As difficult as it was for the Vancouver Canucks to ripple the mesh in Round One, things are set to get much more trying in Round Two as they square off against the Anaheim Ducks.

To make matters worse, Vancouver will be without two of their top four defensemen, with both Sami Salo and Kevin Bieksa (Vancouver’s most used rearguard in round 1) scratched due to undisclosed injuries. They join gritty forwards Matt Cooke and Ryan Kesler on the injured list, depleting an already thin line up. The bigger issue with these four particular players being out of the Canucks line-up is their aggressive style of play – an aspect that will be key to Vancouver’s success.

However, even if all four make it back before Round Two’s finale, the real key to Vancouver advancing will be their ability to make the physical Ducks’ team pay for untimely penalties. If the Canucks fail miserably like they did against Dallas this series is sure to be short and sweet even with Roberto Luongo in goal. Luongo is probably the only decided edge that Vancouver has heading into game 1 tonight, and it is not as decisive as some may think. Fans are quick to forget the run Jean-Sebastien Giguere took Anaheim on four seasons ago, never mind the fact that if he falters they have a legitimate number one stopper in Ilya Bryzgalov to come in and clean up. Moreover, if there is one team who has the Canucks goalies’ number this season it is Anaheim, beating him in all three games this season. Even so, it remains very difficult to picture any team defeating Luongo four games out of seven.

Beyond the pipes, things begin to thin out considerably for Vancouver, while Anaheim can send out two of the top defenseman in the NHL (Niedermayer and Pronger) to combat what can only be considered an anaemic offence at best. To add to that, they can counteract the stingy Vancouver defence with three lines deep of speed and skill, highlighted by the ‘PPG’ line (Corey Perry, Dustin Penner, Ryan Getzlaf) and the shifty combo of Andy MacDonald and Teemu Selanne. Furthermore, Vancouver has little to work with in terms of contesting with the Ducks size and strength. No one on the Canucks roster outside of Jeff Cowan and Kevin Bieksa (and that is debatable) can match up with players such as George Parros, Ryan Shannon and Penner.

The one hope that the Canucks do have is that this series will be much more wide-open than the chess match that was Round One. If anything, this should open up some space for the Sedin’s and captain Markus Naslund. If those three can start generating some offence, it could put the Ducks on their heels, further creating space for a guy like Brendan Morrison (who was invisible against Dallas). Another factor that may play in is the emotions that will be evident in the series. The last regular season meeting, a Ducks’ victory, was filled with animosity which is sure have carried over to this anticipated match-up. Vancouver has proven all season that they excel in pressure situations while a young, inexperienced Anaheim squad has sometimes floundered under the heat taking crippling penalties.

A lot will have to go right for Vancouver to come out on top in this series. However there seems to be a vibe about this team, and a strange sort of karma surrounding this post season. A round 1 match up that they almost blow – something an older version of this team would have surely done – capped by a goal from the old guard (Trevor Linden) followed by a match up with the old boss Brian Burke. If things continue they could run into old number 44, Todd Bertuzzi in the Western Conference finals with the potential to see a familiar Finals foe in the Rangers if we really want to get ahead of ourselves. There is something different though if they were to make it that far; in 1994 the favourites won, in the 2007, the Canucks would be the favourites.

Prediction: Vancouver in 7