Vancouver Canucks vs St. Louis Blues
- Apr. 22/03
-
Series tied 3-3
by Rink Rat
Perhaps those of you with good memories will remember the famous Hagler- Hearns brawl years ago in boxing. A phenomenal match which only went three rounds, both fighters had practically no defence and threw devastating punches at each other. Inevitably Hagler won; it was one of the fights of the decade. The Rat thinks the series between the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues in the NHL play-offs is similar.
These two teams can cause damage in a hurry. Thirty-three goals in six games demonstrates the potency of both teams. The cliché is that anything can happen in a game seven decider. Not so. Only two things can happen - either Team A wins or Team B. What is interesting is that the home team wins only slightly more often than the visitors. On Tuesday night the Rat thinks the St. Louis Blues will win.
Consider a couple of points. In the three games the Blues have won they've outscored the Canucks by 11 goals. The Canucks have outscored the Blues by only four goals in their three wins. The Blues have to think if they can rock Vancouver early then there could be a goal deluge in their favour.
St. Louis has potted 10 power play goals so far. Doug Weight is 5-3-8 on the power play and he is currently the play-offs leading scorer with 12 points. The Blues have five power play goals in Vancouver.
Canuck winger Bertuzzi, not noted for his restraint, has 34 penalty minutes. Bertuzzi has scored one crummy goal. Blues' players are not likely to be too downhearted by their inability to close out the series early. This team has demonstrated a remarkable capacity for not letting bad breaks demoralize them. They played much of the season without defenceman Pronger. They've had to adjust to seven goaltenders. In game five of this series they were crippled with sickness yet had the Canucks running around in their own zone with a minute left in the third period and the score 4-3 Vancouver.
Influential defenceman MacInnis went out in the second game with a shoulder injury. Rookie Jackman has taken up the slack and played with poise and resolve beyond his years. Additionally, St. Louis can point to great third periods in games five and six - both Canuck wins. The Blues outscored Vancouver 4-1 in total and at times had the Canucks in a near-panic. The Blues will be convinced it they can reach the second intermission in game seven tied with the Canucks that they can win the series in the third period.
Vancouver will tell anyone who will listen they aren't the same team as the one blown out 6-0 in game one. True, but they also aren't the same team as the one which had a 14 game unbeaten streak and a 10 game winning streak during the regular season. Two third period melt-downs indicate a team still struggling with immaturity. They can take heart that their goaltender, Cloutier, has outplayed the Blues Osgood.
However, the game will likely be decided in the Canucks end. The hard-hitting Blues forwards will force the mistake they want and St. Louis wins this game in the third period
.
We took them for the series, and have been on the right side and total the entire series. Today the Blues get it done.
Play on the BLUES Money Line !!!
- Apr. 22/03
-
Series tied 3-3
by Rink Rat
Perhaps those of you with good memories will remember the famous Hagler- Hearns brawl years ago in boxing. A phenomenal match which only went three rounds, both fighters had practically no defence and threw devastating punches at each other. Inevitably Hagler won; it was one of the fights of the decade. The Rat thinks the series between the Vancouver Canucks and St. Louis Blues in the NHL play-offs is similar.
These two teams can cause damage in a hurry. Thirty-three goals in six games demonstrates the potency of both teams. The cliché is that anything can happen in a game seven decider. Not so. Only two things can happen - either Team A wins or Team B. What is interesting is that the home team wins only slightly more often than the visitors. On Tuesday night the Rat thinks the St. Louis Blues will win.
Consider a couple of points. In the three games the Blues have won they've outscored the Canucks by 11 goals. The Canucks have outscored the Blues by only four goals in their three wins. The Blues have to think if they can rock Vancouver early then there could be a goal deluge in their favour.
St. Louis has potted 10 power play goals so far. Doug Weight is 5-3-8 on the power play and he is currently the play-offs leading scorer with 12 points. The Blues have five power play goals in Vancouver.
Canuck winger Bertuzzi, not noted for his restraint, has 34 penalty minutes. Bertuzzi has scored one crummy goal. Blues' players are not likely to be too downhearted by their inability to close out the series early. This team has demonstrated a remarkable capacity for not letting bad breaks demoralize them. They played much of the season without defenceman Pronger. They've had to adjust to seven goaltenders. In game five of this series they were crippled with sickness yet had the Canucks running around in their own zone with a minute left in the third period and the score 4-3 Vancouver.
Influential defenceman MacInnis went out in the second game with a shoulder injury. Rookie Jackman has taken up the slack and played with poise and resolve beyond his years. Additionally, St. Louis can point to great third periods in games five and six - both Canuck wins. The Blues outscored Vancouver 4-1 in total and at times had the Canucks in a near-panic. The Blues will be convinced it they can reach the second intermission in game seven tied with the Canucks that they can win the series in the third period.
Vancouver will tell anyone who will listen they aren't the same team as the one blown out 6-0 in game one. True, but they also aren't the same team as the one which had a 14 game unbeaten streak and a 10 game winning streak during the regular season. Two third period melt-downs indicate a team still struggling with immaturity. They can take heart that their goaltender, Cloutier, has outplayed the Blues Osgood.
However, the game will likely be decided in the Canucks end. The hard-hitting Blues forwards will force the mistake they want and St. Louis wins this game in the third period
.
We took them for the series, and have been on the right side and total the entire series. Today the Blues get it done.
Play on the BLUES Money Line !!!
