Some encouraging signs of life
Offensive-zone pressure leads to first power-play goal in 15 opportunities
LOSANGELES — It was about managing expectations.
Cory Schneider deserved the goaltending nod in the biggest game of the season Wednesday because he’s been magnificent at managing his emerging game, especially on the road with calm and consistent efforts.
Daniel Sedin managed to return to the lineup after missing a dozen games with a concussion and was simply superb to help the Vancouver Canucks avoid a colossal collapse and be swept by the Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference quarterfinal series.
And when their teammates finally showed up in the second period at the Staples Center, there were several encouraging signs of life in a 3-1 victory to send the series back to Rogers Arena for Game 5 on Sunday.
But none more encouraging than Schneider.
He stopped Dustin Brown on a third-period penalty shot and a 43-save effort provided his playoff victory and planted a seed of doubt in the Kings.
“It’s exciting, but it doesn’t mean much if you lose the next one,” said Schneider.
“We’re going to enjoy it for about 10 minutes and move on. But to get a guy back like Daniel and have that extra threat and for the power play to come alive, it might make them think twice about taking penalties or being too aggressive and that plants those little seeds.
“But they’re still in the driver’s seat and it’s up to us.”
It was up to Schneider to keep the Canucks in a game that they looked like they had no business winning in the opening period.
And with the Presidents’ Trophy winners nursing a 2-1 lead in the third period, it was up to Schneider to stop Brown on a forehand move after the Kings captain was hauled down by Kevin Bieksa on a shorthanded breakaway.
Nineteen seconds later, Henrik Sedin scored the club’s second power-play goal and the two-goal cushion was insurmountable because of the manner in which Schneider was playing.
“He’s been one of their most dangerous players and one of the best in the playoffs and I wasn’t really sure what he wanted to do,” Schneider said of Brown.
“But I was able to hold off on the shot fake and when he opened it up I thought he might try to go upstairs. But I had my stick protecting the fivehole and just got enough of it.”
So much for going quietly into the night. While the Canucks looked shellshocked and scared to make a mistake in the opening period, they showed a pulse when it was needed most.
They looked capable of becoming just the fourth team in NHL history to rally from a 3-0 series deficit. The Flyers did it in 2010, the Islanders in 1975 and the Maple Leafs in 1942.
“We were tight and loosened up and fed off Schneids’ performance,” said Canucks coach Alain Vigneault. “He was in total control. We finally got a bounce on our second goal and haven’t had one in this series.”
There were other things they didn’t have that surfaced Wednesday.
Ryan Kesler did the spade work on the endboards to strip Willie Mitchell of the puck and then provided the screen for Alex Edler to wrist a power-play point shot past Jonathan Quick to erase a 1-0 deficit.
It was the first power-play goal in 15 opportunities and it featured pressure in the offensive zone rather than those drop passes in the neutral zone.
There was Henrik Sedin reacting to stick work and jawing between Daniel Sedin and Brown by lowering a left forearm on the centre and sending him to the bench with a bloody nose.
There were three goals, the most by the Canucks in the series.
There was also David Booth going to the net and staying there in his first game on the top line, and using his speed to accept some sweet feeds from the Canucks captain.
And there was even a bit of luck when Bieksa’s point shot deflected off the stick of Mike Richards and changed direction to provide a 2-1 lead after two periods, the first time the Canucks had led any period in the series.
“They’re still huge favourites but we made a series of this,” said Henrik.
“A huge building block for us to score on the power play.
“They came hard at us and really threw everything they had at us, but I thought we still stayed in the moment. You’re going to need goalie to step up and he did, and after that we took over.”
Although roberto luongo wasn’t at fault in dropping the first two series games, the move to Schneider was calculated and everybody knows it will have far-reaching effects on how the crease conundrum will play out in the postseason.
And because Schneider is wired to not allow distractions or debate to change his game and focus, he is staking his claim to the starter’s job — and if he keeps this up to backstop a mammoth series comeback, they’ll erect a statue of him beside Terry Fox outside B.C. Place.
“That’s what a goalie is there for, especially on the road,” Schneider said.
“You’ve got to come up with some saves early on and give your guys a chance to get into the game.
“We had to win and we didn’t care how we did it. We stuck together and special teams came up big.
“By no means are we right back in it but it’s a step we had to have.”
If not for Schneider, the Canucks could have booked vacations in the first intermission.
He stopped a Mitchell one-timer slapper and got a pad on the Dwight King rebound.
He got a right pad on a Trevor Lewis shot as the Kings held an early 7-3 shot advantage and 5-0 edge in scoring chances.
The only goal he surrendered was when Mason Raymond did a fly-by on a neutral-zone attempt to check Anze Kopitar and the centre snapped a wrist shot home to open scoring 13 minutes into the game.
But Schneider stayed sharp and didn’t give up the crucial second goal.
He stopped Jordan Nolan and got a pad on a Brad Richardson rebound and managed to get his body over a loose puck that was jammed across the line by Richardson after the whistle blew.
And, yes, Schneider was even a little lucky when Justin Williams rang a shot off the post just after Henrik had provided the two-goal lead. But he was also good. Very good. “He bailed me out there on the penalty shot and those are the saves you need to win,” said Bieksa.
“We left it all on the table and did whatever we could to win.”