Dallas Win 2-0
Series tied 1-1

I didn't see much of this game because I was out at a friend's birthday dinner.

I caught the first period, which was just as frustrating as I heard the rest of the game was. Dallas came right out of the gate scoring about twenty something seconds into the game. This seemed to take the 'Nucks right out of it from the get go. They just couldn't get much going and whatever plays they did muster, just got shut down by the Dallas defense or goalie Marty Turco. My friend Reid, who watched the rest of the game, said the Canucks pulled Luongo with about two minutes to go and they still couldn't generate anything.

Hopefully, they will wake up for the game tonight and start taking a few more risks to generate some better scoring chances.

Canucks Win 5-4
Canucks lead series 1-0

The Marathon

Well the playoffs are finally underway and wow, what a way to start them. Sixth longest game in NHL history!

The Canucks have a team this year that I feel is not that talented but is full of heart and grit, a team built for the playoffs. This is not a team of the past, which relied solely on talent and always seemed to fizzle at this time of year. Nonnis did a smart job of realizing that with a star goalie and a bunch of determined, hungry young players, a team can go far into the spring.

However Dallas is a very good team, so this should be an extremely tight series that could go either way. I do feel that the Canucks have the edge though. I believe that Luongo is the better goalie and we also have a better second scoring line with Näslund and Brendan Morrison. Dallas' team is a bit older and I think that they will probably wear down as the series goes on. In the game last night, this is how things appeared to play out. Dallas came out strong and if it wasn't for Luongo, this game could have been over early. Dallas definitely carried the game in the first three periods and in the first period of overtime but the Canucks only seemed to get better after that. Considering the game almost went to an eighth period, that bodes well for us.

Looking forward to game two Friday night!