It was the equivalent of full surrender, a picture worth at least 1,000 words.

Mason Raymond

Photograph by : Ric Ernst file

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There was mild-mannered Mason Raymond on the front sports page of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Monday. He stood over a fallen B.J. Crombeen at the Canucks bench while teammates were yapping at the St. Louis Blues enforcer for taking a roughing minor on Raymond at the conclusion of the second period on Sunday.

"Yeah, we were pretty happy that Mase was able to get him down and he looked like The Hulk out there," chuckled Alex Burrows. "We were just happy that Crombeen got a penalty on that play and were just probably giving it to him that way."

Steve Bernier followed the Crombeen minor by scoring the power-play winner early in the third period. The 3-2 victory gave the Canucks a commanding 3-0 lead in the series that they could sweep tonight.

Often lost in the hoopla of Roberto Luongo sporting a 1.00 playoff goals-against average and .963 saves percentage, Henrik and Daniel Sedin combining for nine points and Sami Salo having points in all three games, are lesser lights playing bigger roles.

Raymond was fighting for ice time as a healthy scratch on 10 occasions during the regular season before getting a crack at the penalty kill. With superior speed, he has found an unexpected niche in the playoff absence of Taylor Pyatt. Expected to be a top-six forward by this point in his young career, Raymond is rebuilding his overall game by contributing to a postseason penalty kill that's gone 9-for-11 and killed of a trio of 5-on-3 advantages.

"I've changed my role this year, but I've learned to adapt," said Raymond. "Playing well defensively and waiting for your opportunities is what it takes. You want to be known as a well-rounded player ... I'm just trying to get up ice on the PK and slow them down, or make them move into something they don't want to and make them dump it in."

In Sunday's victory, Raymond even bolted from the corner to block a power-play point shot.

"He's been doing a great job," said Burrows. "Once the D-man got his stick back to get the slapper, Mase was still in the corner. But he really gave it all he had to get in the lane and get down. [Ryan Johnson] probably showed him how."

"I don't know if anybody is teaching me," responded Raymond. "It's just part of the game to get your body in front of shots."

Johnson said the sacrifices made in holding the Blues to a paltry 1-for-17 efficiency on the power play speaks of self-sacrifice for the greater good. And when the Canucks have either Burrows, Ryan Kesler or Johnson in the penalty box, the penalty kill isn't missing a beat with speedsters like Raymond and Rick Rypien picking up the slack.

What's also making a difference is a collective resolve to stick up for each other and have just the right blend of grit and gab in this series. Kevin Bieksa has been chirping at David Perron. So has Johnson. In fact, Perron is so off his game that the winger has but one assist through three games.

"I don't really say much to that guy," said Bieksa. "He's skilled and we try to make those areas in the corner and the front of the net tough for him so he doesn't want to go in there much."

bkuzma@theprovince.com

MUCH MORE TONIGHT: When you're settling in around 4:30 - you know, you need about 30 minutes to get ready for Game 4 - tune into our live blog at theprovince.com/whitetowel and join our own Marc Weber for some witty repartee during the big tilt.

But don't wait for puck drop to get all you need to know about today's game. Visit The White Towel all day for blogs from Ben Kuzma in St. Louis and Gord McIntyre in Vancouver, for your full updates. Will Mats Sundin play? Will Paul Kariya play? And what are those silly columnists in St. Louis saying now? (Plus, we've got those top-notch Boston Bruins commercials.)

And not to get ahead of ourselves or anything, but we spell out for you the Canucks' possible second-round opponents. All this and more at theprovince.com/whitetowel