Round 2 - Vancouver Vs. Chicago

I can't chat. I can only run up to the PC once in a while. I miss my laptop

Bizarre turn of events on that goal. You just knew it was coming as soon as they got out of the zone, though.

Two penalties in a five second stretch at the end of the third for Vancouver - neither are called. What an embarassment for the NHL. They don't have the guts to enforce their own rulebook.

We're going to OT!!!!

HERE COME THE HAWKS.

NOBODY GAVE THEM ANY RESPECT.

THEY DO NOW.

hawks tie the series

Holy crap! Wow... what a finish. Not much Luongo could have done there, but someone should have been on Ladd.

Great game!

:%%: :%%: :%%: :%%:

davetherave wrote::%%: :%%: :%%: :%%:

Dave... tell us how you feel....

Shabbs...I remember the Hawks winning the Stanley Cup in 1961.

Do you remember where you were?

davetherave wrote:Shabbs...I remember the Hawks winning the Stanley Cup in 1961.

Do you remember where you were?

I was not even a thought...

Vancouver 1, Chicago 2

	1	2	3	OT	T
VAN	0	1	0	0	1
CHI	0	0	1	1	2

Final OT

8:00 PM ET, May 7, 2009
United Center, Chicago, Illinois

Blackhawks force OT with late goal to even series with Canucks at two

CHICAGO (AP/ESPN)-- Andrew Ladd tipped in teammate Dave Bolland's long shot less than 3 minutes into overtime to give the Chicago Blackhawks a 2-1 comeback victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night, tying the Western Conference semifinal at 2.

Game 5 is Saturday night in Vancouver.

Martin Havlat tied it at 1 with 2:44 left in regulation after it looked as if Roberto Luongo was going to shut out the Blackhawks. Ladd shoveled the puck off the boards, and Havlat's wrist shot from the between circles beat Luongo high.
In overtime, Bolland chased down the puck along the boards and fired a shot from beyond the right circle. Ladd was in front of Luongo and tipped it in at 2:52.

Ladd's winning goal came after the Canucks had two point-blank shots to score, but were turned away by Nikolai Khabibulin.

In the closing seconds of regulation with the game tied, Bolland had a breakaway before Vancouver's Alexander Edler caught up to him, hit his stick from behind and then forced him away from the net. Bolland went down on the play and the crowd at the United Center screamed for a penalty with 8.2 seconds to go.

Darcy Hordichuk took a pass from a spinning Rick Rypien to score his first playoff goal midway through the second period to put the Canucks up 1-0 -- the fourth straight game Vancouver opened the scoring.

And Luongo again appeared too tough for the Blackhawks to crack. After allowing eight goals in the two games at Vancouver, Luongo gave up just one in Game 3 and looked on his way to a shutout before Havlat tied it.

Luongo finished with 26 saves, and Khabibulin made 14.

After Chicago's Jonathan Toews had his shot blocked, Rypien scooped up the puck and raced to the other end against Blackhawks defenseman Matt Walker. Just before reaching the circles, Rypien made his nifty spin move to evade Walker and then passed to Hordichuk, who beat Nikolai Khabibulin on the stick side for the 1-0 lead.

The score came shortly after Luongo made a spectacular stop on a rebound attempt by Chicago's Troy Brouwer. After the Canucks went ahead and with each team down a man, Luongo made a sprawling pad save to deny Patrick Sharp.

Chicago came out with strong early rush and Luongo had five saves in the first 6 minutes, including another nice pad stop of Toews' point-blank attempt just as a power play was expiring.

The Blackhawks mustered an 8-4 shots-on-goal advantage but were blanked in the opening period for the fourth straight game.

Fast Facts

• With less than 3 minutes left in regulation, Martin Havlat scored his fourth goal of the playoffs to force overtime.
• Andrew Ladd won it for Chicago with his first career overtime goal less than 3 minutes into the extra period.
• The Blackhawks now have six wins this postseason after having one playoff win over the previous 11 years.
• The Canucks lost for the second time in their last 11 games, dating back to the regular season.
• Darcy Hordichuk scored Vancouver's only goal in the second period. Vancouver has scored first in all four games this series.
-- ESPN Stats & Information


Game notes
Canucks D Sami Salo, who rejoined the team Tuesday night after being injured in Game 2, did not play for a second straight game. ... Baseball Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk participated in a goal shooting contest between the second and third periods. ... NBA rookie of the year Derrick Rose of the Bulls dropped the ceremonial first puck.

