After a long and hardfought series, the Vancouver Canucks finally fell to the young and determined Chicago team that had been written off as an inexperienced group of kids since the start of the playoffs. Having beaten Calgary in the first round, Chicago began to turn heads, and continued to do so as they tied up the series with Vancouver on two occassions, in both the second and fourth games.
The Canucks went into this series as the favourites, despite showing signs of struggle against the Hawks in the opening game, then being shutdown 6-3 on home ice in the second game. But no matter how hard they tried, or which tactics they employed, the Canucks could not solve the Blackhawks and found themselves traling 3-2 in the series as they headed back to Chicago for Game 6.
It was a sea-saw battle for 53 minutes as both teams lost and regained the lead; a number of Vancouver’s fourth-liners stepped up to keep their team in the game, Shane O’Brien especially, having scored his first playoff goal in the second period to tie the game at three a piece.
Although the majority of the Canucks made their resence known in the United Center, one integral member of the team failed to live up to the standards of not only the fans, but himself as well. Roberto Luongo, for the first time as a Canuck, let in seven goals in one game, and had this to say after the game: “We had some chances early and I made some saves, but the rest of the way I didn’t help my teammates out,” continuing, “When you let in seven goals, I don’t think that’s a very good performance.”
While the loss can’t be placed entirely on Luongo’s shoulders, it was a dissappointing loss for the team and fans of Canadian hockey as the Canucks were the last of the Canadian teams to be eliminated from the tournament. Now fans must wait a grueling four months before they can see how this team will rebound.
Tag: NHL Western Conference
Canucks denied after defensive effort
The first three games of this evenly matched Canucks and Blackhawks series has been a close strategic battle, Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault likening the matchup with opposition coach Joel Quenneville to a chess match. Both coaches have been matching lines and trying to figure out the best plan to take the lead, and while there must be a winner at the end of each game, they find the series tied after Game 4 last night, proving how closely these teams have been playing.
The Canucks have been able to open the scoring in each game so far against the Blackhawks, but it has only paid off in two of them. Game 2 resulted in a terrible 6-3 defeat as the Canucks’ control of the game fell apart in the second period, but they rebounded in Game 3 with a 3-1 win on the road, looking as though they had solved the Chicago Blackhawks puzzle.
Having opened the scoring once again with Darcy Hordichuk’s goal in the second period, head coach Vigneault decided on this game’s new strategy: play the trap and focus on defense. With that in mind, the Canucks played a style reminiscent of the Minnesota Wild where they collapse to their blue line and control any offensive advances in their zone.
While the decison to play for the one-goal win seemed to be working against the offensively struggling Chicago team, a series of small slip-ups on Vancouver’s part led to a defensive breakdown, allowing Martin Havlat the opportunity to tie up the game with less than three minutes to go in the game. This would force an overtime period that the Canucks would have to adjust to offensively, having sat back and defended for most of the game.
Although Vancouver played a solid 57 minutes and generated early chances in overtime, they failed to stop Andrew Ladd three minutes into the extra frame, who put it through Luongo to take the game and tie the series at two.
Game 5 of this series takes place this Saturday, May 9th, at GM Place at 7:30 PM PST.
Canucks look to prep series for hometown victory
With a demoralizing defeat in their own arena in Game 2, the Canucks were able to return the favor to the Blackhawks, silencing the home crowd in Chicago in Game 3 with a 3-1 victory, reclaiming the lead in the best of four series, 2-1. As great as a playoff win on the road is, the Canucks must step up their level of play for Game 4 tonight, having shown signs of weakness against the Hawks since the series began.
Game 3 showcased the defensive capabilites of the Canucks, many of the defenseman claiming it has been their best defensive effort yet, keeping the young and offensive Chicago team away from the net and controlling rebounds. Although the game did not go off without a hitch — recording two delay of game penalties for putting the puck over the glass — the Canucks were able to block a series-high 21 shots in front of captain Roberto Luongo, as well as kill 4 of 5 penalties.
Perhaps the most surprising fact is that they were able to accomplish this without the aid of star defenseman Sami Salo and offensive forward Pavol Demitra, both of whom are out with injuries sustained in Game 2. With the loss of two important players came the return of Taylor Pyatt and Ossi Vaananen, the former making his first appearance since early April when he took a personal leave. With the return of Pyatt, team morale was high, and his contribution to the team was undeniable, recording a team-leading four shots in the game.
All the pieces are in place for an outstanding road performance by the Canucks if they can continue the success they’ve found buoyed by the presence of Pyatt, and their reinvigorated defensive strategies. If they can win on the road once again, they will be set to win the series in their home arena, GM Place, on Saturday, May 9th.
The puck drops for Game 4 at 5:00 PM PST tonight (May 7th).
