One must go - Blues, Canucks meet in Game 7

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The St. Louis Blues are ignoring the big series lead they squandered and the fact they have to play Game 7 on the road.

"It's a one-game show right now," Blues forward Doug Weight said after practice Monday.

The Blues held a 3-1 lead over Vancouver in this best-of-seven series, but that advantage is gone. They now have to face the Canucks on the road in the decisive game tonight.

"What happened earlier in the series really means nothing right now," said Weight, who has a playoff-high 12 points. "It's a one-game winner takes all, and the previous six mean absolutely nothing."

The Blues insist they've forgotten about their last two losses when one victory would've landed them in the Western Conference semifinals. They dropped Game 5 in Vancouver and then lost the sixth game at home.

"They're in the same boat as us now," St. Louis defenseman Chris Pronger said. "It's do or die."

It's been that way for the last two games for the Canucks, and they responded with their best efforts of the series. After being outscored 14-4 in the first four games, Vancouver has a 9-6 advantage in the last two contests. The Canucks led the NHL in regular-season goals.

The Canucks have countered a strong Blues backchecking system by using their defensemen more on offense. Defensmen have scored four of the last nine Vancouver goals and added seven assists in the last two games.

"It's starting to go in for us right now, so that's a positive and it is a confidence boost," forward Trevor Linden said. "We're getting production from some different people."

Canucks captain Markus Naslund, who finished second in the NHL with 104 regular-season points, has three goals and two assists in the last three games after being held to one assist through three games.

"We're getting stronger and we're confident, but it's one game," Naslund said.

St. Louis has a lot more experience in decisive games. The Blues have 11 regulars who have seen action in Game 7s, compared to just four Canucks players. The Blues are 7-6 in those games, but have never lost a series they led 3-1.

"I don't look at it like 'Oh my God, it's a Game 7 and it's do or die,"' goalie Chris Osgood said. "I don't look at it as a nerve-racking experience. I look at it as a big chance to win a big game in a big situation and move on."

Osgood lost a Game 7 last season to Toronto while playing for the New York Islanders.

He might have been using that experience to take shots at his goalie counterpart, Dan Cloutier. Osgood accused the Canucks goalie of taking dives to draw penalties.

"I'm not going to dive, and if a guy hits me after I stop the puck I'm not going to flail myself back," Osgood said. "It's not the way the game is supposed to be played. Stand in there and take your shots and your hits."

Cloutier, who will turn 27 on Tuesday, laughed off Osgood's claims.

"I'm not going to comment on that," he said. "I don't pay attention to the newspaper and media and I didn't hear anything about it. It doesn't bother me at all."

The Blues are buoyed by a playoff-best power play clicking at 22.7 percent and near-comebacks from three-goal deficits in each of the last two games. St. Louis has outscored the Canucks 10-1 in the third periods of this series and closed within a goal in each of the last two games.

"We need to come out with that same fire and enthusiasm and energy that we did in the third period," Pronger said.

Vancouver is 3-2 in Game 7s, including a pair series wins in which it trailed 3-1. The Canucks' previous Game 7 win was in St. Louis in the first round of 1995 -- also the last time they won a playoff series.

"We're playing well lately, but I don't believe there's any big momentum," Linden said. "I don't think you can say it carries from game to game. Momentum starts at 7:30 when the puck drops."