Take my breath away

That's what the playoffs are doing to me right now. Ten minutes left in the third period of the third game in the Vancouver VS Dallas series and it's tied 1-1, just like the series is.
I feel like Dallas has been sharper than we have been and thus are getting more quality chances at Luongo. There's so much to say about the past three games that I don't think I can really get into right now since I am trying to give my undivided attention to the game, but I just felt compelled to jot some thoughts down while I am all hopped up on adrenaline.
Positives of the series so far: Luongo, Markus Naslund, and Jannik Hansen.
Negatives: turning over the puck in the neutral zone, not consistently sustaining pressure in the offensive zone, getting pinned in our own zone for way too long, nullifying our PPs with penalties.
I actually feel that there have been more negatives to our game than positives so far, and that we are actually pretty lucky to be in a 1-1 series tie. In game one, we squandered a third period 4-2 lead, found ourselves down two men in sudden-death OT, and battled through two shitty overtime periods before picking it up in the third and fourth OT, eventually finding the back of the net with the help of the Sedins (THANK YOU).

However, I do not want to dwell on negative things and so will expand of the positives I highlighted above since regulation time just ended and I have some time during intermission.

Luongo: Well, he actually let in two soft-ish goals in game one (the slapshot taken from the circle and the 5-holer), but did more than redeem himself in overtime, stopping SEVENTY-TWO shots in total. Fricken ridiculous. If it weren't for him, well frankly, we wouldn't have a chance, and that's been the story the whole season.
Naslund: Our captain's gotten flack for being mostly invisible during the playoffs in the past and for falling off the radar a bit in the regular season. There was a lot of talk about him having to step up during the playoffs, and concern that he would not. However, to the relief of Canuck fans, he has proven his critics wrong by stepping up big time. Not only did he snipe a beautiful goal and tally an assist in game one, he emerged as a physical force as well by throwing big hits and being aggressive. I know I was definitely pleasantly surprised when I saw Mister Naslund throwing his weight around; he has been a completely different player since playoffs and is continuing to be a threat around the net. If he keeps this level of play up, he'll lead our team to victory more times than not.
Jannik Hansen: this rookie was a surprise addition to our line-up in light of injuries to my beloved Matt Cooke, Burrows, and Kesler. Playing in his first NHL gam.. [PYATT JUST WON US THE GAME IN OVERTIME!!!] bwahahahhahaha - WOOHOOOOOO!
*ahem* back to what I was saying... Yes, so Hansen came into the playoffs never having played an NHL game before... that to me is incredible - first NHL game ever, and a debut in the playoffs! And he has shown a lot of potential already, though his speed, his ability to make heads-up plays, and even through smart defensive plays. Vigneault also noticed this kid's potential because he immediately awarded him with more ice time, as well as, the start in tonight's game. "From call-up to a go-to guy," as one of the commentators accurately stated tonight. I'm thoroughly impressed with this rookie, as he displayed good puck possession, made nifty plays, and took four or five shots on Turco (most of them being good quality shots). It was also one of these quality shots which resulted in the rebound that Bulis potted in the net to tie tonight's game.

So yes, we are up 2-1 in the series, and we played a better game tonight than on Friday. We were still having trouble clearing our zone and didn't look like a real threat until the third period, but luckily Luongo flexed his all-star muscle and kept us in the game until we decided to play the game I know we can play.
I can definitely ramble about hockey for pages and pages, and in fact this is what I used to do for my old blog >> here . I have been considering getting back into my Canuck-dedicated blog entries and posting them at my xanga site, but have yet to. We'll see what happens.

Other things to touch on in regards to this series? Kesler - poor guy sits out for four months after undergoing hip surgery, but returns in game one and plays all seven periods only to break his finger in the last period. Now he's out again for who knows how long.

Turco has been sharp and his defense have been stifling, subduing the Sedins' normally deadly cycle-game. I have faith that they'll find a way to find one another though...and the back of the net :)

This series isn't going to be easy. As predicted by many, the games are going to be low-scoring (save for game one) and only won by a goal or two. However, I'm sticking to my prediction that we'll squeak out of this tight series in five games. I am feeling good about this team - as good as I have for any other Canucks squad that has made it to the playoffs.

I Believe.