular season ? I hope the players and coaches learn something from this miserable showing last night.

In the end though the Canucks are just not tough or big enough .

[Jermo09]

Here are some stats folks.

The Canucks have been in 41 playoff series in their NHL history. Their record is 16-25.

When losing the first game they are 4-14. The 4 times they have won the series after losing the first game were in 1992 (Winnipeg),1994 (Toronto), and 1995 and 2003 (St. Louis).

In series where they have gone down 2-0, their record is 0-11. So game 2 is huge!!!

This is 2015 and a totally different team and different NHL. Going down 2-0 means absolutely nothing

[TimberWolf]

sorry, continue the standard cryfest about the refs like they were the reason we lost if it makes u feel better little guy

I haven't said anything but your silly e-thugging is far more unreadable.

[combover]

I thought van played good till the third then it was the watch the puck system. Hiller outplayed lack by a mile he's was the only reason it wasn't 5 -0 by the end of the second. Calgarys shot totals were high but the were getting credit for dumpins that went to lack. I've always thought if you get in a series with a real shot blocking team you just keep shooting blocking shots hurts and if guys like weber and edler keep loading up eventually guys aren't going to be as effective.

Simpson was sure to talk about the flames every chance he got . Man I hate the Cbc crew.

Pp let the team down again

[MattA16]

Few points:

First off, Eddie played a fine game. He made some great saves in the 3rd to keep us in it, unfortunately our offence came up dry and couldn't help him out. The last goal his positioning was certainly off but he was completely screened and at the end of the day our defence has to get the puck out of the zone. I'm surprised at the few people blaming him for the loss, its hard to win a game as a goalie when your team gives you one goal to work with.

I thought Kenins was one the better players out there. I see some people wanting Kenins out for Give-A-Vey or Sven B... Ronalds brought the energy early with a big hit off the start, and even created some offence. He had one play where he kept the puck on the rush and went around the net and almost buried a chance. We need the kind of energy he brings if we want to compete.

I'm confident that we'll bounce back next game. We dominated many parts of the game, we just need to limit the turnovers and get more traffic in front. Hiller looked great but he had a clear look at the puck all game.

FINALLY, everyone needs to relax about CBC, SN, TSN, etc. giving "favouritism" to the Flames. First off, they won the game, so they should get the recognition. Lets not forget this team was supposed to finish bottom 5 this season, theres a clip of Aaron Ward on TSN picking them at the beginning of the season to be a dark horse to make the playoffs, and you can literally hear the panel laugh at him. They have a kid who's 5'7 150 who was a 4th round draft pick and is defying the odds by making the team in the first place, and is a serious contender for the Calder. They lost their best D-Man at the most important point in the season and still managed to make their way to the playoffs. Even Hiller, who was basically thrown out of Anaheim in favour of two young average goalies is a good story for Calgary. Sure Vancouver also exceeded expectations, but we have much of the same core group of guys we had in 2011, and we are only exceeding expectations because Tortorella helped decimate this team to the point where no one considered us a threat anymore. We've been in the playoffs 5 of the last 6 years, Calgary hasn't been in the playoffs since 2009. Quit whining that these stations aren't drooling over our average storyline of making it back to the playoffs after a one year layoff with the worlds worst coach at the helm.

[cbdoubleu]

Give Hartley credit for the adjustments they made throughout the game.

In the first period the Flames were getting caught trying the long bomb pass out too much. In the second period suddenly the Flames D started rushing the puck out of their zone as quick as they could. They caught us wanting to hold the line a few times just with their speed coming out. It also saved Wideman and Russell from taking the punishment they took in the first.

The 2nd period kill really settled the Flames down, and once they started getting pucks in deep on us, it was a much more evenly played game.

They also scouted the power play very well. Had a guy up high on Weber the entire time, and when Weber was open, there was no traffic.

WD's move...

[Lui's Knob]

A porous defense , a bad 2nd line and no Sedins showing up to score and this will be a short series. Higgins and bonino is a useless line. Boggles the puck and slow footed and weak on the puck

[Mathew Barzal]

Few points:

FINALLY, everyone needs to relax about CBC, SN, TSN, etc. giving "favouritism" to the Flames. First off, they won the game, so they should get the recognition. Lets not forget this team was supposed to finish bottom 5 this season, theres a clip of Aaron Ward on TSN picking them at the beginning of the season to be a dark horse to make the playoffs, and you can literally hear the panel laugh at him. They have a kid who's 5'7 150 who was a 4th round draft pick and is defying the odds by making the team in the first place, and is a serious contender for the Calder. They lost their best D-Man at the most important point in the season and still managed to make their way to the playoffs. Even Hiller, who was basically thrown out of Anaheim in favour of two young average goalies is a good story for Calgary. Sure Vancouver also exceeded expectations, but we have much of the same core group of guys we had in 2011, and we are only exceeding expectations because Tortorella helped decimate this team to the point where no one considered us a threat anymore. We've been in the playoffs 5 of the last 6 years, Calgary hasn't been in the playoffs since 2009. Quit whining that these stations aren't drooling over our average storyline of making it back to the playoffs after a one year layoff with the worlds worst coach at the helm.

