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VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks may feel like the butt of an April Fool's Day joke after blowing a lead in a 4-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche Tuesday night, but what transpired was no gag.
It was reality and it brought about an even harsher reality: the very real possibility that the 2007-08 campaign will end Saturday night and go down as a failure.
In their most important game of the season, which they all have been and will continue to be during the NHL's stretch drive, the Canucks coughed up a two-goal lead and two critical points. Vancouver tumbled out of postseason position with just two games remaining, meaning it does not control its own destiny and will need at least one loss by the eighth-place Nashville Predators.
The Canucks, a defensive team that makes its hay protecting leads, permitted four unanswered goals, including two in rapid-fire succession during the second period, in what was a devastating blow to their now fledgling hopes of making the Stanley Cup playoffs. Vancouver has lost five of its last six games, and six straight to the Avalanche, and is on the verge of a monumental late-season collapse.
Roberto Luongo keeps his eye on the puck. (Jonathan Hayward/CP)
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- Colorado Avalanche
- Nashville Predators
- Vancouver Canucks
- Jeff Finger
- Peter Forsberg
- Milan Hejduk
- Ryan Kesler
- John-Michael Liles
- Trevor Linden
- Willie Mitchell
- Mattias Ohlund
- Taylor Pyatt
- Joe Sakic
- Paul Stastny
- Jose Theodore
- Wojtek Wolski
"We put ourselves in this position and we have to do whatever we can to get back," captain Markus Naslund said. "I don't think it was a problem with the effort. It was more the mistakes, giving them odd-man rushes."
Meanwhile, the Avalanche clinched an entry to the postseason and can still win the Northwest Division. Peter Forsberg scored the back-breaking goal — his first of the season after rejoining his former team last month — five minutes into the third period. Vancouver's Willie Mitchell mishandled the puck at the Colorado blue-line, leading to a Forsberg breakaway.
The only morsel of solace for the Canucks was that the Edmonton Oilers, one of two clubs in chase for the final playoff berth in the Western Conference, were eliminated from playoff contention with a 3-2 loss to the Calgary Flames. Vancouver will face the Oilers on Thursday in its first game of the year against an opponent with nothing to gain.
But the Canucks also lost ground to the Flames, the opposition in Saturday's regular-season finale, and most importantly to the Predators. Nashville bumped Vancouver into ninth place in the conference with a 4-3 overtime victory over the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, a win that came despite a 3-0 first-period deficit.
The Predators close with a home game against the Blues on Thursday and a road contest against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday. Nashville now has 89 points to Vancouver's 88. Edmonton has 86 but plays just one more game.
Calgary has 92 points and Colorado 93, which means the best the Canucks can reasonably hope for is an eighth-place finish and a likely first-round date with the Detroit Red Wings, who are on the verge of securing the President's Trophy for finishing with the league's best record.
"Obviously, we know we need help and hopefully will get some help," Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault said. "But before that, if we don't win Thursday, it doesn't mean anything. So we'll go and get everybody pumped up tomorrow and have a good game on Thursday."
After trailing 2-0 early in the second stanza, Colorado went on a binge and took a 3-2 lead into the final period.
The Avalanche netted the equalizing and go-ahead goals within a 35-second span later in the period. Milan Hejduk tied the score 2-2 on a goal that drew objections from Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo and the sellout crowd of 18,630.
"I felt I was interfered with," Luongo said.
The series started when Mitchell broke his stick on a one-timer attempt in the Avalanche end, which allowed the visitors to counter up ice on what was a relatively harmless-looking rush. But after a Hejduk move across the blue line, a shooting lane opened up and Luongo seemed distracted by Paul Stastny, who was crashing the crease, and a shot to the goalie's glove side tied the game 2-2.
"The guy was on top of me after the puck went by but as the shot was coming through I was starting to feel the contact so it got me off balance a little bit," Luongo said. "It's unfortunate."
Colorado took the lead on another harmless-looking rush, this one featuring Joe Sakic and Wojtek Wolski. A Sakic shot hit the end boards and bounced right onto Wolski's stick to the left of Luongo, who seemed unaware of the puck's location until it was past him.
Henrik Sedin set up Vancouver's second goal with some poised play behind the Avalanche net. His soft, backhand pass found Ryan Kesler stationed down low in front of goaltender Jose Theodore and after two whacks, the puck was in the net.
Colorado pulled within a goal minutes later on the power play and after a cross-ice pass from Forsberg created enough time and space for two good chances. Eventually, as the Canucks scrambled around with no semblance of zone coverage, a wrist shot from John-Michael Liles beat Luongo.
"Peter is special. He is one of those guys who can really do things and when he gets the puck on his stick things can really open up," Avalanche head coach Joel Quenneville said. "He's pretty amazing."
The Canucks led 1-0 after the first period on a goal by Mitchell. It was only the defenceman's second of the season and just the 12th of his seven-year career. Mitchell's slapshot from the point deflected off at least one member of the Avalanche and past Theodore, and it came after Trevor Linden did some dirty work along the boards that helped keep the puck in the Colorado zone.
Vancouver also lost winger Taylor Pyatt for the game in the first. He left after taking a hit and began not feeling well. Vigneault said team doctors did not want to take any chances and sent Pyatt home, though he did not elaborate on the injury.
