NHL Playoffs 2011: Can the Canucks Match the Improved Blackhawks in Game 2?

The Vancouver Canucks took a page out of the 2010 Stanley Cup Champion's playbook, and battered those same Chicago Blackhawks with a barrage of hits en route to a 2-0 victory in Game 1.

After watching Byfuglien, Ladd, Brower, Eager, Burish, Versteeg and company run the fragile Canucks defencemen with impunity in the second round last year, it was great to see Vancouver turn the tables.

But the Canucks can't rest on their laurels.

You don't win the Stanley Cup by taking abuse and not pushing back. The Blackhawks will come out hard early in Game 2 to silence the crowd and try to put a sliver of doubt back into the mind of the Canucks who were around for the consecutive playoff defeats in 2009 and 2010.

After all, in both 2009 and 2010 Vancouver won Game 1 but went on to lose four of the next five games to the dominant Blackhawks.

Here are some keys for Game 2:

First, the Sedins need to score. The twins need to be the big guns for the Canucks and match the Hawks' top line goal for goal.

They did that in Game 1 when the Hawks were blanked, but Jonathan Toews will be better. He didn't win a Conn Smythe by going home when the going gets tough. Same goes for Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp.

Whether its PP or even strength, the Sedins need to put some points on the board. If they can do that, the Canucks will be fine.

Second, the Canucks need to keep hitting the Hawks, especially the key players who are playing big minutes. If Keith is going to play 30 minutes a night, if Kane is going to play 24 minutes a night, then they have to be hit at every opportunity.

You can load up and play your stars like that for a series, especially when they're as young as the Hawks', but hits will take their toll. 

Third, the Canucks need to continue to expose the Hawks' depth players. It's no secret that Chicago had to remake more than half their roster after last year, and the replacement players are not as good (at least through the regular season and Game 1).

Make Coach Quenneville afraid to put those guys on the ice like he was late in Game 1.

Fourth, target the Hawks who're playing hurt. Now, I'm not saying take cheap shots and try to injure players, but if Brouwer is going to come back early from a shoulder injury make sure to lay a heavy hit on him instead of peeling off. Same goes for Sharp.

The playoffs are a rough game, and I didn't see any Hawks politely declining to hit Kesler and Burrows last year when they were playing injured. Salo got run repeatedly in the first game back after almost losing a testicle last year.

Return the favour and don't pass up any hits.

Fifth, stay in Crawford's face and go hard to the net. He's already complaining in the media about the traffic after a single game.

Oh, the irony of the Blackhawks complaining about goalie interference. Keep up the traffic and try to rattle Crawford.

Sixth, and this is the most important thing in my mind, the Canucks need to not get too excited over Game 1's victory. In other words, don't buy into the hype and headlines. The Hawks won't go down easy, and this isn't going to be a sweep.

At the risk of overusing sports cliches, the Canucks need to keep doing what they've done all year, taking it one game at a time, not getting too high after a win or too low after a loss.

It bears repeating that this isn't the first time the Hawks have been down in a series, and it didn't slow them down much the last two times against the Canucks.

All in all, if the Canucks play their game and don't get rattled by the ghosts of series past, they can enter the weekend with a comfortable 2-0 lead.

Injury Updates:

It appears that Tomas Kopecky will not play on Friday with a suspected concussion. Ryan Johnson will play, however.

And, for perhaps the only time I can say this in the playoffs, the Canucks have no injuries and will start the same roster for Game 2.