CHICAGO, Ill. – The “Rat” is back. After missing almost 17 games with a concussion, Chicago Blackhawks center Dave Bolland returned to the lineup in a big way scoring a goal and assisting on three leading up to a dominating 7-2 victory. The series now returns to Vancouver on Thursday for Game Five as the Canucks still lead the series three games to one.
Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook is out of the lineup after a hard hit from Raffi Torres in the last game. This moved John Scott back to defense and Patrick Sharp moving to center. Vancouver pretty much stayed with the same lineup.
Left wing Bryan Bickell got the hometown fans excited as he skated around Kevin Bieska then managed to pull the puck back, slowing just around in front of Canuck netminder Roberto Luongo where he got the opportunity to sweep the puck just past the outstretched right leg early in the period.
Bolland unfortunately got the first penalty of the game and Vancouver took advantage of situation. Defenseman Sami Salo received the puck from his fellow defenseman Alexander Edler at the blue line and one times a shot in past Corey Crawford to knot the game at one. Vancouver at this point was 3 for 7 on the power play in the series.
In the second is where the ‘Hawks started to reeled off six straight goals. It started right after being shut out on a power play. In just seconds after Vancouver went to full strength, the Blackhawks got two quick goals from their defensemen just 17 seconds apart at the 5:18 mark. Brian Campbell received a dish from Patrick Kane where he lifted the puck over Luongo’s glove hand. Michael Frolik then battled for the puck deep into the zone. He passed it up front to the slot where Duncan Keith got the puck in pretty much the same spot that Campbell got his goal.
Dave Bolland showed no affects from his injury and is having the game of his life. The Canucks were trying to clear the puck, but Bolland was coming down along the boards to intercept it. He skated hard towards the net across the slot and as he got near the crease he went backhand forehand and in right under Luongo’s stick-hand.
Just over a minute left in the second, it was Bolland again getting into the mix. He went charging for the puck in their zone. He then tapped it to Frolik who took the biscuit in on Luongo to end the period with the ‘Hawks leading 5-1.
Now if the ‘Hawks could’ve spread the goals around, center Patrick Sharp got on the board in the third. Kane passed to puck to Sharp from the far dot to near for the one timer that got in on high over the stick-side of Luongo on the power play 2:49 into the final frame.
At this point is when head coach Alain Vigneault finally pulled the plug on Luongo and put Cory Schneider in. But the change didn’t matter as Sharp did it again with the man advantage. He parked himself right next to Schneider where he received the puck from Marian Hossa, he had plenty of time to settle the puck and found his spot in for the goal.
At 16:24 the Canucks got their consolation goal as Ryan Kesler won the faceoff to pass it back to Christian Ehrhoff who ripped the puck towards the net where Daniel Sedin redirected the puck in for the goal.
There was some talk that Luongo might have gotten dinged during a scrum at the end of the first period which might have took him off his game, but overall you can feel who came out wanting the game more. In the first three games, Vancouver came out strong and physical and took the ‘Hawk right out of their game. With Bolland’s return, he brought a pesky presence that can unravel any team. Their forecheck finally appeared in a game and they finally got to the old adage that if you don’t shot you won’t score. Chicago outshot Vancouver 35-23. But they also outhit them 44-33, unlike the Canucks averaging 20 more hits in the first three games of the series compared to that of the regular season.
The line of Bickell, Bolland, and Frolik were all plus-4s in the game along with the defensive pair of Brian Campbell and Niklas Hjalmarsson.
Crawford was excellent in net for the win, stopping 21 of the 23 shots he faced. Luongo suffered the loss letting in six goals on the 28 shots with Schneider going six saves on seven shots in relief.
Three Stars of the Game:
Michael Frolik with a goal and two assists as Three Star
Patrick Sharp with two goals as the Two Star
Dave Bolland with a goal and three assists as the One Star
Contact the author at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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