Canucks’ Luongo is a big roadblock

After waiting nearly a week to learn who their next playoff opponent would be, the Ducks began preparing for Vancouver on Tuesday and the one name mentioned the most was Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo.

“He is a big guy with good mobility. With guys like that, you have to try and get in front of him and limit their opportunities to see the puck,” Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger said of Luongo, 6 feet 3 and 205 pounds. “Traffic and getting to rebounds ... will be critical for us. He is good enough that he is going to make that first save 99 out 100 times.”

In Vancouver’s first-round series victory over Dallas, Luongo faced 240 shots over seven games and gave up only 12 goals. He was at his best in the Canucks’ Game 7 victory Monday.

Luongo made only 19 saves but kept his team close after the Canucks fell behind. His glove save on a shot by Stu Barnes may have been his defining moment. It came 9 minutes 56 seconds into the third period with the Canucks up by a goal.

Ducks goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere said it was going to be difficult for the Ducks to score goals against Luongo, who enters tonight’s Game 1 with a 1.41 goals-against average in these playoffs and a .950 save percentage.

“They have a very good team that played very well at the end of the season and they have probably the best goaltender in the world right now,” Giguere said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun trying to figure this one out.”

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During the regular season, the Ducks defeated Vancouver three times and suffered one shootout loss. But two of the Ducks’ wins came in games played before Dec. 1.

“We were fortunate enough to play them early in the season when they didn’t have their ‘A’ game,” Coach Randy Carlyle said of the Canucks, who surged late to win the Northwest Division. “They were a much different group in the last two games that we played them here.”

Added Pronger: “We kind of saw the two sides of their season. Their two early games up in their building, where they were still trying to figure things out. They were going through a stretch where they weren’t playing very well. Then we saw them for two games late in the season when they were one of the top teams in the league.”

The last time they played Vancouver, on March 11, the Ducks won, 4-2, on two goals each from Andy McDonald and Teemu Selanne. But the game was plagued by 104 penalty minutes.

After knocking out Minnesota in a heated five-game, first-round series, the Ducks realized that they could face more of the same against the Canucks.

“Vancouver plays a puck-possession game and I think they are bigger” than the Wild, Carlyle said. “They can be more physical and will be more physical ... but I think it’s important that we don’t put any comparisons to one team versus another. The Canucks have their strengths, but we have to be able to play to our strengths. That’s important.”

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Giguere on tonight’s probable matchup against Luongo: “At the end of the day, it’s going to be the Ducks against the Canucks. The better team is going to win, although the goalies are a huge part of the team.

“I am going to try and be a big part if I have to play, but I cannot control what [Luongo] is going to bring to the game. I can only control what I can do and I’m going to try and control that as good as I can.”

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Game 1 of the Ducks’ playoff series against Vancouver tonight will be televised by Channel 56 and Game 2 on Friday night and Game 4 on Tuesday will be televised by FSN West, but there will be no local telecast of Game 3 on Sunday at 5 p.m.

Game 3 belongs exclusively to Versus, which is also televising the first two games of the series. And if there is a Game 5, Versus also has that one exclusively.

Versus, a national network, is available in only 59% of the cable households in the Los Angeles market.

Times staff writer Larry Stewart contributed to this report.

lonnie.white@latimes.com