First Game 7 of Season a Stage for Luongo, Turco
Three teams went into the weekend needing a win to force a Game 7 in their opening-round series. Both Tampa Bay and Calgary failed to win at home in Game 6 on Sunday, but the Dallas Stars claimed a 2-0 win Saturday night to force a return trip to Vancouver for Monday's Game 7.
Stars goalie Marty Turco stopped 21 shots for his third shutout in the series. The Canucks haven't scored in nearly seven full periods against the 31-year-old veteran, who has tied a record for most shutouts in a single series. He gets a chance to shatter the mark Monday night. Turco goes into the game having saved 190 of 199 shots by the Canucks.
Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo hasn't been too shabby himself, stopping a near-record 72 shots in his team's Game 1 win in four overtimes. He turned away all 36 shots he faced in overtime before Henrik Sedin score 18:06 into the fourth extra session for a 5-4 victory. Luongo allowed a single goal in each of the third, fourth and fifth games of the series, coming away with two wins in Dallas before losing 1-0 on home ice in Game 5.
Turco came into the series with some baggage about postseason play. He was just 8-14 in playoff games, with an .892 save percentage that was far off his regular-season mark of .914. Luongo, on the other hand, is playing in his first playoff series, and he's played well.
Only one of them can skate off the ice tonight with a Game 7 victory. It would be a boost to Turco, who had never posted a playoff shutout before the series and was 1-6 in his last seven playoff games going into it. Luongo gets a chance to win in his first Game 7, perhaps a critical game in setting the tone for his postseason career.
Going into Monday's contest, Turco and Luongo are No. 1 and 2 in the 2007 playoffs in both goals-against average and save percentage, followed by the Rangers' Henrik Lundqvist. The Turco-Luongo matchup should make for an exciting night of goaltending.
Best GAA and Save Percentage in 2006-07 Playoffs
(goalies with more than one start)
Goalie. . . . . . . . . . . . . .GAA. . . . . . . . . Sv%
Marty Turco, Dal. . . . . . .1.20. . . . . . . . . .955
Roberto Luongo, Van. . . .1.47. . . . . . . . . .950
Henrik Lundqvist, NYR. . . 1.50. . . . . . . . . .939
Comments
Based on the makeup of the two teams, it has proven to be a low scoring series which always bodes well in the stats for 2 exceptional goalies. If Dallas moves on it is because of the stellar play by Turco. Too bad it won't be enough to get them much further than the second round, if they get past the Nucks.
Posted by: Daniel Danford | April 24, 2007 04:26 AM
So, it's Luongo who moves on. We get to see Luongo test his skills against the Ducks, one of the offensive powerhouses of the league. Not sure either the Canucks or Stars would get passed Anaheim.
Posted by: TH | April 24, 2007 11:21 PM
Ducks are a tough foe for anyone, not only do they have offense, they have the 2 best defenders in hockey, and if Giguere can play halfway decent, we will probably see them and the Sabres duke it out for the cup....that would be an unbelievable final !
Posted by: Daniel Danford | April 25, 2007 02:13 AM
I agree. I think the Ducks are the team to beat. They handled Luongo and the Canucks effectively in Game 1, with Giguere back in goal. It'll be interesting to see if the Canucks make some noise in this series, after playing 92 minutes of overtime hockey in Round 1 and getting little time off between series.
Posted by: TH | April 26, 2007 04:15 PM