Thank you.

[apollo]

We should stick to the plan and let in the first two goals then make the comeback as usual!

Scoring first? Y u do that Bo? Lol

[lukchin]

Canucks can beat the Flames..they flubbed glorious chances and went wonky in the last 10 minutes. Bury 10% of those chances and don't go stupid at the end of the game and we'll be fine.

[babych]

Well, for what it's worth I thought it was a hell of a hockey game. There wasn't much separating these two teams last night.

Honestly, the game was so good I wasn't even mad about the ending.

A little advice to some of the posters on here: when you get a chance to watch a good, clean, honest game of hockey that has a good pace - just enjoy it.

I hope the rest of the series will be this good.

[HKSR]

Postives:

- Horvat's Line is ready to carry on where they left off in the regular season

- Richardson is a huge upgrade on Vey. Makes that line with Dorsett and Matthias a real presence on the ice.

- Shutdown the Flames top line for most of the night

- Henrik was a beast in the faceoff circle

- Sedins and Burrows were generating solid offensive chances

Negatives

- Calgary's defence is noticeably better than the Canucks

- Hiller may be a problem if he continues to play as well as he did last night

- Vrbata/Bonino/Higgins were a momentum killing line -- not doing enough for what a 2nd line should be doing

- Canucks played 40 out of 60 minutes again... this trend cannot continue if they want to beat the Flames

- Failed to plant a seed of doubt in the young Flames. They now feel they can win this thing which spells trouble moving forward

Overall, the Canucks deserved better... but that's not how the game works. All the Canucks can do is regroup, and play a solid 60 minutes, and crowd Hiller. Need a BIT more from Lack too... not that he was bad... but that tying goal could/should have been stopped if he was matching what Hiller was doing in the other net.

Haven't lost faith yet. This Canucks team has shown they're quite resilient. Let's hope that continues in the playoffs. A little Irish luck from the Big Irishman up there couldn't hurt either Do it for PQ boys.

[bluesman60]

I didn't see much from the 2nd line tonight and the whole teams needs to play with a bit more hustle and determination. It did not have the feel of a playoff game.

The good news is that we are in the playoffs, Horvat scored a goal which was the first goal of the game for once.The Canucks were better on faceoffs too. I also thought we played a lot of time in their zone for the 1st and 2nd periods which is going to wear their defense down.

I don't think it is wise to play to protect a 1 goal lead against a team whose bread and butter has been the 3rd period all year....keep your foot on the gas for 60 minutes.

[Boudrias]

Meaningless statistic.

If you're lookng for whipping boys, Weber turned the puck over on the first goal - right onto the stick of Ferland...

Juice was the guy in front of Lack who didn't clear Bennett out of the crease on the 2nd goal.

Shat happens.

Who is going to replace them? They had the other D minuses.

Picking out Sbisa based on a meaningless -2 is pointless.

Weber was a target all night and by the end of the game he was actually turning away from the play or hesitating. I thought Sbisa's 1st period was the best he has played as a Canuck. He has great upside.

Calgary was advertised as a hard working team and that they were. They survived the Canuck onslaught in the first half and actually took over on the physical side by the end of the game.

Canucks played well enough to win but Hiller played very well. Would have liked a little more action in the blue paint.

Lack: Played a great game. Made some serious saves. The Calgary stretch pass seems to be a core element

in their game to spread out the neutral zone. Controlling the neutral zone is Van's strategy which worked most of the night. Van's ongoing struggle is d-zone coverages which break down with prolonged

d-zone TOI. I felt sorry for the Horvat line at times as they looked like deer in the headlights in their own zone.

[No_More_Larchide]

I know this board is always operating under the sky is falling mentality... But last night wasnt all that bad. I felt the Canucks carried the play for the majority of the game, the Flames blocked a ton of quality chances.I summarize the game as easily as this;

Calgary scored one 2 defensive breakdowns, and Hiller made big saves when he was required.

Thats it, it was as close as a game can go, and usually close games are decided by brain farts, and it was. Move on. This isnt LA and SJ bullying us around all over the ice, it was a close, coin flip game... Which is what all the "experts" said it would be.

[Mackcanuck]

Eddies view

[apollo]

Eddies view

The triple screen... Really can't blame Eddie for last night. He was great. Hiller just stood on his head though.

We have to get traffic on hiller. It was missing most of the night. If goalies see the puck in the playoffs, they'll usually make the save.

[bluesman60]

The hits were 25 for Calgary and 22 for the Canucks plus the Canucks were good on faceoffs. Calgary did win the 3rd period because the Canucks were sitting back trying to protect a 1 goal lead against a Calgary team that has thrived on the 3rd period all season.

[Benchsplinters]

In my opinion, the Canucks out chanced the Flames. Great game. Two evenly matched teams. Canucks have to keep finishing their checks for the entire game. That game could have gone either way.

Fans need to relax and remember that this is playoff hockey. Games are going to be close. Much to the disappointment of many, Vancouver can not win every game by five or more goals. Keep the faith people, there is much more hockey to play

Go Canucks, go.

[Benchsplinters]

Eddies view

Great photo. Look at the screen. Now you know why Lack missed seeing the puck.