Game o' the Day

If you are a fan of goaltenders, and The Peerless certainly is, then tonight's Vancouver - Dallas game will be right up your alley.

Eric McErlain describes the Turco/Luongo war in detail over at The Fanhouse, but The Peerless notes two subtle things to look for in the duel. First, the first to score wins. That's not exactly a bulletin in a series marked by four straight games with fewer than three total goals scored. But the fact is, in four of the five games, first to score wins. Second, watch the pattern of goals. So far, Roberto Luongo has given up, by period: 2-3-3-1 goals. Marty Turco: 1-2-4-2. The differences are not significant, but Luongo has been just the slighest bit more effective (or, just as reasonably, Dallas has been less effective offensively) late.

Wait a minute, Peerless . . . hold on with that last one. You might want to look at those numbers more closely.

Well, by Sawchuk, you have a point . . . if you compare thse two and their save percentages by period . . .

1st period: Luongo: .959/Turco: .979
2nd period: Luongo: .944/Turco: .951
3rd period: Luongo: .923/Turco: .922

In regulation, Turco has been the more efficient -- ever so slightly -- of the two (.950 to .944 overall). That Vancouver has a lead in this series is a product of having scored two goals in overtime to one for Dallas. It is the only difference in the goaltending worth noting.

This really is, as Eric put it, "a showdown for the ages."