Round 2 - Vancouver Vs. Chicago

KILLER KANE STRIKES!!!

5-2 BLACKHAWKS.

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PP goal for VAN...Hawks have to play a perfect 2:45 now.

THE NAIL IN THE COFFIN. 6-3.
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Chicago 6, Vancouver 3

	1	2	3	T
CHI	0	3	3	6
VAN	2	0	1	3

Final

9:00 PM ET, May 2, 2009
General Motors Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Sharp ignites furious Hawks charge as Chicago evens Canucks series at one

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP/ESPN)-- Patrick Sharp scored twice to tie it and David Bolland put Chicago ahead with a short-handed breakaway to help the Blackhawks tie their second-round playoff series at a game apiece with a 6-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.

Down 2-0 after power-play goals by Sami Salo and Alexander Edler in the first seven minutes, Chicago took over Game 2 of the best-of-seven series with a strong second period.

Sharp put the Blackhawks on the board midway through, sliding a rebound between the legs of Roberto Luongo, then wiring a one-timer over the goalie's glove during a 5-on-3 power play three minutes later.

Bolland gave Chicago its first lead of the series with 3:10 left, beating Luongo with a strong forehand deke after being left all alone behind the defense.
In Game 1 the Blackhawks rallied from three goals behind in the third period only to lose in the final minutes. This time they kept going.

Ottawa-born Ben Eager, robbed by Luongo earlier, extended the lead 2:13 into the third period, converting a nice pass from Adam Burish, who had two assists. Patrick Kane added his third goal of the series three minutes later.
Game 3 is Tuesday in Chicago, where the Blackhawks won all three during a first-round victory over Calgary.

Nikolai Khabibulin got his first victory over the Canucks since 1998, when he was with Phoenix, ending an 0-11-1 skid against Vancouver.
The Canucks lost Salo, their top all-around defenseman, after he opened the scoring with a power-play blast 5:35 in. After wincing noticeably at the bench, Salo, who also missed Game 4 of a first-round sweep of St. Louis, was followed into the locker room by the team doctor and did not return.
It was the third goal and sixth point for Salo, who scored the winning goal with 1:13 left in Game 1. Salo, who tops 100 mph in the annual hardest-shot contest, wasn't missed after Chicago took two penalties a minute later.

Edler, who took the Canucks' hardest-shot title from Salo this year, replaced him and one-timed a point shot past a screened Khabibulin on the 5-on-3. But Salo was missed on Bolland's goal as forward Mason Raymond, playing out of position at the point, allowed the Chicago forward to sneak behind him.

Just as they did in the third period of Game 1, Chicago carried the play for long stretches after falling behind. And just like Game 1, Khabibulin played a big role with timely saves, robbing Shane O'Brien in the slot and Alex Burrows alone in tight on a power play early in the second period. He also forced Steve Bernier wide on a long breakaway minutes before Bolland put Chicago ahead.

Luongo made a spectacular diving stick stop on Eager 9:15 into the second, but Sharp started the comeback a minute later. Eager got Chicago's seventh goal in two games after St. Louis only managed to beat Luongo five times in four games in the first round.

Shortly after Khabibulin robbed Rick Rypien, Kane added to the total with his fifth of the playoffs, tying the 20-year-old with four others for the NHL lead.

Henrik Sedin scored on another Canucks' power play with 2:45 left before Bolland added his second goal and third of the series into an empty net.

Game notes
The teams combined for 10 penalties and four 10-minute misconducts in the final seven minutes. ... The Canucks lost 11 of 15 through early January while Salo was out with injured ribs, but only 11 of 38 since he returned. ... Chicago D Brent Seabrook, LW Andrew Ladd, C Colin Fraser and RW Troy Brouwer are all from the Vancouver area and once played on the same spring league all-star team.

Boy, am glad I went with 7 games. The Canucks have now lost home ice advantage and momentum. But there's still time to right this ship. Luongo has to play better with the lead and so does the rest of the team. THat said, the Hawks should not be patting themselves on the back too much. In both games they got behind early. Can they continue to dig themselves out of 0-2 and 0-3 holes?

wprager wrote:Boy, am glad I went with 7 games. The Canucks have now lost home ice advantage and momentum. But there's still time to right this ship. Luongo has to play better with the lead and so does the rest of the team. THat said, the Hawks should not be patting themselves on the back too much. In both games they got behind early. Can they continue to dig themselves out of 0-2 and 0-3 holes?

The only Pats on this team are Mr Sharp and Mr Kane.

How does your Nucks jersey fit, by the way?

Wow. The Hawks stormed back last night for a convincing win. Hmmm... haven't seen the highlights yet... but heard it on the radio this morning on the way home.