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I've got the Canucks in 5. Sorry DTR but Luongo has ridiculous playoff stats and they are stronger defensively than even a healthy Calgary team. Throw in Sundin, Demitra and the Twins all playing well and I don't see it going long.

Well, there you go, Cap.

Now you can admit you were wrong.

No shame in doing so.

cool)

Surprised by Hawks? You shouldn't be

By Pierre LeBrun/ESPN.com

Blackhawks Even Series With 2-1 OT Win

Andrew Ladd nets OT winner to propel Blackhawks over Canucks

CHICAGO -- It wasn't quite Babe Ruth calling his shot, but Andrew Ladd proved more than a little prophetic Thursday night.

"I said to Adam Burish before overtime, 'It's going to take a dirty one to win this,'" said the Chicago Blackhawks' overtime hero. "That's usually the case in overtime and especially in the playoffs."


Ladd stuck his stick out and deflected a Dave Bolland point shot past a partially screened Roberto Luongo 2:52 into the fourth period to give Chicago a 2-1 win over Vancouver, just the kind of goal the Hawks need more of if they're going to win this series.

The Blackhawks were only 2:44 away from going down 3-1 in this Western Conference semifinals series, a hole that would have been likely insurmountable, especially for such a young squad and Game 5 in Vancouver on Saturday night.



But like they have all along in their thrill-a-minute postseason, Martin Havlat forced overtime -- and ignited a United Center crowd that sat on their hands all night -- with a wrist shot from the high slot that handcuffed Luongo.

"We've got a new series," said Havlat, who scored his fourth of the playoffs.

"Whoa," Hawks GM Dale Tallon told ESPN.com in the home dressing room, holding his chest. "I thought my ticker was going to go. These kids never give up. They're a resilient bunch."

Until that goal, that story wasn't pretty for the Hawks. It seemed like their playoff inexperience was finally catching up to them. The kids were pressing and were squeezing their sticks. But don't underestimate them, Havlat said.

"I don't know what everybody else thinks of us, but I know this is a pretty confident group, even though we're a young team," said Havlat. "We know what we can do."

We keep waiting for this thing to fall apart, for the kids to show their age. But the Hawks keep proving us wrong.

"We believe in each other. We believe in the opportunity," said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville. "We like where we're at right now."

They didn't like where they were with three minutes to go in the third period. Chicago had not mustered much offense up to that point, as the Canucks delivered another stifling defensive effort. Which also translated into a massively boring affair. The white towels handed out to fans were used to cover up yawning mouths until the Havlat goal.

On the Hawks bench, the mind games were difficult to suppress.

"You ask yourself when it's finally going to go in, when are you finally going to get a break," said 21-year-old Hawks captain Jonathan Toews. "Getting that first goal was a great feeling. Then, suddenly, you feel like anything can happen."

Now the Hawks are tied at 2 in a series in which they've never scored first. That's amazing in itself.

"I guess we're accustomed to playing in that situation, but it's not healthy," said Quenneville. "It's not a recipe for success. ... I'd like to find out what our team would be like with a lead. I think we're due."

The Canucks were slated for a long trip home Thursday night. What a crushing feeling to let what would have been such a critical victory escape them. Vancouver could have been heading home with a 3-1 lead, playing at home Saturday night with a chance to wrap it up and head to its first conference final in 15 years.

Instead, they've got a ton of work left in a series that will go at least six, if not seven, games.

"We maybe sat back a little much," said Canucks winger Alexandre Burrows. "We had that one-goal lead and we wanted to protect it. We sat back too much."

After opening the scoring on Darcy Hordichuk's breakaway goal 8:32 into the second period, the tough guy's first career NHL playoff goal, the Canucks needed very little offense. Their 15 shots on goal broke a franchise record for a playoff game, beating the old record of 16 set in 1982 against Los Angeles. Nice, just the kind of history you're looking to make.

"The only thing I know is, we can't go chance against chances versus this team," said Canucks coach Alain Vigneault. "That being said, they're not bringing a lot against us, either. That was the best chess match I've seen in a while."

