Vancouver Canucks vs. Calgary Flames
7 p.m., Rogers Arena
CBC/TSN 1040
(Flames lead best-of-seven opening round playoff series 1-0.)
Here are five things we’re pondering prior to Game 2.
1. There are two intriguing stats at play. Vancouver is looking tonight to avoid becoming the first team in NHL history to lose eight straight home playoff games. They haven’t won a postseason match-up at Rogers Arena since Game 5 of the 2011 Stanley Cup final.
On the flip side, the Canucks only lost back-to-back games once this season since the beginning of February. They’ve shown to be a resilient group.
“That’s your leadership,” explained Canucks coach Willie Desjardins. “We have real good character in our room.”
Daniel Sedin added: “It seems that every time we lose a game everyone is really focused to get it back on the winning track. Hopefully, it’s the same thing tonight.”
As for the trouble on home ice for the core group over the last few playoffs, Sedin maintained it wasn’t something the players were considering.
“It’s a new year. There’s a new coach, a lot of new players. We look at this year,” he aid.
2. Desjardins was questioned often over the past couple of days about how much he used Henrik and Daniel Sedin in Game 1. Henrik saw 17:29 of ice time, down from his 18:36 in the regular season. Daniel got out there for 16:14, which is a dip from the 18:21 he saw in league play.
They were the top two forwards on the ice in terms of ice time in the regular season for the regular season. For Game 1, Henrik second, behind Radim Vrbata (17:50), while Daniel was fifth, behind both Chris Higgins (16:53) and Nick Bonino (16:24).
3. Vancouver will be looking to put more pressure on Calgary’s top defencemen, who saw massive bumps in their ice time from the regular season. Dennis Wideman, who averaged 24:36 in league play, got out for 30:03 in Game 1, while Kris Russell played 29:07 after averaging 23:56 in the regular season.
Russell, who led the NHL in block shots (283) in league play, had five blocks on Wednesday.
That, too, will be a concern for Vancouver.
“We can’t be frustrated,” said Daniel. “We have to keep shooting. We know that they can sneak through and we have be hungry for rebounds.”
4. Vancouver had an optional morning skate, and seven skaters and two goalies took part. Kevin Bieksa (undisclosed), who skipped practice on Thursday, was missing once again. Desjardins said that the veteran D-man would be a game-time decision but then said that he “should be good.”
Calgary isn’t expected to make any line-up changes, either.
5. To his credit, Desjardins seemed fairly relaxed. Asked about the attention Game 1 received across the province, Desjardins said: “You always like assistant coaches who are passionate. This province is certainly passionate. It’s great to see. We have real good fans.”
