GDT - R1G2 - Canucks vs Kings 7PM PST CBC

[Robert]

Bear in mind the mighty Pens are in the same boat as us -- and allowed 8 goals. Giroux with a seven point night. So we won't be the only ones having nightmares tonight.

WTF has that got to do with us? I for one don't feel any better...

[Puck]

Well, they got 48 shots and they battled. No dumb penalties that I could see. It was pretty bad luck/fortune/whatever that they couldn't recover the puck after Lu made an excellent toe save on Kopitar. The second shorty was in some ways a bad pass... Hamhuis was caught backing away looking for a different angle and the pass missed him... couple that with what looked like crap ice and Brown was away. The PP goal was just ugly whacking that sometimes goes in. The Kings are forechecking like a pack of wolves, it's remarkably effective; then at the other end they're getting very opportunistic goals. They look a little destined to win, for the moment. I'm sure the Canucks will battle harder still in game three, and if they win that, things could turn around.

a few random thoughts:

- I don't think the ice looked very good out there tonight... the puck was bouncing like crazy, that is 100% in LA's favour
- Amex played well for stretches, and Booth had a superb - perfectly legal - hit on... actually can't remember who
- Raymond was actually pretty effective. He was skating hard and managed to create a little offense (really, not kidding). Made some important backchecks to keep it close, too.
- Edler... isn't hitting and isn't comfortable out there. Can't say what we can possibly do about that.
- It's much more about how LA are performing than how the Canucks are. Don't know what it is about hockey fans, but it's always the losing team that choked, never the winning team that played great.
- This Kings team the way they currently are playing would have won a hell of a lot more games this season than the group they iced for most of the year.

And TIMING IS EVERYTHING.

[herb]

FUCK

That is all for now.

[Hockey Widow]

Funny I'm not even angry right now. I guess because I think the Kings simply have been the better team and deserve the wins. Please LA, make it as painless as possible.

[Puck]

No, no. Screw that. Tie it up and make it a best of three.

[Farhan Lalji]

A hot goalie is a hot goalie...I said it before...if you actually play/played the game you might understand...I really do think the pressure is on LA now...win it at home...AV got us to game 7 of the Final last year and I have faith that they can do it again...although some losers think they are done...it's the playoffs baby....

Gotta admit though the Kings are hustling to the puck...defensively...we still have more talent....

I agree with my good cyber cousin Spidey.

The Kings aren't out of the wood yet and history has proven that coming back from 2-0 deficits isn't exact impossible. We of all people should know after the Cup Finals last year. Tampa came back from 3-1 down and beat Pitsburgh last year. Chicago, Detroit, and the Flyers won 3 straight games after being down 3-0 in their respective series.

In 1994 - we were down 3-1 to BOTH the Flames and Rangers and came back to tie it.

Maybe it's just me, but I thought that the Canucks outplayed the Kings tonight and just had a bit of bad luck on special teams. If the Canucks play the way they did in the end there however, then I can definitely see us coming back.

We are certainly down, but we are definitely not out.

I warned this message board about the consequences of the Canucks not giving it all during the latter course of the regular season (only playing to their maximum ability in select games), but it's all irrelevant now. The fact of the matter is that I DO think that the Canucks found their intensity tonight and that this series is still far from over.

In 2002, the Redwings were also a little "rusty" when they played us in round 1........due to not being used to playing meaningful games......but we saw what happened after that.

p.s._________________I also think starting Schneider is a bad idea. Luongo has been very good for us and benching him at this point, would be a huge slap in the face to him. Lou deserves better than that.

[Farhan Lalji]

Funny I'm not even angry right now. I guess because I think the Kings simply have been the better team and deserve the wins. Please LA, make it as painless as possible.

I feel the exact same waty.......but I don't agree that the Kings have been the better team. They were certainly much better in game 1, but I thought that the Canucks outplayed them tonight.....and just got a bit unlucky with a few bounces here and there. That's just my take though.

[Cookie La Rue]

Do you know what's ALMOST as disgusting as going down two zip? It's watching those assbitches smile laugh and text with good seats as this is being played out.

Holy shit Robert, i just thought the same and yelling at them watchingthe game on tv. Therefore i'm never going again to a game to the garage, too much of these uninterested bunnies who don't even really work for their money.

[Cookie La Rue]

And finally it's not over, my drinking yes but not this series, next game is fuckin' "cruzifying" (sic).
Have a good night.

[ukcanuck]

so what now... do they go with Schneider in LA? I know its not Luongo's fault, they hung him out to dry at times. but it seems like we need to steal some momentum back with a stone wall goaltending performance and Luongo still let in a softy in game one and sure didn't seem like he could move laterally very well tonight.

