Roberto Luongo will head to the bench for Vancouver, with Cory Schneider getting a playoff start in the first round for the second straight year. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)
Here are three key questions about Game 3 of the Canucks-Kings first-round series that Los Angeles holds a 2-0 lead.
Why switch to Canucks backup goalie Cory Schneider?
Vancouver head coach Alain Vigneault confirmed he has decided to start goalie Cory Schneider. Canucks No. 1 goalie Roberto Luongo was his team's top player in the first two games. It's simply an attempt to change the momentum.
But besides Schneider's impressive regular season, in which he recorded the league's second-best save percentage at .937 and third-best goals against average at 1.96, he also handles the puck better than Luongo, and that may hinder the Kings forecheck.
With Schneider in goal for Vancouver, it pits him against a former high school rival in Kings netminder Jonathan Quick. The 26-year-old goalies played against one another in New England. Schneider played for Phillips Academy, while Quick toiled for Avon Old Farms.
Can Vancouver get its power play on track?
Sure the absence of Daniel Sedin has hurt the Canucks offence and their power-play efficiency. But Vancouver struggled in man-advantage situations long before Sedin suffered his concussion on Mar. 21.
After the Canucks connected for four power-play goals in their key win over the Stanley Cup-champion Bruins in Boston on Jan. 7, they checked in with just 10 more power-play goals in 120 opportunities in their final 40 regular-season games.
Now they have gone 0-for-10 in the playoffs so far and also surrendered a pair of shorthanded goals to Kings captain Dustin Brown in Game 2.
The Canucks experimented by employing checking centre Sami Pahlsson on the second power-play unit in practice on Saturday.
Will the Canucks continue the trend of the visitors prospering on the road in the 2012 playoffs?
The Canucks were the best road team in the West with a 24-12-5 record away from Rogers Arena in the regular season. The road team, meanwhile, has won 11 of the first 16 Stanley Cup playoff games this spring.
There was a Dallas Mavericks-Los Angeles Lakers game played a noon PT at Staples on Sunday. This likely means the ice surface will suffer and that could hinder the Canucks speed game.
It should also be noted that the Kings were not overly dominant at the Staples Center this season. They went 22-14-5 at home, good for 19th in the league.
Canucks forward lines
Jannik Hansen - Henrik Sedin - Alex Burrows
Chris Higgins - Ryan Kesler - David Booth
Mason Raymond - Sami Pahlsson - Max Lapierre
Dale Weise - Manny Maholtra - Zack Kassian
Starting goaltender: Cory Schneider
Kings forward lines
Dustin Brown - Anze Kopitar - Justin Williams
Dwight King - Mike Richards - Jeff Carter
Dustin Penner - Jarret Stoll - Trevor Lewis
Andrei Loktionov - Colin Fraser - Jordan Nolan
Starting goaltender: Jonathan Quick
Tim Wharnsby
Tim's worked the sports beat at The Globe and Mail and the Toronto Sun, specializing in Canada's one true sporting obsession - hockey. He knows the players, the coaches, the backroom boys and most importantly, the fans. That's what he brings to his stories. Knowledge, fairness and understanding are trademarks of a Wharnsby story. That's what you will get here as he writes for CBCSports.ca.
