Weather the storm, that's what the Blackhawks were supposed to do in the first period of Wednesday night's 2-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Everybody and their cousin knew that that's what they needed to do since they knew the Canucks would come out pumped and flying. Got that? Unfortunately, to the boys in white Indian-head sweaters, that meant getting out-skated, out-hit, and out-scored. The 'Nucks made them look like the Mighty Ducks before Gordon Bombay took over and turned around the District 5 team. There's no excuse for not coming out the same way the Canucks did, especially since they were essentially gift-wraped a playoff appearance from Dallas (or would it be Minnesota?). I was merely looking for effort for the first 20 minutes and that is not what was given. 13-7 shots and 20-9 hits, both advantages went to the Canucks.
I even made a note that Campbell needs to "get his head out of his [rear-end"]. (I can't remember anything specific, but his effort and decisions were bad enough for me to physically type it in so I just wanted to share that).
I'll let the Higgins goal go because anybody that can redirect a 90 MPH slapshot from Bieksa 12 feet out from the right circle deserves a fortunate bounce. That one was definately not on Crawford. While I'm at it, neither goal was on Crow. There wasn't much he could do on the Hansen breakaway either. He was the only one, the rookie in his first playoff appearance mind you, who weathered the proverbial storm. He did a nice job of absorbing the rubber he was being peppered with early on and for the remainder of the contest as he saved 31 of 33 shots.
Soupy almost made up for his poor first period play by potting one to cut the lead in half late in the first, but to the Hawks' dismay, Luongo made a pretty post-to-post toe-save. Campbell raised his stick in satisfaction only to find Luongo soaking up the puck after it caromed off the iron.
The second period didn't start out much better as the Hawks were on a power-play 49 seconds in after Hossa was slashed at the blue-line but didn't get many quality chances out of it.
However, it was a much better second period for the Hawks. They should've had to pay rent for all the time they spent in Vancouver's zone. The 15-13 shots-on-goal don't reflect that dominance, but if you watched the game, you know what I mean when I say that it passed the eye test. They also should've scored once or twice, but to no avail. Kaner threw one off of Luongo's back that almost banked in and Brower flicked one to a breaking Hossa just out of his reach. There just wasn't any puck-luck and it never found it's way to tickle the twine.
My only gripes for the second period were the unnecessary passes that turned into giveaways and the infinitely dumb play from Kaner who centered the puck from behind his own net. Luckily nobody was home for Vancouver. Other than that, that's the way Blackhawk hockey should be played.
The third period was fairly even, I would even lean towards Vancouver because they did what they set out to do and didn't allow the Hawks to score. Again, a good amount of time was spent in the Canuck zone, but they consistently kept the puck out on the perimeter and were able to clear it just enough to not give up any quality chances.
Bieksa was called for interference, but the Hawks maybe got one good chance and the power-play was effectively killed. Stalberg actually had a good chance in the third, but the puck again clanked off the post. It was so frustrating at that point that it seemed like the puck had a weak magnet in it to find the iron but only when it came off of the blade of a Blackhawk. Daniel Sedin of the "Sedin Sisters" hooked Toews, but they killed that penalty as well. It was then Brower who went to the bad-boy box for goalkeeper interference. I would've liked to have seen that much earlier in the game to knock Luongo out of his comfort-zone.
Tempers began to flare late in the game with Kaner getting rabbit-punched at center-ice and it was Keith who came to the rescue.
Unfortunately, Luongo slammed the door shut saving 32 of 32 shots for his 35th career shut-out.
Keeping in mind that for six or seven Blackhawks, it was their first playoff appearance, and the Canucks came out hitting and got the crowd into the game, and knowing that the team who wins the second game of a series wins 70% of the time, the Blackhawks will have to again weather the storm in order to steal a game before heading home to the UC for game three.
Tune in to the Chicago Sports Fix radio show with Josh Catlow and me Rob Zielinski every Friday from 6 to 8pm on chicagolandsportsradio.com Share your thoughts with us by calling 312.884.8205 or email us at chicagosportsfix@gmail.com
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I even made a note that Campbell needs to "get his head out of his [rear-end"]. (I can't remember anything specific, but his effort and decisions were bad enough for me to physically type it in so I just wanted to share that).
I'll let the Higgins goal go because anybody that can redirect a 90 MPH slapshot from Bieksa 12 feet out from the right circle deserves a fortunate bounce. That one was definately not on Crawford. While I'm at it, neither goal was on Crow. There wasn't much he could do on the Hansen breakaway either. He was the only one, the rookie in his first playoff appearance mind you, who weathered the proverbial storm. He did a nice job of absorbing the rubber he was being peppered with early on and for the remainder of the contest as he saved 31 of 33 shots.
Soupy almost made up for his poor first period play by potting one to cut the lead in half late in the first, but to the Hawks' dismay, Luongo made a pretty post-to-post toe-save. Campbell raised his stick in satisfaction only to find Luongo soaking up the puck after it caromed off the iron.
The second period didn't start out much better as the Hawks were on a power-play 49 seconds in after Hossa was slashed at the blue-line but didn't get many quality chances out of it.
However, it was a much better second period for the Hawks. They should've had to pay rent for all the time they spent in Vancouver's zone. The 15-13 shots-on-goal don't reflect that dominance, but if you watched the game, you know what I mean when I say that it passed the eye test. They also should've scored once or twice, but to no avail. Kaner threw one off of Luongo's back that almost banked in and Brower flicked one to a breaking Hossa just out of his reach. There just wasn't any puck-luck and it never found it's way to tickle the twine.
My only gripes for the second period were the unnecessary passes that turned into giveaways and the infinitely dumb play from Kaner who centered the puck from behind his own net. Luckily nobody was home for Vancouver. Other than that, that's the way Blackhawk hockey should be played.
The third period was fairly even, I would even lean towards Vancouver because they did what they set out to do and didn't allow the Hawks to score. Again, a good amount of time was spent in the Canuck zone, but they consistently kept the puck out on the perimeter and were able to clear it just enough to not give up any quality chances.
Bieksa was called for interference, but the Hawks maybe got one good chance and the power-play was effectively killed. Stalberg actually had a good chance in the third, but the puck again clanked off the post. It was so frustrating at that point that it seemed like the puck had a weak magnet in it to find the iron but only when it came off of the blade of a Blackhawk. Daniel Sedin of the "Sedin Sisters" hooked Toews, but they killed that penalty as well. It was then Brower who went to the bad-boy box for goalkeeper interference. I would've liked to have seen that much earlier in the game to knock Luongo out of his comfort-zone.
Tempers began to flare late in the game with Kaner getting rabbit-punched at center-ice and it was Keith who came to the rescue.
Unfortunately, Luongo slammed the door shut saving 32 of 32 shots for his 35th career shut-out.
Keeping in mind that for six or seven Blackhawks, it was their first playoff appearance, and the Canucks came out hitting and got the crowd into the game, and knowing that the team who wins the second game of a series wins 70% of the time, the Blackhawks will have to again weather the storm in order to steal a game before heading home to the UC for game three.
Tune in to the Chicago Sports Fix radio show with Josh Catlow and me Rob Zielinski every Friday from 6 to 8pm on chicagolandsportsradio.com Share your thoughts with us by calling 312.884.8205 or email us at chicagosportsfix@gmail.com
PREACH
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