Canucks-Blackhawks: Vancouver Crushes Chicago En Route To Game One Win

Heading into the Western Conference semifinals there were plenty of questions surrounding the Vancouver Canucks.

Could they match the tough physical game that the Chicago Blackhawks would surely bring to the table? Would Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo be able to bounce back from his horrific Game Six performance against the Hawks in last season’s semifinal? And, could the Canucks silence the critics, many of whom felt they would be overwhelmed by the Blackhawks in this series?

Well, the Canucks answered all of those questions last night, defeating the Hawks by a score of 5-1, taking a huge first step in erasing the memory of last season’s disappointing defeat.

Canucks' goaltender Roberto Luongo was solid between the pipes, stopping 36 pucks, 17 of which came at him in the first period. It was Luongo’s epic first-period performance that set the tone for last night’s game, giving the Canucks a chance to extract a little revenge on the Hawks, who admittedly came out very strong in the first period last night.

The Hawks struggled all night, unable to score, continually getting caught in the defensive zone by the Canucks. The Canucks would emerge from the first period up by a score of 2-0 on goals from defenseman Christian Ehrhoff and forward Mason Raymond.

The second period was all Vancouver as well as the Canucks took it to the Hawks, refusing to play into the Hawks intimidating tactics, subsequently making the Hawks pay where it hurts most—on the scoreboard.

By the time the second period was over the Canucks were up by a score of 5-0 with Henrik Sedin, Michael Grabner, and Kyle Wellwood (a power play marker) lighting the lamp.

Patrick Kane would respond for the Hawks at 02:07 of the third period, ruining Luongo’s shutout bid. In the end it wouldn’t matter, the Canucks spanked the young Hawks and Luongo had redeemed himself, if only for one game.

There is plenty of blame to go around in the Chicago locker room for the game one loss. Hawks goaltender Antti Niemi struggled to find his game, allowing four goals on 21 shots. That said, the Hawks defense was to blame for many of those goals as they failed to contain the noticeably quicker Canucks forwards, which often left Niemi hanging out to dry.

Dustin Byfuglien—a player that was supposed to be a difference maker heading into the series—was a non-factor. Byfuglien would play just 10:43 in the game, 3:45 of which was on the power play.
For the Canucks, big performances from the likes of Kyle Wellwood, Mason raymond and Christian Ehrhoff were the catalyst for the Canucks win. Balanced scoring will serve you well in the playoffs—the Canucks are off to a good start in that department.

Michael Samuelsson—who scored seven goals in the Canucks first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings—was kept off the scoresheet. If the Blackhawks are looking for positives coming out of game one I suppose this is one of them.

The Canucks extracted a measure of respect from the critics and the Hawks in Game One. Going forward the Canucks can expect the Hawks to play a very physical game with an emphasis on getting into Luongo’s head and grill.

The series has just begun, but the Game One victory was a huge one for the Canucks, especially when you consider they did it in Chicago—one of the toughest buildings to win in at any time, never mind the playoffs.

Game Two will be played on Monday night in Chicago—expect a better effort from the Hawks, another loss would be devastating.

Until next time,

Peace!