The view from Vancouver

Unless there is an injury, Roberto Luongo won’t start another game against the Kings in this first-round playoff series. Bet on that much. After Game 3, some Canadian pundits mused about how the Canucks might trade Luongo this summer, instead of Schneider. At least one reporter even started naming possible destinations for Lugono. Canadian-media hyperbole? Perhaps not. Schneider, at age 26, turned in a 43-save effort to beat the Kings last night, and there’s no question that Schneider will be back in goal for the start of Game 5. Daniel Sedin is also back, and not only did he play an excellent Game 4, he also brought out the best in his brother, Henrik, who had been relatively quiet for the first three games of the series. The Sedins were on the ice for all three Vancouver goals — including two power-play goals, as the Canucks’ power play finally broke through — and the Kings spent a large portion of the game chasing them around the ice. That can’t happen in Game 5, or else the series will be coming back to Los Angeles for Game 6. Here’s how the Vancouver Province and the Vancouver Sun covered last night’s game, followed by some additional postgame quotes from the Canucks’ locker room…

The Vancouver Province’s Canucks coverage

The Vancouver Sun’s Canucks coverage

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COACH ALAIN VIGNEAULT

(on the game recap…) “We needed, obviously, a few of our guys to elevate their performance and obviously (Cory) Schneider came up real big for us tonight. He gave us a chance in the first period, when our guys were a little bit tight and not as quick as far as moving the puck and doing the right things. He gave us a chance to get our legs and find our hands, and after that I thought we played pretty good.’’

(on the Canucks’ mindset…) “It was either continue to play or we were done. I thought our guys, in the first period were a little bit tight and they loosened up. I think they probably fed a little bit off Schneider’s performance there. He was in total control and even though we were down 1-0, I thought we came out in the second period and got a little momentum and we finally got a bounce on our second goal. We hadn’t had a bounce so far in this series, in my mind anyway. We got a bounce and built off that.’’

(on Daniel Sedin’s return…) “It was nice to see No. 22 [Daniel Sedin] and it was nice to see No. 33 [Henrik Sedin] back to the way that he can play. Obviously, he was trying really hard and doing all the right things. Both of those guys together are such great players and they proved that tonight, even though Daniel hadn’t practiced a lot in the last little while here. They came out and had a stellar performance tonight.’’

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CORY SCHNEIDER

(on the game…) “They’re looking to move on just as badly as we are looking to stay alive. We knew that, in their building, they were going to do everything they could to put us away now and not let us hang around so (I was) doing as much as I could to keep us in the game and, sure enough, the power play came up huge and we had a big goal in the third (period).’’

(on not having the first period they wanted…) “No, but that’s what a goalie is there for, especially on the road. You have to come up with some big save early on and give your guys a chance to get into the game, get into the rhythm, and get comfortable on the road. I thought our second and third periods were better and we got stronger as the game went on.’’

(on his comfort level tonight…) “It’s always good to get into the rhythm. You play one a few nights ago and I think that momentum and rhythm carries over to the next one and you’re a little more at ease, a little less nervous, a little more confident. All those things come together and it’s just fun to play in environments like this.’’

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ALEXANDRE BURROWS

(on having both Sedins in the lineup…) “As soon as you see Danny back there — so patient with the puck and he breaks it down as good as anybody in the league. Especially with Hanky [Henrik Sedin] there, they’re able to move the puck to open areas and find lanes and find seams and that’s why they’re unbelievable together.’’

(on the game recap…) “It was do or die for us and it’s only one game. We have to keep going and win the next one and we’ll go from there.’’

(on the Canucks’ power play…) “It’s huge. It’s a huge weapon, especially nowadays with penalties that are called every game. It’s a huge weapon to have and we were able to get two big ones there tonight and that was the difference.’’

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