I am thinking the one key player missing hypothesis is the best explanation. Losing Daniel caused a whole trickle down effect that caused the President's Trophy winners to play a very different game than the one they played tonight and in earlier this week in Game 4. Just look at the power play and how much better it looked with Daniel in the line up. This alone does not explain the early exit, but it is the greatest cause for sure, forcing the rest of the Canucks to play outside of their own roles and comfort zones. However, you also need to give credit to the Kings for playing a great series (a very different game than the one they played for the majority of the year without Carter in their line up) and Jonathan Quick for some stellar goal tending when the Canucks were pressing. If you looked at the pre series predictions it was going to be a close series with the Canucks finishing first in a weak Northwest Division (coasting into the playoffs) and the facing a hungry LA team that was putting on an impressive post trade deadline run. Special Teams match up had them dead even, with the Canucks power play slipping at the end of the season and the King's just getting going with Carter inserted into the lineup, and both strong on the PK. But that was all with Daniel Sedin in the line up. Without Daniel's scoring prowess, and the trickle down effect his loss had on the rest of the lineup, the match up had to be tilted in the King's favour.
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Topic: Why Did The Canucks Lose So Quickly In The Opening Round? (Read 15868 times)