We have a series.

wprager wrote:Boy, am glad I went with 7 games. The Canucks have now lost home ice advantage and momentum. But there's still time to right this ship. Luongo has to play better with the lead and so does the rest of the team. THat said, the Hawks should not be patting themselves on the back too much. In both games they got behind early. Can they continue to dig themselves out of 0-2 and 0-3 holes?

Apparently they can. They have 4 come from behind wins already in 8 games, and in 2 others fought back from 3 goals down to tie it before eventually losing. So it seems like comebacks aren't a problem for this team.

And from what I've seen so far, it seems fairly clear to me that Chicago is the better team 5 on 5. If they stop taking stupid penalties and giving Vancouver free PPs for lazy penalties they may not even have to worry about playing catch up in future games.

Playing from behind is going to come back to bite this team if they keep it up.

The view from Chicago, per Chris Kuc of The Tribune:

chicagotribune.com

Blackhawks beat Canucks 6-3

This time, 1st-period penalties don't lead to doom

By Chris Kuc, Chicago Tribune, May 3, 2009

VANCOUVER -- Vancouver fans yell "Loooooo" with gusto whenever Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo makes a save. By the middle of the third period of Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals Saturday night, the Blackhawks had them directing boos at the home team.

The Hawks overcame a slow start, roaring back from a two-goal deficit with five consecutive scores en route to a 6-3 victory over Luongo and the Canucks in front of a crowd of 18,630 at General Motors Place. The win evened the best-of-seven series at 1-1 with Game 3 scheduled for Tuesday night at the United Center.

Patrick Sharp and Dave Bolland each had two goals to help lift goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin to his first victory over the Canucks since Jan. 26, 1998, a span of 13 games.

"We felt like we were skating better [Saturday night], and it was just a matter of time before we'd get our chances," Sharp said. "Thankfully we got some by their goaltender who's big and one of the best in the league in there. It feels good to fill the net."

Vancouver took advantage of Hawks penalties in the opening period and took a 2-0 lead with power-play scores by Sami Salo and Alexander Edler.

The Hawks then reeled off five goals in a row.

Just over a minute after Luongo made the save of the series by diving and making a stick save of a Ben Eager attempt at a gaping net, Sharp banged in a rebound of an Adam Burish chance midway through the second.

The Canucks got themselves into penalty trouble three minutes later when Kevin Bieksawas sent off for hooking and Willie Mitchell followed with a delay-of-game infraction. The Hawks had a two-man advantage and were further aided when Ryan Kesler broke his stick. Sharp cashed in with a blast from the top of the left circle for his fifth goal of the postseason.

A Hawks penalty had a hand in the next score, as well. This time the visitors grabbed the momentum while killing the penalty as Bolland gloved a clearing attempt by teammate Duncan Keith at the Vancouver blue line, dropped the puck and skated in on Luongo on a breakaway.

The second-year center deked the netminder and tucked a forehand shot into the net for his second goal of the playoffs and a 3-2 Hawks lead.

"This is a tough building to play in," Bolland said. "We took the momentum from [Thursday night] even though we lost, and coming back and taking this momentum now and taking it into our rink is huge for us."

Eager jammed in a puck after a one-handed pass from Burish to make it 4-2 Hawks early in the third. It was Burish's second assist of the night.

"It was tough being down 2-0 on the road, especially in this building," said Eager, who scored his first of the playoffs. "We stuck with it and made the simple plays as we've been doing a lot of this season and we came back."

Patrick Kane added his fifth goal of the postseason with a backhand shot from in close on Luongo, and after Vancouver's Henrik Sedin cut the deficit to 5-3, Bolland's empty-netter closed the scoring.

"We knew that start obviously wasn't what we wanted," Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "When we got those first couple of goals there we got that confidence that if we play the right way and our way, things are going to work. It all added up to a good road win for us."

Khabibulin made 18 saves to earn the win while Luongo gave up the five goals on 31 Hawks shots.

ckuc@tribune.com

salo did not travel with the nucks to chicago he has had troubles staying healthy this playoffs

The view from Vancouver this morning, per The Province:

Long bombs have Louie's lot shell-shocked

Threat: Confusing Canucks coverage, putting goalie under considerable duress

Ed Willes/The Vancouver Province, May 4, 2009

On State Street that great street . . . yes, it's a special Chicago version of the Monday morning musings and meditations on the world of sports. Oprah, for one, is very excited about this development.

- The Canucks have more than a few issues to deal with as their second-round series lands in the Windy City. But job No. 1 is defending those killer stretch passes that have exposed their blueline.

