In what started as another let down for the Blues and goals from nowhere for the Canucks, a battle of epic proportions arose for the fans at Scott Trade Center and beyond. For those of you who did not see the game what happened after the 10 minute mark of the second and through to the last 15 seconds of overtime was amazing.

The Blues were seemingly out of the game and were almost playing with that resignation until two timely goals to close out the second period gave them life and to the fans at Scott Trade Center. The place was a rocking. Before the first goal, most Blues' players must have been wondering what it would take to score and then prevent Vancouver's puck luck. What they did was get some of their own and turn the third period and overtime into a ferocious battle of hockey in all manners.

At one point in OT the Blues were out shooting Vancouver 10-2. The Canucks had nearly ended the game early, a Hansen post, and a Burrows miss on a half open net being both quality chances. The Blues had their chances too, from all angles postion along with 6 minutes in Power Play time. The Blues threw everything they had at Vancouver, they gave it their all in this game as they had nothing to lose. If not for fantastic defensive pressure and coverage we would all be talking about game 5 tomorrow in Vancouver.

What did happen is that Mitchell spotted Burrows with less than 30 seconds left and he put a shot on Mason that beat him 5 hole- one he would surely stop 9 times out of 10. That really was the difference in this series, one team was able to advance because they capitalized on their opportunities.

2-1, 3-0, 3-2 and 3-2 are the the scores in four games. If that were any team's win streak in the regular season we would be happy but if you are like me you could find faults too. This series was far from dominated. There were about 4 periods where the Canucks looked overly superior, the 3rd from game one through game 2. Other than that the play was equal or more for St. Louis.

The difference was how the teams played. Vancouver played with purpose and direction based on their identity while St. Louis played to defeat Vancouver any way possible. That is not to say they didn't play well- THEY DID, but they played to some one's game and not their own. It's part of the learning process for this young team and the consensus from all over the net is that the Blues are a great team in the making and the experience from this post season will pay dividends in the future.

Thanks for a great series and get ready for the future it is looking to be very good.

GO CANUCKS GO!

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