It’s been a while since the Vancouver Canucks have been able to talk about playoff hockey.
Aside from the success in the bubble this past summer, which saw the club battle all the way to game seven of the second round against the Vegas Golden Knights, there hasn’t been much postseason promise for the Canucks for the better part of a decade.
In fact, we’d have to go all the way back to the 2008-09 campaign to even start the conversation.
The Canucks collected 100 points that year, boasting a 45-27-10 record that put them first in the Northwest Division and third in the Western Conference. Led by players such as Daniel and Henrik Sedin, Ryan Kesler and Roberto Luongo, it appeared that the team finally had the key pieces needed for a deep, hard-fought playoff run.
More importantly, however, it seemed that fans and management alike were hopeful that this was the roster that could bring about some much-needed postseason consistency for a franchise that, quite frankly, hadn’t been able to pull together consecutive playoff success since the early 90’s.
Let’s set the stage.
The Canucks were set to play the sixth-seeded St. Louis Blues in the first round of the playoffs. Even though St. Louis hadn’t qualified for the postseason since 2004, the Canucks knew that the series would still be a tough battle nonetheless. The Blues wrapped up the regular season with a 8-1-1 record, and it appeared that they were ready to ride their hot streak into Vancouver.
History was also on St. Louis’s side.
Since joining the league in 1967, the Blues had qualified for the playoffs 32 out of possible 40 times, with the team making it past the first round on 18 of those occasions. Yes, they were never able to hoist the Stanley Cup during that span, but their team structure, consistency and determination were factors that Vancouver management longed for in their organization, and the Canucks knew that they couldn’t take them lightly because of it.
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The Canucks started off quite strong at the beginning of the series, coming away with back-to-back home victories, including a 30-save shutout performance from Luongo in game two before flying out to St. Louis for game three.
The Blues responded quite well, tallying the first goal of the game early in the first period and holding onto that lead after the first 20 minutes. In the end, however, that’s all they could muster.
Luongo was rock solid for the remaining two frames, allowing only one more goal, while the players in front of him were able to capitalize on three separate powerplay opportunities. Ultimately, the Canucks were able to come away with a 3-2 victory, giving them the massive upper hand with a 3-0 series lead.
The Canucks didn’t waste any time in game four, notching the first two goals of the contest. But, as many desperate teams have done before them, the Blues weren’t ready to go down without a fight.
They took over the latter half of the second period, and their relentless pressure led to two goals of their own within a four-minute span to end the second frame. Neither team was able to find the back of the net in the third period, and, for the first time in the series, the Canucks and Blues were heading to overtime.
The two netminders picked up right where they left off, stymying their respective opponents for much of the extra frame. Luongo, in particular, was the busier of the two, having to go perfect on two penalty kills, including a four-minute double-minor infraction at the hands of Kesler.
As the overtime period went on, it seemed that both teams were playing it safe and smart. The Blues wanted to survive just one more day, whereas the Canucks were ready to hammer the final nail in St. Louis’s coffin. It appeared that both teams were ready to take this contest into as many overtimes as needed, knowing very well that they would only need one careless, fatigue-driven mistake from their opponent to come away with the victory.
And with less than a minute on the clock, all signs were pointing to more playoff hockey.
Cue Alex Burrows.