David Bolland's shorthanded goal Saturday night was simply the most glaring example of that play, but the Blackhawks have used the long bomb to ignite their attack throughout the first two games.

It's confusing the Canucks' coverage. It's putting Roberto Luongo under considerable duress. And it's completely negating the Canucks' forecheck.

Here's the result. Aside from a 30-minute span from the 10-minute mark of the first period to the end of the second period in Game 1, the Hawks have dominated this series to an alarming degree. The Canucks now have to prove they can play at their speed or slow them down to their own. Either way, the challenge is formidable.

- It didn't take long for the chorus to start about the Sedins after Game 2, but the Canucks have a much larger problem concerning the twins.

No matter what happens in these playoffs, the Sedins have moved up a class in the NHL pay scale. They're not at the highest level occupied by the Crosbys and Malkins. But they're in the second tier of the game's elite.

Sorry, they are. Just look at their numbers since the lockout.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are also poised to make them a big-money offer this summer and that prospect scares the spit out of the Canucks for good reason.

Consider the optics of Brian Burke signing away the organization's two best players, non-Luongo division. Then consider the options the Canucks would be facing -- Marian Gaborik? Mike Cammalleri? -- if the twins walk.

No matter how you cut it, this is a deal the Canucks have to make. And it won't be at $5.5 million a year.

- This was Colin Campbell's rationale when he suspended Washington's Donald Brashear five games for a hit on Blair Betts in the first round:

"Brashear delivered a shoulder hit to an unsuspecting player," said the NHL's lord of discipline. "It is also my opinion that the hit was delivered late and targeted the head of his opponent, causing significant injury."

Fair enough.

But, with the exception of the injury part, Campbell could have been describing Ben Eager's hit on Rick Rypien; Mike Brown's hit on Jiri Hudler in the Anaheim-Detroit series; Corey Perry's hit on Jonathan Cheechoo in the Anaheim-San Jose first-round series; or any one of a number of incidents from the playoffs that haven't resulted in suspensions.

Granted, the injury aspect was a factor in Campbell's decision. So was Brashear's track record. But, for the 534th time, the league had an opportunity to send a message about head shots and the message they sent was they're not that serious.

- In the very near future, a Stanley Cup final will be decided because some luckless defenceman attempted to clear the puck, missed the glass by three inches and took a delay-of-game penalty.

I mean, consider Willie Mitchell's play in the second period of Saturday's game.

During a penalty kill, the Canucks blueliner took a reflex swipe at a puck in midair
and somehow managed to propel it over the boards.

Mitchell couldn't do it again if he tried but the Blackhawks still received an extended five-on-three which led to the game-tying goal. That goal also changed the complexion of the game.

Sorry, don't understand that rule and never will. It equates shooting the puck over the glass with hooking a player during a scoring chance or cross-checking another player in the face.

---

The report from Chicago for this game day:

ChicagoBlackhawks.com/May 4, 2009, 2:50 PM EDT

Toews is feeling fine
05.04.2009 2:15 p.m

A recent report in the Toronto Globe & Mail stated that Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews not only was recovering from the flu, but was dealing with a shoulder injury so bad that he could barely raise on of his arms.

Following Monday's morning skate at United Center, Toews denied those rumors by raising both arms and stating, "I feel fine."

He admits his recovery from the flu has certainly taken its toll but that he is feeling much better than he did at the start of the series.

"Obviously, you still have to battle and eat and sleep and do your best to recover as fast as you can but the last two games have been a battle," Toews told me. "Unfortunately we came up short in Game 1 but in the last couple games I feel that guys stepped up and, really, didn't necessarily even need me out there. Hopefully, I'll be able to contribute a little more on Tuesday."

Toews saw 14:21 of ice time in Game 2 victory on Saturday and chipped in with an assist in a 6-3 triumph. He also won 64 percent of his face-offs.

"That's a rumor (about Toews' arm)," Blackhawks rookie Kris Versteeg told NHL.com. "(Joel) Quenneville said it nicely when he told the media he had an upper body flu and that's about it. He's been fine and he's been working hard and it's tough sometimes when you have those little things like the flu."

--Mike G. Morreale

Taking the momentum
05.04.2009 1:17 p.m. ETWhen a team that doesn't have the home-ice advantage opens a series, they usually look at the schedule and try to split the first two games in the other team's arena. That's exactly what the Blackhawks accomplished with their 6-3 win Saturday night in Game 2 in Vancouver after losing Game 1, 5-3.

Now the series is set to shift back to Chicago, where the Blackhawks had a 3-0 record in the first round against the Flames. During the regular season, the 'Hawks were pretty impressive at the United Center as well, losing just nine home games in regulation.

