UGLY the Defense has no Alibi

That pretty much sums up the game last night between the Giants and the Hawks. Round 2 started off very intense and didn't let up as both the Giants and Hawks were trying to show the other team they were going to be the physical team through out this series.

After all of the penalties, and all of the hitting, and all of the Giants goals, the series is still only 1-0 Vancouver.

Not everything was bad last night... Portland did score 6 goals... You figure if you can score 6 goals in a playoff game you had a really good chance to win that game, but not when you give up 9 goals. The big issue I saw last night was the team speed that Vancouver brought to the net. Time and time again Portland was caught trying to catch up ice rushes and with a team like Vancouver you can't be constantly trying to catch them. Portland can score on this team, now they have to make some adjustments on the back end. In looking at the shots last night, Vancouver threw 49 at the net. Portland usually doesn't get beat on shots on net, but last night they did by double digits. So, tonight is game 2, time to see if Johnston or Hay makes the right adjustments to get a game 2 win. This series has a long way to go, but for Portland they do not want to go on the road down 2 games, so tonight is huge for the home town Hawks.

In other Round two action, Brandon is once again taking it to an opponent, winning both games 1 and 2 on the road in Saskatoon. Now the Kings come home for 4 out of 5 in that series... Calgary won game one with Medicine Hat, and look to go up 2-0 tonight in Calgary, while Kelowna got their match up TC tied at 1 last night in TC. Stay tuned... Portland and Vancouver tonight in game two from the MC.

And... Happy Easter everyone!