With their Game 7 victory over Chicago, Vancouver is finally showing signs they can be a clutch team
VANCOUVER -- For all the angst, defining moments, and career shaping events, you would have thought this was a Stanley Cup final, not a mere quarter-final series.
But the sad truth is the Vancouver Canucks have only accomplished half of what they had accomplished in each of the past two seasons.
So why does it feel like they just validated themselves as a team worthy of a championship?
"This is what it's all about right here. You find ways," said goaltender Roberto Luongo, who had more to lose than anyone else Tuesday night at Rogers Arena. "In tough times, that's when you see the true character in somebody. It was a big game in my career today."
In Detroit, they would chuckle over a statement like that after a measly first-round series win. But if you had spent two weeks around this Canucks team -- a club that needed a separate aircraft to transport all of their mental and historical baggage back and forth from Chicago -- you'd get it.
The Canucks blew a 3-0 series lead, then outplayed the Chicago Blackhawks for most of the game only to cough up a shorthanded goal with 1:56 to play to find themselves in overtime of Game 7.
So you'll have to forgive them for the joy that Alex Burrows' overtime winner produced.
"It means a lot for this group, and this city that we were able to do this," said Daniel Sedin. "A lot of years you've seen teams crumbling under pressure and not being able to play their game. But we stuck with our game plan. I don't think they had any business being in a seventh game."
If that sounds like a rare bit of cockiness from one of the twins, we might say that the Canucks were, in the end, pretty clearly the better team in this series. Vancouver outplayed Chicago in Game 6 before losing in overtime, and were again the better team over 60 minutes in Game 7.
But the fine young Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford allowed his team to hang around, hang around, hang around … And sure enough, that great warrior Jonathan Toews somehow managed to score a short-handed goal with less than two minutes to play.
Then Burrows took a penalty 24 seconds into overtime, and Toews gathered the puck to Luongo's left, as a province sucked in its breath, expecting the worst.
"Toews faked a pass, our D-man went down and he went around him," said Luongo, after the save that will be remembered here for a long, long time. "Once he did that, I knew there was someone on the back door."
Toews slid a beautiful pass across the slot to dangerous sniper Patrick Sharp, and as Burrows' eyes grew to the size of Frisbees in the penalty box, "I slid across, made a blocker save," Luongo said.
"Lou read it all the way," Burrows said. "I thanked him for that after the game."
Three minutes later, Burrows intercepted Chris Campoli's pass out of the air, settled it down and snapped a puck past Crawford to put the Canucks into Round 2 against the Nashville Predators.
"You're just kicking yourself for the opportunities you could have taken advantage of," Toews said. "Especially when it comes down to one shot like that. It's seven games, who knows how far they're going to go or how far we could have gone, it's tough to swallow right now."
Of course, Toews sat in this very Canucks dressing room as a teammate of Luongo's on Team Canada back in February. Together, they contemplated what might happen when the clock ticked down, and sudden death overtime would begin.
Talk about déjà vu.
"It was almost an identical scenario," said Luongo. "I just remembered what it was like in that (Olympic) room. Both times it was quiet -- not a lot of guys said something. But, the few words that were said were meaningful. 'Somebody's going to be a hero in here.' 'This is what legends are made of.'
"This is what it's all about. Game 7 OT. This is what we dream about as a kid. 'Someone is going to take the opportunity, become a hero.'"
Luongo preserved the opportunity for Burrows, who became the Canucks' hero.
It's what clutch teams do. Even though they've only won one round, you have to say that about the Vancouver Canucks.
By the skin of their teeth, they're a clutch team.
Now, let's see if they can do it again. There more times.
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