CANUCKS QUIET COYOTES
Playoff-bound squad cruises to 5-0 win
The nearest team to the Vancouver Canucks was the farthest thing on anyone’s mind last September when people discussed playoff projections.
Of course, the Canucks weren’t in most of those conversations, either. But here they are, getting ready to face the Lazarus-like Calgary Flames in a revival of an old playoff rivalry. One of them should even get to the Stanley Cup Final because that’s where the winner finished the last three times — 2004, 1994, 1989 — the Flames and Canucks met in the opening round of the National Hockey League tournament.
Vancouver took care of new business Thursday, diligently dismissing the Arizona Coyotes 5-0, to bring back some old business against the Flames. Calgary eliminated the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings with a 3-1 win on Thursday, returning to the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
“I think this is awesome, two Canadian teams,” Canuck winger Chris Higgins, an American who has played on three Canadian teams, said after Vancouver’s win. “It will be my first time playing against a Canadian team in the playoffs. I’m looking forward to it. Calgary is a great hockey city and a team that surprised a lot of people this year. It’s a great matchup for Canada.”
Reminded that the Canucks, two points ahead of the Flames with one game remaining in the regular season, also surprised a lot of people, Higgins said: “That’s why it’s so fun. It’s probably a matchup that no one picked. I can’t wait.”
The series will start Wednesday or Thursday, but we won’t know where until Saturday. The Canucks will clinch second place in the Pacific Division — and home-ice “advantage” — if it collects at least a point against the Edmonton Oilers or Calgary loses its final game against the Winnipeg Jets.
“It’s going to be a tough matchup,” Canuck veteran Jannik Hansen said. “I don’t think there are any good draws in the playoffs right now. You see how hard everyone is playing; it’s taking 97 or 99 points to get into the playoffs.”
The 47-29-5 Canucks have 99 points — 16 more than last season when they crashed under former coach John Tortorella and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
“It’s what we wanted,” Hansen said of another chance to play for the Cup. “We believed in it in here. There were a lot of doubters around this team, thought this team was done and needed to get blown up. We never had that thought. We knew last year was a hiccup. We’re back in the playoffs, but that’s it so far. We haven’t done anything. We’re well aware of that. The real work is going to start next week.”
Canuck captain Henrik Sedin said: “It’s been a great year from the get-go. We’ve been battling hard. There’s been a few occasions where I think people counted us out and we stepped up and played really good against some tough opponents. And here we are.”
It might be better if the Canucks were there, in Calgary, next week.
Vancouver has done its best work this season away from the pressure and distractions of Rogers Arena. The Canucks are tied for second in the NHL with 24 road wins. That’s 24 more wins than they have in their last six home playoff games. Their last playoff win at Rogers Arena was in Game 5 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. Who knew Max Lapierre’s winning goal against the Boston Bruins would be the last great playoff moment here?
The Flames may be the only playoff team in the Western Conference against whom the Canucks, if they finish second, will be considered a favourite.
Yet, Calgary won the season series with a loser point, going 2-1-1 against Vancouver’s 2-2-0.
And the Flames, of course, have been at their best when people thought their magic act was done. Like when they lost seven straight games in regulation in December, then won eight of 11. Like when captain and top defenceman Mark Giordano, a potential Norris Trophy candidate, was lost for the season at the end of February — right before the Flames went 5-0-1 without him. Like any game in which Calgary trailed in the third period.
This was a Flames team expected to be in the Connor McDavid draft derby with the Oilers, but instead is going to the playoffs for the first time in six years. The Flames haven’t won a playoff series since they lost the Stanley Cup to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. That was two lockouts and five head coaches ago.
That was the year the Flames eliminated the Canucks from the playoffs in the opening round with a 3-2 overtime win in Game 7. In Vancouver, of course.
That loss merely cost the Canucks a general manager, Brian Burke, who seems to be doing just fine these days as the Flames’ president of hockey operations. No teams get to choose their opponents in the playoffs. If they could, the Canucks and Flames probably would choose each other.
“I don’t know about pressure,” Sedin said. “I don’t think anyone would have put us in the playoffs before the season started. If they want to put pressure on us now, that’s up to them. We just want to keep playing the way we have and we’ll see where it takes us.”