It's do or die time. The Canucks just need to take it one shift at a time. Their backs are to the wall. They need to leave it all on the ice. These are probably the things that Alain Vigneault is going to be telling his team before they go out on the ice. He always was a great motivator.
The Canucks find themselves in the shocking position of needing to win 4 straight against the 8th seeded LA Kings just to make the 2nd round. It looks like Daniel Sedin is finally going to play although he apparently hasn't practiced much so I don't know how effective he will be. The bigger story, however, is who is going play goal for Vancouver. Luongo has been the go-to guy for 6 years. It looks like that ends tonight as Cory Schneider gets the start. I say it's the bigger story but realistically it may not even matter. The Canucks are not down 3-0 in this series because of their goaltending. The Canuck forwards have simply been unable to get to the front of the net. Most shots are coming from 30 or 40 feet out (or more) and Jonathan Quick is able to see most of the shots. If he can see it he's going to stop it. The Kings were outshot by a pretty good margin in that last game (I'd look up the exact numbers but I'm too lazy) but as far as scoring chances go, the Kings had more. How many scoring chances from the slot did the Canucks have? One. That's just not going to get the job done. If that continues, Schneider is going to have to be perfect to give the Canucks a chance to win. You would have to think that we will score eventually, it just might not be until the 4th overtime. Schneider was almost perfect in game 3, he will need to be better tonight if the Canucks are going to bring this series back to Rogers Arena.
Maybe the Canucks will be inspired by the Penguins tonight. Also facing elimination, the Penguins have scored 9 goals so far tonight and the 2nd period isn't even over yet. This Flyers-Penguins series has been crazy.
For the first time this Spring I put my Canuck flags on my truck as I drove into town. That's gotta bring some good karma. As far as our Canuck drink, we're going with Banana Vodka Paralyzers, which is a regular Vodka Paralyzer with a splash of Banana Liqueur in it. We are also going to be doing Melon Liqueur shots after every Canucks goal. Hopefully we get to do at least a few shots. In an act of total desperation, I'm doing away with my official Canucks snack, Baked Cheezies, and instead I am going with the tried and true Cracker Jacks. With all of that, how can we not lose? Hang in there Canucks fans, this isn't over yet.
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