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Canucks visit well-rested Ducks in series opener

Apr 25, 2007 - 1:02 PM Vancouver at Anaheim 10:00 pm EDT Western Conference semifinal Game One

ANAHEIM, California (Ticker) -- The Anaheim Ducks will be far more rested than the Vancouver Canucks when the teams meet in Game One of the Western Conference semifinals on Wednesday.

The Ducks won their quarterfinal series with the Minnesota Wild, four games to one, and haven't played since April 19.

Vancouver, meanwhile, battled through a draining seven-game series with the Dallas Stars, winning the deciding game, 4-1, on Monday.

A goaltender on a hot streak can often be the difference in the playoffs, and few have been better than the Canucks' Roberto Luongo.

In his first playoff appearance, the 28-year-old Luongo has a .950 save percentage and a 1.41 goals-against average in seven games. Only Marty Turco, Luongo's counterpart in the Dallas series, had more impressive numbers in these playoffs.

Vancouver needs to get its power play working against the Ducks. The Canucks went 3-for-38 with the extra skater in the Dallas series and was 0-for-20 from Games Two through Six.

Scoring was a problem in general for Vancouver, which was shut out three times by the Stars.

Anaheim netminder Ilya Bryzgalov was fantastic in goal in winning the first three games against Minnesota before suffering a bit of a letdown in Game Four.

With his personal situation involving his son behind him, Jean-Sebastien Giguere stepped in and did not miss a beat, making a number of big saves in the 4-1 series clincher.

This is the first time these squads have ever met in the playoffs. The Ducks were 3-0-1 in the season series with the Canucks.