On the Brink May 4, 2013

Imagine a wounded killer whale, bleeding profusely and missing a dorsal fin. Now take that orca and drop him into a shark tank filled to the brim with great whites. That’s the situation the Vancouver Canucks are in after dropping the first two games, at home, against the Sharks.

The Canucks are in trouble. Why are they in this predicament? Here are a few of my thoughts on their performance in the series.

No Home Ice Adavantage

Stretching back all the way to the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals, the Canucks are currently on a six game losing streak on home ice during the playoffs. Enough said.

Where are the Big Guns?

With the exception of Ryan Kesler’s monstrous performance last night, the Canucks’ big guns have gone missing. The Sedins both got an assist on Kesler’s power play goal, but have done almost nothing 5 on 5. Alex Burrows has not been his pestering self and has been missing from the score sheet, except for his penalties. It was actually Henrik who made a terrible pass to Burrows up the middle, then Burrows got checked off the puck, leading to Patrick Marleau’s game tying goal. For many years, the Canucks have had a very good line of the Sedin twins and Burrows. However, they have not had much of an impact when even strength and the Canucks don’t have enough secondary scoring to make up for that. San Jose’s big guns have come through this series; Logan Courture, Joe Thornton, and especially Patrick Marleau have all scored and made big plays. The Sharks are getting production from their big boys, but the Canucks are not, except for Kesler.

The Bad Eddy

Alex Edler is like Jekyl and Hyde. At one moment, he can look like a Norris candidate; a smooth skating defenseman who has a big shot and deals out bigger hits. At another moment, he is prone to bad pinches and give aways. Last night was an example of the bad Eddy, he did not play well. He made a bad play in overtime and left Kevin Bieksa all alone to deal with the 2 on 1 which led to the game winner by Raffi Torres. Edler just signed a big contract before the season and is seen as a huge piece of the Canucks’ Stanley Cup hopes. However, he hasn’t delivered in these playoffs and seems lost at times. He has contributed nothing to the power play and has made some crucial errors so far. If the Canucks have any chance to come back, they need the good Eddy.

No Discipline

The Canucks have been guilty of taking some stupid penalties in this series. The Canucks opened game 2 with great pressure and energy. They were taking the play to the Sharks and were looking very good. However, Jason Garrison took an unnecessary cross checking penalty in the offensive zone and killed all the momentum from the good start. The Sharks ended up taking over the momentum in the first and opened the scoring. The bad penalties did not stop there; both Andrew Alberts and Bieksa took undisciplined penalties that could have been easily avoided, especially Bieksa, who hit Couture after the whistle in a very dumb play. The Canucks don’t have the offense to outscore their opponent; they need to limit the chances and keep the score low. This isn’t the way to do it, the Sharks have a good power play and will punish if given enough chances. It isn’t enough that the Canucks like to give up the puck; they need to stay out of the box. This hasn’t been the case yet.

Where is Cory?

Now, before I start let me say that this is nothing to do with Roberto Luongo. Luongo has been the best Canuck on the ice for both games and was the reason the Canucks even went to overtime in game 2. He has made some awesome saves and every fan should be happy with his performance. I bring this up because I am just frustrated at how this situation has unfolded. It has been well documented that Cory Schneider has a “body” injury and wasn’t even on the bench for both games. This has been confusing to Canuck fans because Cory said he was ready to go before game 1, but wasn’t even on the bench. I have felt the Canucks have never been able to ice their full lineup during this whole season. Now, I know Senator fans are telling me to shut up after all the injuries their team has went through during the season, but it is very frustrating. I just want to see the Canucks the way management intended them to be, I want to see Cory on the ice. It is important to give Cory all the playoff experience he can get, he hasn’t even started a series yet and he’s supposed to be our goalie of the future. At this rate, when Luongo gets traded in the offseason, we’re going to have a starting goalie who has started four playoff games and a few Stanley Cup Finals relief performances. The only silver lining I can see from an early Canucks playoff exit is to finally get the truth about Cory’s injury.

In my preview, I wrote that the Canucks needed to win both games at home to keep home ice advantage to win the series. Now, the Canucks have dropped both games at home, one in heart breaking fashion, and are going into an arena that boasts the best home record in the league. Are they done? Probably, but I can’t count them out yet. Call it blind loyalty or ignorance. The Canucks need to look at Boston of all places to find some hope. The 2011 Bruins (yes, those bastards) faced Montreal in the first round and lost the first two games at home before winning the series in seven. It is crucial that the Canucks win game three; there are plenty of teams who have come back from 2-0 down in a series. However, only four teams have ever come back from 3-0 down in a series in the NHL and I don’t think the Canucks would be the fifth.