That's great, only we're here to watch hockey, not chess. We understand the tactical reasoning behind Vancouver's approach, but we can't recall a playoff game this uneventful through 57 minutes.

Nobody cared about that in the Hawks' dressing room. They're headed to Vancouver with a new lease on life.

"Hopefully we can use this win to gain more confidence and momentum," said Ladd. "We're back in this thing."

Pierre LeBrun covers the NHL for ESPN.com.

'Nucks need to get more shots on goal.

Canucks move on after blowing lead

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP)—The Vancouver Canucks are looking forward to Game 5 against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.

And they insist they’re over their Game 4 collapse in Chicago that left the Western Conference semifinal series tied at 2.

“It’s already behind us,” forward Alex Burrows(notes) said.

On Thursday night in Chicago, the Blackhawks’ Martin Havlat(notes) tied it with 2:44 left, and Andrew Ladd(notes) scored early in overtime.

“We flew home last night and we’re ready to go now,” Burrows said. “It’s a best two out of three, and when we faced adversity before we’ve responded well.”

The Canucks say they also have to look forward on the ice, spending more time pushing into the Chicago end and less backing up into their own zone.

Vancouver has led in all four games, but blown leads three times.

The Canucks sat back and watched the talented young Blackhawks erase three- and two-goal leads while splitting the first two games in Vancouver. They continued to press and build on an early lead to win Game 3, but tried to nurse a one-goal cushion in Game 4, doing so until a late breakdown allowed Havlat to score.

“Losing that late was tough,” Canucks forward Mats Sundin said. “But that’s what the playoffs are about, how you respond after a loss, how your next performance is. Every time you are knocked down you have to bounce back even higher.”

They can’t get much lower on the shot clock. The Canucks managed 15 shots Thursday, a franchise playoff record for futility, as they retreated into the neutral zone to try to shut down Chicago.

“As a team, 15 shots is not good enough,” top-line forward Daniel Sedin(notes) said. “It’s a fine line and last game we played too defensive. We’ve got to get better offensively, but at the same time we were 2 1/2 minutes from being up 3-1, so it has worked.”

Don’t expect it to change.

Vancouver knows it can’t go back to trading chances with the speedy Blackhawks, which cost it leads in Games 1 and 2. The Canucks’ ability to slow Chicago, to take away time and space through the neutral zone and limit long passes out of the Blackhawks end, was key to winning Game 3 on the road, and keeping them off the scoreboard for 57 minutes of Game 4.

“We want to extend the lead, keep pushing the pace,” Burrows said. “We can’t sit back. We can’t trade chances. But if we play well defensively, keep pushing the pace and make their D turn, that’s how we’re going to create offense.”

The Canucks held meetings and a sparsely attended optional practice on Friday, while the Blackhawks took the day off to travel back to Vancouver. In a series filled with momentum swings within each game, neither side expected the late turnaround in Game 4 to mean much when they dropped the puck for Game 5.

Chicago rallied from a three-goal third period deficit in Game 1 only to lose with 1:13 left, then rallied from an early two-goal hole to win Game 2. About the only thing that hasn’t happened is the Blackhawks scoring first.

“I’d like to find out what we’re going to be like playing with the lead,” coach Joel Quenneville said Thursday night. “The momentum in this series has been pretty remarkable.”

Canucks D Kevin Bieksa, who left early in overtime Thursday and was spotted limping after the game, said he will play Saturday, calling it a “lower-body injury, but “nothing serious.” D Sami Salo, who hasn’t played since sustaining an unidentified lower-body injury after scoring early in Game 2, practiced Friday, but coach Alain Vigneault said he’s still day-to-day. Game 6 is in Chicago on Monday night, but Game 7, if necessary, isn’t until Thursday night.

davetherave wrote:

Cap'n Clutch wrote:I've got the Canucks in 5. Sorry DTR but Luongo has ridiculous playoff stats and they are stronger defensively than even a healthy Calgary team. Throw in Sundin, Demitra and the Twins all playing well and I don't see it going long.

Well, there you go, Cap.

Now you can admit you were wrong.

No shame in doing so.

cool)

No no shame. I was awfully close on predicting the game though. I said tight game double OT win for Hawks and they won in OT