Stanley Cup Playoffs, Night 13

Two weeks ago, eight playoff series began. One series remained tonight. It's what playoff hockey is all about. Game 7! Do or die! All or nothing! And any other cliché you can come up with. It's the reason I love this time of year so much. Now let's get on with it!

Canucks 4, Stars 1
Canucks win series 4-3
That score does not tell the story of this game. One thing after another went against Dallas tonight. Despite the Stars getting the lead in the first period on a Joel Lundqvist goal, the Canucks put up a fight, determined not to blow another Game 7. With five minutes to go in period two, Henrik Sedin took a pass from his brother to tie the score. Then to the joy of everyone inside GM Place, Trevor Linden scored seven minutes into the third period to swing the game Vancouver's way. And that's how it went until the final minute of the game when the Stars threw all they could at the Canucks. But the Canucks, they were determined. They scored two empty-netters from Taylor Pyatt and Bryan Smolinski to weigh down the scoresheet in a way this series hasn't since Game 1. It was an exciting game, yet once again the team I was rooting for fell short. On the other hand, I did predict the winner right in this series. Dave Strader and John Vanbiesbrouck had the call on Versus in hi-def. By the way, the Canucks wore their throwback third jerseys tonight. They were 10-5 during the regular season with them. Guess it paid off.

First thing tomorrow — predictions for Round 2! Let's see how many more wrong guesses I can make!

Photos: CBS Sportsline.com