Music: {allcanada} Canucks goalie Lack focused heading into Game 3

Sunday, April 19, 2015

{allcanada} Canucks goalie Lack focused heading into Game 3

Casablanca / The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration

VANCOUVER -- Vancouver Canucks coach Willie Desjardins had to pause for a sip of water to soothe his hoarse voice as he talked to the media before boarding a flight to Calgary on Saturday.

Desjardins was asked if he lost his voice yelling at goalie Eddie Lack, who said his coach was screaming at him to stay out of a post-whistle scrum that saw all five players from each team square off around Lack's net with 1:17 left in Game 2 of the Western Conference First Round on Friday, a 4-1 Canucks win against the Calgary Flames.

"I don't know if that might have happened," Desjardins said with a chuckle.

Desjardins was a lot clearer about how he expects Lack to handle future altercations around his crease when the best-of-7 series resumes in Calgary on Sunday (10 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports).

"That doesn't win you any hockey games," Desjardins said.

With a long-standing rivalry heating up, Desjardins doesn't want his goalie worried about anything other than stopping the puck.

Lack did that late in Game 2, skating away from the scrum that resulted in 132 penalty minutes and six game misconducts, but was hardly a model of composure after Flames forward Brandon Bollig landed and stayed on him earlier in the game.

"I'm prepared for it," Lack said. "I know it's going to happen and I kind of lost it a little bit because he had me in a choke hold and that usually doesn't happen and I lost it a little. But I took a minute and I tried to focus on my breathing and everything and it worked out."

Lack said the incident with Bollig helped get him back into a game when he saw five shots through 27 minutes. He was sharp the rest of the way, stopping 17 of the final 18 shots, including a point-blank chance for Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau.

Lack, who stopped 50 of 53 shots in the first two games (.943 save percentage), isn't worried his reaction, which included some punches with his blocker, will invite more contact.

"If [the Flames] think so, it's good," Lack said. "During the regular season, I stayed calm when stuff like that happened and sometimes you just have to mark your territory. But I've moved on and I am ready for the game; just going to play my game and stay in my bubble."

It will be hard for Lack to ignore the crowd when the series shifts to Calgary, where Flames fans have been waiting since 2009 for a playoff game. After hearing his name chanted adoringly the first two games in Vancouver, Lack knows the tone will be different in his first NHL playoff game as a visitor.

"Maybe I can pretend it's a compliment," Lack said.

The Wizard of Oz / The Muppets' Wizard of Oz