[BCExpat]

Well, this totally sucks, of course, but if we take game 3, we all know, momentum shifts. Not saying I'm optimistic, but got to hold out hope...game 3 it is, do or die boys.

Ya I agree this series is not over and won't be until someone wins 4 games, its just the lack of confidence this year in the team. Even when we headed to game 7 against Boston I believed we would win it. I just don't have that feeling this year. But it ain't over until it is over and I will be cheering them on.

I like the LA team, I really like what they have built there.

As an aside, I imagine the Pens are not feeling too good about themselves right now either.

I agree with your assessment HW. As for the Kings - wow - are they up for this series. Anyway, How about those Coyotes - flying under the radar.

[Farhan Lalji]

so what now... do they go with Schneider in LA? I know its not Luongo's fault, they hung him out to dry at times. but it seems like we need to steal some momentum back with a stone wall goaltending performance and Luongo still let in a softy in game one and sure didn't seem like he could move laterally very well tonight.

No. I wouldn't. Playing Schneider would be an unbelievable slap in the face to Luongo since Luongo has played quite well for us.

Lou isn't perfect but he deserves to play in my opinion.

The way the Canucks finished the game tonight - I actually feel ok heading into game 3. The Canucks outplayed the Kings tonight and if you take away those 2 flukey short handed goals, it becomes a completely different game. Canucks outhit, outshot, and won more face-offs than the Kings tonight.

[NorCalNucks]

so what now... do they go with Schneider in LA? I know its not Luongo's fault, they hung him out to dry at times. but it seems like we need to steal some momentum back with a stone wall goaltending performance and Luongo still let in a softy in game one and sure didn't seem like he could move laterally very well tonight.

No. I wouldn't. Playing Schneider would be an unbelievable slap in the face to Luongo since Luongo has played quite well for us.

Lou isn't perfect but he deserves to play in my opinion.

The way the Canucks finished the game tonight - I actually feel ok heading into game 3. The Canucks outplayed the Kings tonight and if you take away those 2 flukey short handed goals, it becomes a completely different game. Canucks outhit, outshot, and won more face-offs than the Kings tonight.

I agree, Lu has earned the right to stay but I also think that by switching in Schneider might help spice things up. Didn't get to watch the entire game tonight but from what I saw Lu was solid if not great. In fact I thought the whole team played much better and not much of the diving/whining was happening. I was waiting for penalties when Kesler got elbowed and Henrik got checked from behind and all hell broke loose. But I guess my untrained eyes were no match with the pros.....

[BCExpat]

so what now... do they go with Schneider in LA? I know its not Luongo's fault, they hung him out to dry at times. but it seems like we need to steal some momentum back with a stone wall goaltending performance and Luongo still let in a softy in game one and sure didn't seem like he could move laterally very well tonight.

No. I wouldn't. Playing Schneider would be an unbelievable slap in the face to Luongo since Luongo has played quite well for us.

Lou isn't perfect but he deserves to play in my opinion.

The way the Canucks finished the game tonight - I actually feel ok heading into game 3. The Canucks outplayed the Kings tonight and if you take away those 2 flukey short handed goals, it becomes a completely different game. Canucks outhit, outshot, and won more face-offs than the Kings tonight.

[mathonwy]

so what now... do they go with Schneider in LA? I know its not Luongo's fault, they hung him out to dry at times. but it seems like we need to steal some momentum back with a stone wall goaltending performance and Luongo still let in a softy in game one and sure didn't seem like he could move laterally very well tonight.

No. I wouldn't. Playing Schneider would be an unbelievable slap in the face to Luongo since Luongo has played quite well for us.

Lou isn't perfect but he deserves to play in my opinion.

The way the Canucks finished the game tonight - I actually feel ok heading into game 3. The Canucks outplayed the Kings tonight and if you take away those 2 flukey short handed goals, it becomes a completely different game. Canucks outhit, outshot, and won more face-offs than the Kings tonight.

Nobody on this team deserves anything at this point of time.

The fact of the matter is, we have two #1 goalies on our team. Regardless of how well Luo played, the team has lost two straight playoff games and having a fresh face in goal may be the thing that sparks our team.

- If AV puts in ginger, ginger plays well and we lose game 3, we can definitely conclude that it's not our goaltender.

- If AV puts in ginger, ginger plays poorly and we lose game 3, nobody can say it was a bad decision considering how well ginger has played the entire season.

- If AV puts in ginger and we win, AV looks like a genius.

Doing something is better than doing nothing because doing nothing has put us in a 2 game hole.

Unbelievable slap to the face of Luo? Deserves to play? Luo's feelings should be the furthest thing from everyone's mind. Winning is all that matters no matter how we do it and whatever changes are needed.