Chicago center Dave Bolland, who scored a shorthanded goal which gave the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead in the second period of Game 2, thinks that with a win in the most recent game that Chicago now has the momentum coming home.

"Taking this momentum now and bringing it into our rink is huge for us," Bolland told the Chicago Tribune. "These are two tremendous teams going at it hard. Everybody wants to win, so it's looking to be a long series."

Now the Blackhawks have home-ice advantage with three of a possible five games to be played in Chicago.

The Canucks, however, won both of their road games in the first round against St. Louis proving that they can win on the road as well and coach Alain Vigneault knew his team would encounter more adversity in this round after sweeping the Blues in four games last round.

"This is our first loss in the playoffs," Vigneault told the Vancouver Province. "You have to be realistic. We didn't think we'd win this series four straight. We've faced adversity before and bounced back. We're going to go to Chicago and play our hearts out."

--Adam Schwartz compiled this report for chicagoblackhawks.com

How much is on the line for each of the teams in this series?

From TSN,ca, an interesting set of factoids:

The clubs have met just twice in the postseason and each team has won a round.

They last met in 1995, when Chicago swept Vancouver in four games during the conference semifinals.

Neither the Blackhawks nor the Canucks have made it to the conference finals since the mid-1990s, but that will change for one club with the outcome of this series.

Chicago made it to the West finals last in 1995, where it lost to Detroit in five games.

The Canucks were last participants in the conference finals in 1994, when they made it to the franchise's second Stanley Cup Finals before falling in seven games to the New York Rangers.

this game depends on how the nucks play the hawks have shown they will play their game and they can get through but the nucks need to tighten up a bit to keep the hawks of the board but huge amount of credit to the hawks for getting traffic in the way

The post game view from Chicago, by Dan Rosenbloom of The Tribune:

It's not pretty when the Hawks try to get pretty

Tuesday. May 5 2009, 10:46 pm/'Rosenblog', Chicago Tribune

How many three-goal deficits do the Blackhawks think they can overcome in the playoffs? One fewer than they forced themselves into at home in Game 3 on Tuesday. The “at home" part is frustrating. The "three-goal deficit" stuff is inexcusable. The Hawks have fallen behind Vancouver by three goals, two goals and three goals again. The first time, they tied it up before losing the game late. The second time, they scored five in a row to steal a win on the road. The third time, they just blew it. True fact: The Hawks have played 180 minutes vs. the Canucks. They have trailed Vancouver for 112:39 of that. The Hawks had a big crowd and a lot of momentum coming home tied in the series. Even better, they got an early power play. But they would manage only one good chance, and really, that would be it for the period. The Canucks, meanwhile, withstood the usual 10-minute onslaught the Hawks throw at teams in the United Center, and then they took control of the game. Sorry, but it shouldn’t have happened. Not this way. Not at home. Not after a terrorizing comeback in Game 2. Worse, the Hawks didn’t just lose Game 3, they gave it away, making a couple awful plays that led to Vancouver’s first two goals. On the first, Hawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin gave away the puck in a mixup behind the net. On the second, Patrick Kane took a lazy, selfish penalty 180 feet away from his goaltender late in the first period -- a play that would get him benched in the second period as the Canucks converted on the power play. Seven minutes later, Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith lost the puck in the left circle, and bang, it was 3-0, Vancouver. And bang, the Hawks were stuck again. The Hawks tried to get too fancy, too pretty. They could be accused of trying to put on a show for the home folks. They forgot to shoot the puck. They had just won a big game in which they beat Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo with one-timers, dekes and rebounds, and now they can’t even remember to shoot the stinkin’ puck? Look, Luongo can be spectacular even when you pepper him with rubber. To not even force him to duck around screens and scramble in the crease is suicide. There was a play late in the second period when Patrick Sharp got loose down the slot on a rush, but Luongo got a shoulder on a shot ticketed for the top left corner. A goal there, and momentum tilts dramatically in favor of the Hawks. Instead, the thing about that one good chance was it showed how effectively the Canucks had taken away the Hawks’ speed they couldn’t handle for most of the first two games in Vancouver by clogging up the neutral zone. This should’ve clued in the Hawks that the Canucks weren’t giving them the room to make plays at top speed. This should’ve prompted the Hawks to chip the puck deep, work the boards, and get the puck to the net. They didn’t figure it out Tuesday. Hope they learn by Thursday.

Vancouver 3, Chicago 1

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

Final

8:00 PM ET, May 5, 2009, United Center, Chicago, Illinois

Luongo takes stand for series lead as Canucks' defense holds Hawks at bay

CHICAGO (AP/ESPN)-- Roberto Luongo made sure Vancouver's early lead stood up, instead of slipping away.