Canucks hold onto lead in Game 3
Before last night’s performance, the Canucks have had a tough time maintaining their intense level of play through an entire 60-minutes; in the first two games against the Blackhawks, they gave up a three-goal and a two-goal lead, the latter resulting in a demoralizing 6-3 loss. So when the Canucks achieved yet another three-goal lead in last night’s Game three in Chicago, no one could be blamed for remaining cautiously optimistic.
While both teams seemed to be playing an off game — evidenced by the three overall delay of game penalties for flipping the puck over the glass, and the ridiculous number of times a man was taken down by his own skates — the Canucks were able to take the lead late in the first period off a goal from Raymond, and added to it twice more with two early second period goals, one from Bernier and the other from Henrik Sedin.
However, just 2:30 after the third goal, Chicago struck back with a powerplay goal, a reminder to the Canucks how quickly things can change when the momentum shifts, especially when the opposing team has the home-ice advantage. The remainder of the game was a display of Vancouver’s defensive fortitude, as they pressured the Blackhawks in their own zone with the help of Ryan Kesler, one of the best defensive forwards, and stood their ground in their own zone with an overall count of 21 blocked shots.
Although Chicago had their chances at making a third comeback, the Canucks, buoyed by Luongo’s performance, were able to hang on to the two-goal lead and take the 2-1 series lead in Chicago. Of all the games the Canucks have won so far in the 2009 playoffs, this was their most important. The Canucks will face the Blackhawks in Chicago for the second time tomorrow night at 5:00PM PST in Game 4.
Six is the new four
The second round of the playoffs are now underway, and aside from the Pittsburgh and Washington series (which will see the ice tonight at 7:00 PM PST), all of them are tied at one a piece. Now, this obviously means that these series will require a fifth game at the least, but it also shows how quickly the playoffs can intensify and how teams can no longer hope for a series sweep; the way the first two games have been played so far in this second round, teams will be lucky to finish the job in six games, avoiding at all costs the seventh game, which would no doubt be played on pins and needles rather than ice.
While it is still completely possible to win the series in five games, all eight teams seem evenly matched with each other despite their respective standings. Simply look at the eigth placed Anaheim Ducks from the Wesern Conference and ther ability to contend with second placed Detroit; their second game went into three frames of overtime before a winner was determined, just hinting at the extra-curricular games that might be played by the end of the second round.
The depth of the remaining eight teams’ is shown even further when you look at individual lines and players: in the Chicago/Vancouver series you have Sharp, Toews, and Kane squaring off against the Sedins and Burrows; the Pens and Caps have the hyped matchup between Crosby and Ovechkin; the Bruins and Canes have the matchup between the posts with Tim Thomas (.944 Sv%) and Cam Ward (.937 Sv%). Each team has the potential to move on to the third round, but it will be a war of attrition as the series inches toward the sixth and seventh games.
However, the true winners in these drawn-out series are the organizations behind the players who will see a big return in ticket sales for the extra games that would otherwise not be played if the series were to be swept. The first round of the playoffs has the organizations sharing the profits with the NHL, but once they move into the second round and on, the organizations see full acquisition of profits from tickets, not to mention the ongoing merchandise sales that will surely increase as the teams move closer to the playoff finals.
Be sure to follow the second round tonight as Pittsburgh faces Washington on the road at 7:00 PM PST, and tomorrow when Vancouver meets Chicago in the Windy City, and Detroit goes on the road to Carolina.
Canucks tickets selling fast
Round 2 schedule announced, Canucks tickets selling fast
With the defeat of the New York Rangers, the Calgary Flames, and the San Jose Sharks over the last two nights of the first round of the playoffs, the schedule for round 2 has finally been revealed, including game dates and times. The wait for this announcement was long overdue for teams who were able to sweep their series, such as Boston, Detroit, and Vancouver; the long break plays a large role in the upcoming round because of its ability to throw momentum, rest players, and downright transform the strategies devised by the coaching staff who may not have gotten the matchup they were planning for. As far as the matchups are concerned, the Eastern and Western teams look like this: Boston vs. Carolina; Washington vs. Pittsburgh; Detroit vs. Anaheim; Vancouver vs. Chicago.
Aside from on-ice changes caused by the break, the difficulty of scheduling and planning ticket sales was also increased due to the wait. While Vancouver Canucks tickets did go on sale, any details surrounding the date, time, and opponent were all still unknown, and were only released to the public last night upon Carolina’s win over New Jersey when the NHL released the final schedule. Despite the lack of information, tickets for all four Vancouver home games went on sale and seemed to move even faster than the first round tickets, even with the increase in price from round to round. However, like the opening games of the first round, the market is being flooded by sellers looking to make a quick buck, and not enough buyers are willing to consider the inflated prices. This current trend of slow sales is resulting in the readjustment of the market, meaning tickets are becoming more affordable while demand for them remains high.
To ensure you get a seat to one of the second round games, you better act fast. The Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Black Hawks series begins tomorrow at 6PM PST, with the other three beginning in the following two days. To see the schedule in it’s entirety, check out NHL.com’s Round 2 schedule.