NHL: Canucks and Lightning Look to Strike Hard

Having taken the opening games of the two Conference Finals, Vancouver and Tampa Bay will look to build commanding leads in the best of seven series. Al Dannity looks ahead to the second set of games.

Can Boston bounce back?
It took one 85 second spell for Tampa Bay to wrap up the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals. Two disastrous defensive blunders by the Bruins either side of a beautiful effort by Brett Clark put the Lightning 3-0 up early and they never looked back. The sting of that first period rampage was felt through the contest as Tampa Bay cruised to a convincing 5-2 victory.

Game 2 will teach NHL betting fans a lot about the mental toughness of this Boston team. If the Lightning roll with the same ease as they did on Saturday, then don’t expect this series to last too long. There is reason for hope however as they have already recovered from one awful start in the post-season. Having come back from a 2-0 deficit against Montreal, the Bruins have shown they possess the resiliency required to put bad losses behind them. Tonight’s match-up will tell us a lot about where the Bruins are headed in this series.

This could take a while
Irrespective of what happens between the Canucks and Sharks on Wednesday, don’t expect the Western Conference Finals to be over and done with quickly. Both of these teams went through tough series in the opening two rounds of the post-season. Game 1 of this series gave every indication that the pattern is set to continue.

Momentum swung back and forth throughout a gripping encounter and I expect more of the same tomorrow night. These are two well matched teams, with playoff experience but plenty of heartbreak in their recent past. Roberto Luongo’s mistake for the first San Jose goal and his flapping at the second did little to inspire confidence amongst Vancouver fans. How he responds in Game 2 will be crucial to the Canucks’ progress.

His counterpart on the Sharks, Antti Niemi, knows all about facing down his doubters. Having put in some strong performances at crucial points in the last round, Niemi will be expected to come good again on Wednesday night. With a 6-0 record in playoff series, the Finn is quickly developing a legacy as a clutch performer in the playoffs. A second straight trip to the Stanley Cup Finals would only add to the hype.