FRIDAY MATERIAL

1. Tough loss for the Canucks. Too many men. Luongo had one of his strongest games I have seen though. Winning three in a row in Dallas is a lot to ask.

On Taylor Pyatt:
The rare combination of size and skill in the Canucks' biggest forward could be crucial to wearing down Dallas's defence
He might just be the quietest Vancouver Canuck. So Taylor Pyatt had to be in his element when he silenced the 18,532 fans at the American Airlines Center in game three of the Canucks' first-round playoff series with the Dallas Stars. Pyatt let his hockey stick make all the noise as he ended overtime with a 40-foot slap shot that gave the Canucks both a 2–1 victory and a 2–1 edge in the series.

At 6-4 and 235 pounds, Pyatt is the biggest forward the Canucks have. But on too many nights, despite his imposing size, the 25-year-old is virtually impossible to find on the ice. For three periods and then some, the third game in this series had been one of those nights for the soft-spoken Thunder Bay, Ontario, native. Pyatt started the game, as he has so many others this season, in the enviable position of riding shotgun with Daniel and Henrik Sedin. But with the Canucks trailing 1–0 and into a fifth consecutive period without a goal after being shut out 2–0 in game two, something had to give.

And, as has been the case so often all year, Pyatt was the guy giving up his spot on the Cauncks' top line. He was replaced by Markus Naslund and bumped to a makeshift combination with Bryan Smolinski and Trevor Linden. That was basically a mishmash of guys trying to find their games. Instead—and, honestly, who could have seen it coming—what they found was a way to end the hockey game. One of the beauties of playoff hockey is the notion that anyone can be the hero at any time. And for one night, at least (the Canucks are hoping there are plenty more), Pyatt skated into the spotlight and shot down the Stars after being set up by his new linemates. “I just let it go and it went in the net. It's my first-ever playoff goal, and to get it in overtime and have it be a game winner is a great feeling,” Pyatt told the assembled media in the Canucks locker room immediately after his winner. “It sure came at a nice time.”

Nicer still for everyone involved that Pyatt's goal came at 7:47 of overtime and not into the fourth extra period, like both the Canucks and Stars endured in the never-ending series opener. “I just wanted to get it over with as early as possible,” he said of ending the third game quickly in overtime after logging 37:34 of ice time in that first-game marathon and wanting no part of going through that again just five days later. Although the goal was the first of Pyatt's playoff career, being part of a postseason winner is not a new experience. At this time last year, he was a member of the Buffalo Sabres team that took the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes to a seventh game in the Eastern Conference final. However, the same inconsistency that has marked his first year in Vancouver was apparent during last year's playoffs, too, as Pyatt averaged just more than 11 minutes of ice time and played in 14 of the Sabres 18 games.

This year, there's no question that Pyatt has developed into a top-nine forward for the Vancouver Canucks, but he has to decide whether or not he wants to pay the price and do the things required to keep him on the team's top line. And as an unrestricted free agent this summer, Pyatt will also have to decide if he wants to stay in Vancouver and build on the things he accomplished this season. It certainly seems like there's a fit for him here, but he may want to test the market and see how much interest (read money) there is elsewhere. Anson Carter tried that after one good season and he ended up floundering in Columbus and, later on, in Carolina. There has to be a lesson in there for a guy like Pyatt. Born with good hockey genes—his father, Nelson, spent seven seasons in the NHL playing for Detroit, Washington, and Colorado — Pyatt is blessed with a size and skill that many players would die for. But he has to find a consistency in his game and a willingness to use his big body more readily. Right now, there seems to be no grey area in Pyatt's game. He's either making things happen as he did while scoring a career-best 23 times during the regular season or he's sleepwalking through his shifts, doing whatever he can to avoid contact.

Maybe that third-game overtime winner will be the wake-up call that will keep Pyatt interested in playing hard each and every time he steps on the ice. (In fact, he picked up another two points in Game 4 on Tuesday night.) Against a Dallas team with an undersized defence, Pyatt could be a key component to the Canucks' success in this series. He has to use his size to fight through checks and establish position in front of the Dallas net. He has a big body that's hard to move and difficult for goalies to see around. And as he showed in overtime in game three, he also possesses an accurate and underrated shot—and he would do well to use it more frequently. Pyatt was the only player on either team to score twice in the close-checking regular-season series between the Canucks and Stars. And early in this playoff series, he found the back of the net again with the biggest goal of his career, so, clearly, he has found something that works against Dallas.

The irony in all of this is that Pyatt may not have had the chance to play the role of hero had he not been taken off the Canucks' top line in that game. It was only once the switch was made that the Canucks cranked up their game, generated the offence they were so desperately seeking, and eventually tied the hockey game. So for one night, at least, Pyatt couldn't argue with his demotion. Then again, even if he was upset, he's not the kind of guy to say anything about it. He's not the kind of guy to say boo about anything. He left the booing to the fans in Dallas—once they got over their stunned silence brought on by his game-winning goal.

2. First pre-natal class last night. I don't think we learned much (other than how stupid some of our classmates are).

3. I'd like Felix to get better. "Mariners ace Felix Hernandez is expected to miss two to three starts with a muscle strain inside his right elbow and forearm, the Associated Press reported. Mariners medical director Dr. Ed Khalfayan said that Felix was lucky to come out of the game when he did on Wednesday, as if he had continued to pitched with the strain, he could have stressed the elbow severely enough that he would have required Tommy John surgery. Hernandez will not throw for five days, then will play catch. This is good news for Felix owners, but also something to be wary of because it sounds like Hernandez is very close to having some severe elbow problems. Hopefully Felix comes back in a couple of weeks and is fine, but we may not have heard the last of his elbow problems."

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Mistress Mercury:

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