Vancouver Canucks’ success in the playoffs depends on its strength at the back
Vancouver Canucks’ offence has haunted teams throughout the course of the season and now in the playoffs.
Coupled with this is the fact that it is in a very strong position since its defence has also been brilliant so far. When facing Canucks, the opposing team has to deal with the pressure of the strong offence and the tight defence that doesn’t allow any space
at the back.
Canucks has been very good in games when the defence has helped them while attacking. It has a superb 8-2 run in last 10 games as its defence has played its part, not only at the back, but also up front.
Christian Ehrhoff, Kevin Bieksa and Alexander Edler are among the players who have been brilliant in defence and they have also been an important part of the team while attacking.
The three players have combined to score a total of six goals and 21 points during the first 14 games of the current on-going playoffs.
Canucks is well aware of the fact that performances for the back are important in notching up wins on regular basis.
"It's very Important, I think for us it takes a lot of heat off of the forwards and when they're shooting the puck well, getting shots on net – it opens up things for us down low", Kesler said. "Even if they aren’t scoring or producing, they’re opening things
up for us if they’re getting shots through".
General Manager of Canucks brought in players like Dan Hamhuis and Keith Ballard to improve things at the back so that the responsibilities could be shared.
However, the current defensive line has not only played the duties at the back to the fullest but they have been additionally superb when it comes to offense.
On the other hand, Hamhuis is among another one of the productive defenders in Canucks’ team as he came up with 17 assists during the regular season, piling a total of 23 points to end the season with a plus-29 rating.
"I don't think in today's NHL that you can have a good offensive team if you don't have a good back end", Canucks’ coach, Alain Vigneault, said.
In the first game of the Western Conference Finals’ series, Canucks saw its defence doing quite a lot for the team. Bieksa was the goal scorer of the second Canucks’ goal and this also levelled the scores on 2-2.
Dany Heatley is another one of the defenders who was brilliant during the game.
He took an elbow which resulted in Canucks coming across a power-play during which Henrik Sedin scored the game winning goal.
Canucks may not have the best defenders in the line-up but when talking about them as a single unit then they are one of the best in the league.
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