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Canucks try to close out series with Stars

Apr 19, 2007 - 2:28 PM Dallas at Vancouver 10:00 pm EDT Western Conference quarterfinals Vancouver leads, 3-1

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Ticker) -- Roberto Luongo has faced more shots than any other netminder this postseason, yet his team is primed to advance to the next round of the playoffs.

The third-seeded Vancouver Canucks can clinch their Western Conference quarterfinal series against the Dallas Stars with a win in Game Five on Thursday. The Canucks won two games in Dallas to take a three-games-to-one lead in the series.

Luongo has faced 160 shots, stopping 152 for an outstanding .950 save percentage. The play of Luongo combined with Vancouver's penalty killing has been the key in three one-goal victories, which includes two overtime wins.

The NHL's best penalty-killing unit in the regular season, the Canucks negated all six Dallas power plays in a 2-1 victory in Game Four. Vancouver has killed off 23-of-25 Dallas power plays in the series.

The Stars have been equally impressive when a man down, turning away 21-of-22 Vancouver power-play opportunities. Though somewhat overshadowed by Luongo's efforts, Dallas goaltender Marty Turco has been excellent, turning away 148-of-157 shots for a .948 save percentage.

The Stars' Sergei Zubov continues to display his endurance in the series. The defenseman logged a whopping 55:08 of ice time in the four-overtime Game One loss and led all skaters in Game Four with 30:16 of ice time - more than half the game.

Vancouver's Trevor Linden scored the winning goal in Game Four. It was his 33rd career playoff goal. He trails Pavel Bure by one for the all-time franchise lead in career postseason goals.