CANUCKS LAND FIRST BLOW AGAINST CHAMPS
Be careful what you wish for.
From the outside, that was the advice to the Vancouver Canucks, but they obviously weren’t listening.
They made their first playoff appearance in five years on Wednesday night against the Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues. And if you thought a club that iced numerous first-round newbies was going to succumb to the strength and stamina of a seasoned NHL champion, you haven’t been paying attention.
Whether it was getting better with each qualifying-round victory, or youthful skill and naiveté having as much impact as playoff-starved veterans, the Canucks are hungry for more. And a 2-0-1 regular-season record against the 94-point club should accelerate that appetite in the best-of-seven series.
However, these aren’t the Blues who couldn’t create urgency with an 0-2-1 mark in the lethargic and meaningless round robin portion of the post-season for seeding purposes. Nobody was going home. Nobody was selling out on every shift.
Until now.
“They know what it’s all about,” Canucks coach Travis Green said in advance of Game 1. “There are no secrets how they play. It’s going to be a hard test and a good challenge, but I’ve said many times, when our team is challenged, you find out a lot about your group.
“And I’ve never had a doubt because they have a lot of belief in themselves.”
Here’s what we learned as the Canucks claimed a 5-2 victory in the series opener at Rogers Place in Edmonton:
STECHER PROVES PROPHET
Troy Stecher knows his contract status and that the Canucks have roster options next season.
It’s why the Richmond native wanted this playoff sojourn to mean so much after losing his father, Peter, on Father’s Day and knowing that his club had so much to prove.
“I’m aware of my situation and my contract is up at the end of the year,” he said before Game 1. “Who knows what is going to happen? I’m excited and want to take over and help this team win.”
And he did just that.
With the clubs locked in a 2-2 draw in the third period, Stecher let loose a slapper that beat Jordan Binnington between the arm and body. He then looked to the heavens and screamed in joy. Horvat then followed up with his second goal of the night on a bull rush, deke and stick-side snapper to close scoring.
MARKSTROM’S REST BEST
Two days off and two days of practice and video worked wonders for Jacob Markstrom.
He was sharp early and often and the starter had to be. The Blues kept coming, kept putting pucks through traffic and crowded his crease. Zach Sanford tested the short side early before Markstrom made back-to-back saves off Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan O’Reilly, who tried to go five-hole and score from the side respectively.
The Blues finally got to him when David Perron found a small opening on the glove side with a half-slapper slot effort on the power play. Jaden Schwartz then sped away on a breakaway — after Chris Tanev tried to play the puck at the opposition blue-line and then fell — before tucking a puck between the goalie’s pads on a deke.