Here’s what to watch for when the Vancouver Canucks play the Calgary Flames in Game 5 of their first-round series Thursday night at Rogers Arena.
Canucks' stars must shine: Vancouver needs more goals from its best players in order to fight off elimination and force a Game 6 back in Calgary. During the regular season, Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin and Radim Vrbata combined for 69 goals. They have managed three -- one an empty-netter -- in four playoff games. Vrbata, who has spent most of the series on the second line, has 13 shots, but most from long range and bad angles.
The Canucks must do a better job of battling their way into the slot and not lettng the Flames force them to the perimeter. Vancouver also can’t take the needless penalties that resulted in Calgary scoring two power-play goals in Game 4.
“There’s things we can change and do differently to create more chances and maybe open the ice for us,” Henrik Sedin said. “I still feel we had enough chances to put enough pucks in the net to win games. We haven’t done that so far. That’s on us. The only thing we can do is go out there tonight and score a few.”
More shifts, please: During the regular season, Canucks coach Willie Desjardins routinely rolled four lines. With his team now facing playoff elimination, Desjardins has been criticized for not giving his top players, especially the Sedins, more ice time. Look for Desjardins to rely on the Sedins more in Game 5.
“You’ve got to adjust to the situation,” he said. “What brought you here doesn’t count. It’s what happens now that’s important.”
Flames must be strong early: This game could be decided in the first five minutes, and the Flames know they will have to weather an early storm. A quick goal would give Vancouver momentum and keep the Rogers Arena fans in the game. Calgary needs to stay calm and stay away from penalties.
“They are going to be a desperate team,” Flames center Matt Stajan said. “The last game is going to be the hardest one to win. We know that.
“The game they beat us, they took it to us in that first period. The last two games we’ve had good starts and been able to pull away with wins. It’s a key point to this series, which team has a better start. We have to make sure we are doing our job.”
Forecheck looms large: The Flames have used a relentless forecheck to batter the Vancouver defensemen and disrupt the Canucks from breaking out of their own end. Calgary has to continue shut down the Vancouver attack before it can even begin.
“Our forecheck has been key in this series,” center Josh Jooris said. “Just play with pace, play with speed, not make it any easier on their D to make those breakout passes. That’s what we want to focus on tonight.”
Lineup shakeups: The Canucks will start Ryan Miller in goal. Miller stopped all 15 shots he faced after replacing Eddie Lack following the first period of Vancouver’s 3-1 loss on Tuesday. Left winger Sven Baertschi, whom the Canucks obtained from Calgary at the trade deadline, is also expected to dress for his first NHL playoff game, as is center Brad Richardson, who missed two games with an ankle injury. With Alex Burrows gone for this series with an upper-body injury suffered in Tuesday’s morning skate, Jannik Hansen is expected to move up to the top line.
PROJECTED LINES:
Vancouver
Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Jannik Hansen
Sven Baertschi - Nick Bonino - Radim Vrbata
Shawn Matthias - Brad Richardson - Chris Higgins
Ronalds Kenins - Bo Horvat - Derek Dorsett
Alex Edler - Chris Tanev
Ryan Miller
Calgary
Johnny Gaudreau - Sean Monahan - Jiri Hudler
Sam Bennett - Mikael Backlund - Joe Colborne
Michael Ferland - Matt Stajan - David Jones
Mason Raymond - Josh Jooris - Brandon Bollig