VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The Vancouver Canucks almost let one by as they almost let the Chicago Blackhawks back into the game leading by three goals going into the third period. But a three-on-one put the lead back into the Canucks hands for good.
The long layoff seemed to affect the Canucks as they couldn’t get a shot on the board for almost five minutes into the game. The Blackhawks were able to kill a double minor only to be for a tripping penalty a few seconds later. The Canucks did well on their power plays but the Blackhawks were able to box them out from getting a shot. But with 4:38 left in the first period, Kyle Wellword passed the puck down low to Mats Sundin who passed the puck across to crease in front of ‘Hawks netminder Nikolai Khabibulin straight to Pavol Demitra who lifted a tight-angle goal to give them a 1-0 lead after the first.
It was all Vancouver again in the second where they scored two goals. Henrik Sedin got a little helper from his brother Daniel as he passed the puck right to him in front of the net for a quick snapper into the net 5:1 3 into the period. At almost the same time as they scored their first goal, it was Wellwood making the play from behind the net where he found Ryan Kesler sitting in front of the net where he punched it in.
Chicago needed to start off strong in the third if they have a chance to get back into the game and boy did they do that. A minute into the period, Duncan Keith and Martin Havlat skated parallel towards the net making across where Havlat passed to Patrick Kane who got the shot in top shelf on goaltender Roberto Luongo.
Ten minutes later on the power play it was Kane again. Defenseman Brent Seabrook kept the puck in from the blue line and fired it on net where Luongo made the initial block down low but it rebounded right to Kane who swept it in high to bring the scored within one.
The ‘Hawks then knotted the score at 14:31 as Seabrook’s defensive partner Duncan Keith fired a shot at the net but the rebound took Luongo out to the top of the crease. The puck escaped behind the Vancouver goaltender to Dave Bolland on the side of the net where he backhanded the puck to himself and forehanded it in. But just like the great comeback in Game 4 in the last series against the Calgary Flames, the Chicago Blackhawks could not get out with a win. Chicago had a great opportunity on the odd man rush but it backfired with the advantage going to the Canucks. On the three-on-one, defenseman Sami Salo was the trailer with no one around and got the puck in on a wrister at 18:47. With Khabibulin pulled, Ryan Johnson scored the empty netter with 16 seconds left.
Each team scored on the power play but the penalty kill for the ‘Hawks played very well. They were able to kill off two double minors in the game. Vancouver had three penalties for six minutes while the ‘Hawks had five for fourteen minutes. Luongo faced 31 shots while Khabibulin was close at 27. Commentary
Even though Vancouver won this first game, it showed that Chicago could play with this team. The Canucks couldn’t get their legs under them in most of the third as the speed and possibly the long layoff tripped them up for three goals. If the ‘Hawks can play a solid sixty minutes they might have actually pulled out this game with a win. Once they got in close on Luongo and pushed with pressure they were able to get the puck in close especially if there is a rebound. Khabibulin seemed to have a little trouble going side to side as numerous passes went back and forth in front of him. His record against this team is now 0-10-1-1. This win was the Canucks fifth straight playoff win which is a team record.
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As we go into Game 2 on Saturday night look for the Chicago Blackhawks to still play a physical game but more disciplined. They were able to adjust to the Flames aggressive style as the series went on in the last round. Can the ‘Hawks now tone it down and use their depth to score against the finesse play of the Canucks? We will see this weekend.
Contact the author at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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