We all know the drill. If the Canucks win, the series gets a 6th game. If the Kings win, Vancouver goes golfing. We're definitely not in Kansas anymore.

Coconuts go.

Okay, enough of the regicide themes for the gamethreads. This game will have live threads planned depending on how the game goes, which means there might be a 3rd period thread where we are all bawling our eyes out. Tonight, we unfortunately face our first elimination game. If the Canucks can win tonight, they can extend the series and attempt one of those historical comebacks we hear so much about. However, if the Kings win, Vancouver's out. We will have Cory Schneider back in net, and Daniel Sedin is returning early (maybe too early?) from concussion to help out. Will it be enough?

Coconuts go.

As the Canucks attempt to get into the series, Vigneault made the bold move of putting Cory Schneider in net tonight instead of Roberto Luongo. Will this motivate our boys against the Kings?

Inigo Montoya: My father was slaughtered by a six-fingered man. He was a great swordmaker, my father. When the six-fingered man appeared and requested a special sword. My father took the job. He slaved a year before it was done. (shows the Man in Black the sword)
Man in Black: I've never seen its equal.
Inigo Montoya: The six-fingered man returned and demanded it, but at one tenth his promised price, my father refused. Without a word, the six-fingered man slashed him through the heart. I loved my father. So naturally, I challenged his murderer to a duel. I failed. The six-fingered man left me alive, but he gave me these. (strokes the scars on his cheeks)
Man in Black: How old were you?
Inigo Montoya: I was eleven years old. And when I was strong enough, I dedicated my life to the study of fencing. So the next time we meet, I will not fail. I will go up to the six-fingered man and say, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

Coconuts go, KILL THE KINGS!!!!!!!!!

Tonight, the Canucks look to get the series tied back up against the Kings. The theme is the infamous Shakespeare play Macbeth.

The Prince of Cumberland! that is a step

On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap,

For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires,

Let not light see my black and deep desires;

The eye wink at the hand; yet let that be

Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.

Coconuts go, KILL THE KINGS!

So it begins, a rematch between the Canucks and Kings. For this round, I'm going to attempt to stick to movies where kings are targeted for death. Of course, the first idea that comes to mind is Lion King. We'll have to see how many more movies I can find....

Coconuts go. KILL THE KINGS!

Yes, I know I used this for the 2nd game of the season, but the Oilers futility has come full circle this season. They started off better than expected, but then had another terrible crash to the bottom. Yes, I do also remember that Ryan Nugent-Hopkins got that "hat trick" in the game where I used this image before. But I don't care.
Of more importance tonight, by the time this posts, we'll have a good idea of whether our chance at the President's Trophy has been ruined by the Rangers beating up the Capitals. By the end of the night, we will also know whether the Canucks will face the Coyotes or Sharks in the 1st round.
Speaking of the playoffs, a quick note on the fantasy playoff competitions. As soon as all the games are done tonight, I will be putting up the two sign-up sheets for the NM playoff fantasy competitions in the fanpost section. When these go up, everyone has until the scheduled start time of the first playoff game to post their picks.

Coconuts go.

6:00 pm PST, SNet Pac
Enemy territory: Matchsticks and Gasoline
Enemy pro: Jay Bouwmeester sucks.
Enemy con: Miikka Kiprusoff doesn't.

Tonight's gamethread has a couple inspirations. First, the brilliant joke splnwezel put in the game preview: "What do the Calgary Flames and the Titanic have in common? They both look good until they hit the ice!" (Seriously, if you didn't see them, there were a number of Calgary jokes in there.) Second, Titanic is coming out this month in 3D, and yes, I plan on seeing it (in fact, I have a ticket for the 8:15 show tonight, so I'll be leaving during the game). Third, for a team has pathetic as Calgary, I feel the urge to put the sappiest movie possible for the gamethread. Just getting the cheesy, lovey-dovey movies out of the way in order to focus on revenge-filled action movies for the playoffs.
On another quick note, in case you didn't see the preview, there's been a death in the widely-extended SBNHockey family. Peyton Isabella, great-niece to Hockey Wilderness writer Bryan Reynolds, passed away recently at the age of 3 months, and the family is having a hard time with the funeral costs. This is why Sean has decided to donate $50 for every 1000 comments we post here in the gamethread(s) tonight. If you feel compelled to donate, they have a site set up here.

Coconuts go. Let's make me post multiple period threads again.

7:00 pm PST, TSN
Enemy territories: Anaheim Calling, Battle of California
Enemy pro: Jonas Hiller is terrible.
Enemy con: Teemu Selanne is a beast.

Since it has already disappeared from the main page, go vote on the 2012 NM Playoff Fantasy Competitions formats if you haven't yet. Right now, it's still quite a close race between the old and new formats for the players competition.

Hey look, Anaheim sucks! Yeah, that's pretty much all I've got right now. Anyways, the Canucks host the Ducks tonight, for the last time until the fall.

Coconuts go.

If you're in the Commercial/Broadway area of Vancouver tonight during the game, head over to the Nucks Misconduct meetup at St. Augustine's.

Yes, I like to borrow movie ideas from Kent's brunches for these gamethreads. Let's face it, Princess Bride is awesome. And this particular scene matches the Flames well. Calgary is like Vizzini right now, thinking they can cleverly find a way to get into the playoffs, not realizing that they will soon be officially eliminated. Let's have the Canucks spike both glasses of wine with the iocane powder, and watch Calgary head to the golf course for another spring.

Coconuts go.

Once again, I'm annoyed at the schedule makers for putting all the Canucks-Stars matchups so close to the end of the season. Seriously, I'm getting tired of facing this team. Unfortunately, we might have to see them even more. With the crazyness that is the Pacific division, Dallas barely holds the 3rd seed right now, and could easily drop to 7th, 8th or 9th. Obviously, if they drop, they could easily face us in the 1st round. Personally, I say let them win that division, and they can get whipped by Chicago in the 1st round.

Coconuts go.