Anyone Spare Me An Anxiety Pill? Canucks-Kings Game 5 Preview

KINGS		CANUCKS
	AT

Update (2:15 PST): Kings coach Terry Murray is going to shuffle the deck a bit again, most notably bringing Justin Williams back into the lineup.

Update: Here are the lines for tonight: Sedins-Samuelsson, Raymond-Kesler-Burr, Demitra-Wellwood-Bernier, Grabner-Rypien-Hansen. On D: Edler-Salo, O'Brien-Ehrhoff, Alberts-Bieksa. Maybe Bieksa can mentor A Minor a little bit? Haha, maybe 2 negatives will make a positive.

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The good news about Nolan Baumgartner's knee injury is that he is rumored to be day-to-day. In the meantime Andrew Alberts walks directly into the lion's den at GM Place where his every move will be under scrutiny. I'm not going to say anything about how I project A-Minor is going to play tonight because I have lost faith in him.

Like I said before, he has the potential to be a beast and not a liability out there. It's just up to him to put it all together in a crucial game 5.

I liked Roberto Luongo's play in Game 4. He didn't have much chance on many if any of the Kings' goals. Everything that the Kings touch has generally been turning to gold. They have been moving the puck very well and capitalizing on their chances. When the Canucks finally started killing penalties you could see their confidence come back, in general. There's still a sense of fragility there despite the win. They need to take control of the series, of a single game, and the PK remains the #1 concern. The stats above show that. They also show that the Canucks are much better than the Kings 5 on 5. They are 2nd to Washington in that category in the playoffs, where LA is about the worst.

Just win. Put the heat on these bastards. I'm tired of the stress. Take control! Go out there and play the game that has worked for you all season. Enough with the panicky play already! This isn't round 2 from last year, but it reminds me of it. I'm also getting flashbacks of the Canucks-Wild series of 2003. Show me stability!

Marty McSorley had a good take on the Canucks after Game 4:

MISC

-“His competitiveness isn't at a high high yet. But for the most part lately his game is going in the direction we need." Vigneault on Kevin Bieksa

-"We're on a roll!" AV said that because the Canucks killed the Kings' last 2 power plays.

-Rich Hammond from LAKings Insider asked Kings coach Terry Murray if it's more difficult for the team to maintain an even-keel attitude after a loss. Murray said: “Yeah, it is, especially with a young group of guys. You could really sense it, when I walked into the locker room last night (Wedneday night after the loss), that it was a very difficult one to deal with. But, as a team, you’ve got to go through it together. Veteran players need to step up here and say a few things. The leadership group is a part of this thing. They’ve all been through a lot of these battles before, and it’s an important time for them to be a part of it.”

Even-keel attitude? I thought that was the Canucks' problem!

-"Quit dissing the Canucks", plus, the power of positivity from the Province's Peter Ormesher. A sample of that article:

I believe the sports culture in Vancouver, where fans rip into the Canucks organization and its players after even the smallest of setbacks, it a good part of why we've never sipped from the Cup, and perhaps never will if we don't change our ways.

Agree or disagree? I got 3 words for you, Peter: Montreal Canadiens fans.

Go Canucks GO!