Vancouver power outage

After two periods last night, with the score 1-0 in favour of Anaheim, I knew there was no way I could justify to myself staying up to try and watch the conclusion of game 5 (with the alarm clock set to 5am). I figured it'd either end sleepily in regulation (with the Canucks being shut out), or it would go deep into overtime...I'd like to think I had some amazing powers of foresight (2-1 2OT win for Anaheim) but with Vancouver having already gone to overtime five times in 11 games the odds were relatively high.

As it turned out, another multiple overtime loss for the anemic - and now eliminated - Vancouver Canucks. After scoring 5 in their first playoff game vs. Dallas, their goal totals for the next 11 games were as follows: 0, 2, 2, 0, 0, 4 (2 empty-netters), 1, 2, 2, 2, 1.

Canucks playoff goal-scoring stats:

RK	Player	P	GP	G	A	P	+/-	OT	PP		TOI/G
1	MARKUS NASLUND	L	12	4	1	5	-1	0	1		21:35
2	TREVOR LINDEN	C	12	2	5	7	4	0	1		17:15
3	MATTIAS OHLUND	D	12	2	5	7	3	0	1		28:18
4	TAYLOR PYATT	L	12	2	4	6	-2	1	0		18:01
5	DANIEL SEDIN	L	12	2	3	5	-5	0	0		21:31
6	HENRIK SEDIN	C	12	2	2	4	-8	1	1		22:12
7	BRYAN SMOLINSKI	C	12	2	2	4	2	0	0		18:39
8	JEFF COWAN	L	10	2	0	2	1	1	0		11:37
9	BRENDAN MORRISON	C	12	1	3	4	4	0	0		23:09
10	JAN BULIS	C	12	1	1	2	0	0	0		19:46
11	ALEXANDRE BURROWS	L	11	1	0	1	0	0	0		10:34

The totals for the Sedins are, to be kind, disappointing - a combined four goals and -13.

Of course the obvious story is Roberto Luongo who, being the primary reason Vancouver won even five postseason games, also was likely the difference between the Canucks being a division winner or near-lottery participant. Aside from a 1.77 goals-against and .941 save percentage, his work on the penalty kill was particularly impressive - the following table shows shot statistics for all goaltenders in the post-season to date while shorthanded. Luongo faced 108 shots (while saving 93.5% of them) - next highest is Marty Brodeur with 70 (although worthy of note was the beleaguered Miikka Kiprusoff, one of very few Flames players who showed up this spring).

RK	Player	Team	GP	PP: SA	GA	Sv	Sv%	Tot Sv%
1	J GIGUERE	ANA	7	42	1	41	.976	.952
2	TOMAS VOKOUN	NSH	5	36	2	34	.944	.902
3	JOHAN HEDBERG	ATL	2	16	1	15	.938	.928
4	ROBERTO LUONGO	VAN	12	108	7	101	.935	.941
5	MIIKKA KIPRUSOFF	CGY	6	68	5	63	.926	.929
6	ILJA BRYZGALOV	ANA	4	27	2	25	.926	.929
7	MARTY TURCO	DAL	7	39	3	36	.923	.952
8	MARTIN BRODEUR	NJD	10	70	7	63	.900	.919
9	HENRIK LUNDQVIST	NYR	8	40	4	36	.900	.932
10	RICK DIPIETRO	NYI	4	20	2	18	.900	.898
11	RAY EMERY	OTT	9	56	7	49	.875	.917
12	EVGENI NABOKOV	SJS	9	46	6	40	.870	.925
13	NIKLAS BACKSTROM	MIN	5	36	5	31	.861	.924
14	DOMINIK HASEK	DET	10	52	8	44	.846	.919
15	RYAN MILLER	BUF	9	43	7	36	.837	.931
16	MARC-ANDRE FLEURY	PIT	5	36	6	30	.833	.880
17	JOHAN HOLMQVIST	TBL	6	32	7	25	.781	.893
18	DANY SABOURIN	VAN	2	4	1	3	.750	.909
19	WADE DUBIELEWICZ	NYI	1	7	2	5	.714	.886
20	KARI LEHTONEN	ATL	2	12	4	8	.667	.849

For a post-mortem, I suppose Vancouver fans could look at either side: the fact that they lost each of the last three to Anaheim by one goal (and the last two in overtime) could mean that even a small upgrade in offence in the off-season could propel them even further next spring. Of course, expecting another near-perfect season from their goaltender is possibly unrealistic, and covers up even more holes in a flawed team (where, for example, Kevin Bieksa ends up averaging over 28 minutes of ice-time per game - not meaning to take credit away from Bieksa but if the Canucks need to address anything before the offence, it is the need to develop a more-solid defensive six to at least begin an offensive attack. What is the long-term prognosis of Lukas Krajicek? I liked his skill in junior but am left to wonder if he'll ever approach premier top-4 status in the NHL.).