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Injuries, flu help extend Blues, Canucks to seventh game

The Blues hope to have Al MacInnis and his 10 career Game 7s in the lineup tonight. Elsa/Getty Images/NHLI

By Al Strachan, SLAM! Sports

VANCOUVER -- If the Vancouver Canucks don't do it tonight, there can be no excuses, even though Al MacInnis is expected to return to the St. Louis Blues lineup.

Everything has gone right for the Canucks in this Western Conference quarterfinal and, to their credit, they have made the most of their good fortune.

Now, they have the home advantage for a seventh game, and they have momentum after winning the past two.

But it's what they don't have that is most important.

They don't have the flu, whereas the Blues have been riddled with it in the past two games.

And they don't have any serious injuries to key players. The Blues probably would have wrapped up this series long ago had they not lost MacInnis in the opening moments of Game 2.

And even if the Blues do get MacInnis back tonight, he'll be playing because it's a do-or-die situation, not because he is in perfect health.

3-1 Comebacks Year  Round  Teams  1942  Stanley Cup Final  *-Toronto def. Detroit  1975  Quarterfinal  *-N.Y. Islanders def. Pittsburgh  1987  Division Semifinal  N.Y. Islanders def. Washington  1987  Division Final  Detroit def. Toronto  1988  Division Semifinal  Washington def. Philadelphia  1989  Division Semifinal  Los Angeles def. Edmonton  1990  Division Semifinal  Edmonton def. Winnipeg  1991  Division Semifinal  St. Louis def. Detroit  1992  Division Semifinal  Detroit def. Minnesota  1992  Division Semifinal  Vancouver def. Winnipeg  1992  Division Semifinal  Pittsburgh def. Washington  1994  Conference Quarterfinal  Vancouver def. Calgary  1995  Conference Quarterfinal  Pittsburgh def. Washington  1998  Conference Quarterfinal  Edmonton def. Colorado  1999  Conference Quarterfinal  St. Louis def. Phoenix  2000  Conference Final  New Jersey def. Philadelphia  *-3-0 Comebacks

Now, the Canucks have to hope that their luck hasn't run out. Perhaps, by game time, the virulent flu which has devastated the Blues will have been contracted by the Canucks. If that's the case, they'll be in trouble.

This flu strain isn't one of those that merely causes you to ache and hope you can get to the bathroom before you sneeze. You feel nauseous all the time, especially if you try to move. You're unsteady on your feet and you have no strength.

In the past two games, when Blues goalie Chris Osgood allowed nine goals after allowing four in the first four games, there was speculation that because he was having such a hard time moving, he was injured. In fact, he was just feeling woozy from the flu.

The Blues did all they could to prevent any widespread infection, but to no avail.

Scott Mellanby was the first to contract the flu after his children brought it home from school.

Mellanby missed Game 4 in St. Louis, then flew to Vancouver for Game 5 on a separate flight.

The internal air in a plane is constantly recirculated, so the Blues took their charter flight as a group and left Mellanby to fly on a commercial carrier.

It was too late. By game time Friday, at least eight of the Blues had been stricken. And since the flu takes 48-72 hours to dissipate, they were still feeling the effect when they lost 4-3 on Sunday.

Now, their hope is that they somehow passed the affliction on to the Canucks.

As for MacInnis, his return would be a tremendous help to the St. Louis cause, if only psychologically. But his contributions will be more than mental.

With a shoulder injury, he may not be able to crank up the legendary MacInnis slap shot, but his defensive savvy, his passing ability and his leadership will have a positive effect on the Blues.

In St. Louis, the fans say that no team in the league could suffer a greater blow as the result of a loss of a single player.

That may be stretching the point a bit. The Tampa Bay Lightning wouldn't be in the second round without Nikolai Khabibulin. Ditto for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and Jean-Sebastien Giguere.

But outside the crease, the St. Louis fans may have a point. MacInnis is the heart and soul of the Blues and without him, they're not the same team.

Still, the Canucks have everything in their favour. Their big line of Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan Morrison and Markus Naslund finally has started to pop some goals again, and the Vancouver power play has returned to the form that it showed late in the season.

Furthermore, Dan Cloutier has been giving them the kind of goaltending they need to move on to the next round.

Now they're poised to do just that. As long as they avoid the flu.

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