The Canucks offset the Chicago Blackhawks' speed with better puck control and tougher defense and quieted the raucous crowd at the United Center with a 3-1 victory Tuesday night that gave them a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference semifinals.

"That was our game plan tonight, not to feed their transition," Luongo said. "They had a lot of scoring chances the last couple of games because of it. Our defensemen did a good job in front of the net."



Even without versatile defenseman Sami Salo, sidelined by an injury, Vancouver kept the Blackhawks from getting up and down the ice like they did in Game 2 when they pulled out a 6-3 victory.

"We were able to shut down one of the most skilled and best transition teams I've seen in a long time," Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said. "We're going to keep it high percentage. I think if we do that and play a good puck possession game, we give ourselves a better chance to win."

Fast Facts


• The Blackhawks suffered their first home loss in four postseason games.
• Henrik Sedin scored his fourth postseason goal and set a single-season playoff high (had three in two prior instances). His brother Daniel Sedin had an assist and the Canucks have won 12 of their last 13 playoff games in which both score a point in the same game.
• The Canucks managed exactly seven shots in each of the three periods while the Blackhawks had seven shots each in the first two periods. Chicago had 24 shots on goal total, but it also had 21 shot attempts blocked.
• Vancouver had just three giveaways for the entire game.
• Vancouver has led in 15 of the 22 periods it has played in this postseason and are 4-for-12 on the power play on the road in the playoffs.
-- ESPN Stats & Information

Game 4 is back at the United Center on Thursday night before the series returns to Vancouver for Game 5 on Saturday night.

After surrendering eight goals in the first two games of the series at Vancouver, Luongo finished with 23 saves Tuesday, including a spectacular stop on Dave Bolland when the Blackhawks had a power play early in the third period.

Mason Raymond scored for the Canucks late in the first to give them the lead for the third straight game, and Steve Bernier's goal during a power play early in the second put Vancouver up by two. Henrik Sedin's fourth goal of the playoffs made it 3-0 in the second.

But Brian Campbell's slapper from the high circle on a power play -- with Chicago's burly Dustin Byfuglien in the crease -- cut the lead to 3-1 as the crowd that had been quiet for most of the night quickly erupted, hoping that another comeback was on its way.

But Luongo didn't let this lead slip. The Blackhawks had rallied from 3-0 and 2-0 deficits in Games 1 and 2 and earned a split, but there was no comeback this time.

Luongo also made a nice stop on Jonathan Toews with about 10 minutes left when the Blackhawks captain tried to stuff the puck in from the side.

"When we did make a few mistakes in the third period, Roberto made the saves he had to make," Vigneault said.

Luongo, who's had done some trash talking with the 6-foot-3, 247-pound Byfuglien when he comes near the goal throughout the series, said he wanted to say something to him after the Canucks' victory. Byfuglien was called for goaltender interference early in the game.

"Unfortunately after the game I was going to congratulate him, but he skated away with his head down. I'm sure we'll talk next game," Luongo said.

Vancouver's first goal came as Ryan Kesler was being hit and knocked off his feet by Chicago's Ben Eager. At the last second, he dished the puck off to Raymond, who beat Nikolai Khabibulin for his first career playoff goal and a 1-0 lead.

"I just think we came out flat," Chicago defenseman Duncan Keith said. "They had the jump on us. It's frustrating that way to let them get the first goal. You can't come back every game."

With Vancouver on a power play that started with 40 seconds left in the first, Bernier maneuvered in front and knocked in a rebound off Alexander Edler's shot from the point.

With both teams down a man and after a turnover by the Blackhawks, Henrik Sedin scrapped for the puck at the side of the goal and eventually poked it under Khabibulin's pads for a three-goal lead.

"We weren't crisp with the puck. We didn't get it deep or get it to the net," Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "I didn't like anything about our game."
Khabibulin made 18 saves.

Game notes
Salo didn't play after being injured in Game 2, but Vigneault said Salo was in Chicago. He could be back for Game 4. RW Pavol Demitra, also shaken up in the second game, was out with an injury and will be re-evaluated in a week, the team said. ... Canucks LW Taylor Pyatt played for the first time since the death of his fiancee in a car crash in early April. "Without a doubt it was a very emotional moment for us as a group," Vigneault said. "He played a really good game for somebody who has been out for some time."

Sounds like a solid effort and commitment to team D and to the game plan for shutting down the Hawks. This is the type of team the Nucks are and how they're built. Ball is now in your court Chi town. It'll be an interesting game to watch if the Hawks can start with a lead.