OTHL -- The Vancouver Canucks could advance to the Conference Finals to meet the Phoenix Coyotes, but to do that they needed to win in the Joe Louis Arena against a Detroit team eager to get back on track in the series. And it turned out to be a close hard fought game, but Detroit failed to win and get back in the series. Insted the Vancouver Canucks scored the lone goal in the game, and are now ready for the third round, or if you want, the Conference Finals against the Phoenix Coyotes.
Detroit got a good start to the game, as they had the better scoring chances in the first 20 minutes. They also got the chance to put some pressure on Vancouver with two powerplays. But the Red Wings powerplay haven't worked at all in this years playoff. The Red Wings entered the final game ranked as one of the worse teams in the playoffs. And it did not get any better when Rob Blake was forced out of the game after a highstick from Mattias Öhlund. Luckly for Detroit, Mattias Öhlund where given a game misconduct of his action. However, the Red Wings powerplay drew blanks again.
In the second period, things started to get a bit out of hand as the Red Wings feelt that the series was slipping away. Stillman took a highstick penaly after just 11 seconds. And six minutes into the period, Pascal Dupuis was sent to the sinbin for roughing. A penalty that would cost Detroit dearly. 30 seconds into the powerplay, Shane Doan feed the puck to Bredan Morrison, who has been creating havoc for the Wings defence all series long. And Morrison did not disappoint his fans when he scored his 9th for the playoff's to put the visitors ahead.
And with the Red Wings determind to play out the rest of the period with a player in the box, the Canucks where able to hold the lead for the rest of the period. And the Wings did not show that they are a team filled with seasoned veterans with tons of experience, as they continued there parade to the penalty box in the third. Jiri Fischer, Steven Reinprecht and Steve Thomas all took penalties, forcing the Wings to kill penalties insted of putting pressure on Jocelyn Thibault and the Canucks.
Jocelyn Thibault made 24 saves to earn his 3rd shutout in the playoff's, improving his already stellar numbers to a 8-2-0 record along with a league low 1.40 goals against average and a impressive .947 save pct. Thibault will have a tough task ahead of him tough, as he will now face the league leading scorer Markus Näslund and his linemates Mats Sundin and Fredrik Modin.
PLAYER(S) OF THE NIGHT: Bredan Morrison (Vancouver), scored the lone goal in the game against Detroit & Jocelyn Thibault (Vancouver), made 24 saves to earn his league high 3rd shutout on the playoff's.