Eddie Lack, Canucks Come Back To Win In Chicago
The Vancouver Canucks landed in Chicago early Friday morning after a 4-1 loss in Dallas, but backup goaltender Eddie Lack did everything he could to keep a tired team in the game.
When dust settled – after 65 minutes and a lengthy shootout – Lack earned the second point for the visitors.
Antti Raanta had another strong game, making a number of big saves late in the third and in the overtime. He made 22 saves in regulation and overtime. For Vancouver, Lack stopped 24 of 26.
The shootout went eight rounds, with Ryan Kesler winning it for the Canucks.
Patrick Kane continued is incredible season with another multi-point game. He assisted on Kris Versteeg’s goal in the first, and scored the Hawks’ second goal in the middle frame. The Hawks were up 2-0 less than five minutes into the second period, but weren’t able to hang on for the victory.
Zack Kassian scored less than four minutes after Kane to get the Canucks on the board, and Daniel Sedin made a fantastic play to tie the game in the middle of the third period.
Jonathan Toews was relied on heavily in the game, skating 21:52 and winning 10 of 18 faceoffs. He was also credited with two hits, one takeaway and one blocked shot in the game.
The Hawks’ power play was kept quiet for the first time in December, but the penalty kill was successful on all four of Vancouver’s power plays. Marcus Kruger skated only 12:17, but spent 4:49 short-handed. Kruger won five of seven faceoffs and was credited with two blocked shots and one hit in the game. Vancouver was credited with seven shots on their four power plays.
Michal Handzus skated 4:35 short-handed on Friday night, and has been good with Kruger on the penalty kill since returning from injury. He won half of his eight faceoffs in the game and was credited with one blocked shot.
Bryan Bickell continued his comeback from injury with only 10:30 on the ice, and while he was not credited with a shot on net he was tied for the team lead with five hits in the game. Brent Seabrook, who skated 26:18, was also credited with five hits in the game.
Brandon Bollig (7:34) and Ben Smith (8:07) were held to only 13 shifts in the game in spite of the Canucks only rolling three lines for the entire third period in the second night of a back-to-back.
Johnny Oduya, Michal Rozsival and Handzus also had assists on the night.
The Canuckleheads were VERY deserved of the win…the Hawks were listless…take away Pat Kane (by FAR our best player for a long time now) and Brandon Saad and the Hawks were an average hockey team…
When we roll 4 lines we win…when we don’t we are a .500 hockey team…it proved itself again tonight…and with the nuckleheads dead tired from a back to back affair on the road…maybe the extra point won’t amount to a hill of beans by the season’s end, but Q and the Hawks gave away that point with sluggish play and questionable coaching…
Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook were AWFUL over the last 2 periods and OT…Toews is ASLEEP out there…perhaps he is playing medicated…who knows? Hossa is tentative…Sharp missed a ton of chances…Zus was slow and uncreative…and Bickell was in slow motion all night…
Again, kudos to vancouver for coming out hard under tough circumstances and earning 2 points on the road…BAD on the Hawks for giving this one away…
Raanta gave the Hawks opportunity after opportunity to win…and we were too asleep to take it…ah, Homestands…
Monday night …. Her comes Q’s line mix master!
At about round 6 I was hopin Q would throw Rosy out there again to win it
I realize part of the credit goes to Vancouver, they played pretty well. They are excellent on the PK and they still have some of the best sticks in the league – breaking up passes, winning the puck along the boards. They have a team full of guys who know how to play effectively taking away time and space and disrupting what their opponent wants to do. They deserve credit.
Having said that, the Hawks deserve some blame for losing this game. It wasn’t a matter of both teams playing well and the bounces happened to go Vancouver’s way. No, the Hawks got outworked in the 2nd and 3rd period and that was the reason the Hawks lost the game. That’s what makes this loss tough to stomach. That, and it was against the hated Canucks.
Come to think about it, hasn’t it been the same in most of the Hawks losses this season – that it was more of a let down by the Hawks than a well played game that turned on an unlucky bounce or a bad goal. I suppose that it true for most good teams to some extent but it seems it’s more times than not with the Hawks. Can you think of any losses when the Hawks played well? I’m sure there are a couple but I can’t think of any off the top of my head. Maybe one of those losses against the Blues?
Oh well … there is more to be happy about than complain about.
We had a great first period, transitioned through the second and the third was that Toronto game all over again. Maybe tis the season with its distractions but this has got to be a big letdown for the fans and the home crowd. We had them and let it slip through our fingers. Kudos to Kane and Raanta . Hossa and Toews are not on their game at all. Looked like overconfidence, then oops and sloppy panic catchup. Passes were bad, Canucks were allowed to hang around and hang around. Cannot fault Raanta. This kind of stuff just simply cannot happen once we get to the playoffs or we are going home early.
These thing wont happen in playoffs because teams wont be on back to back (van) on road or no wins in 12games (tor). Every game in reg. season is not important like it is in playoffs.
ER is right pretty much the only one game (against stl, Seabs mistake went in too far with 29sec on 3rd)(even in that one we should have gotten the tie worst case) for half a season did we play good and had a bad bounce/etc. be the main reason we didn’t get a tie/win.
Shootouts are garbage. It doesn’t matter what sport it is, you cant/shouldn’t have something that you don’t in the playoffs. Although they have a different set a rules in playoffs then the season, which gives the bigger teams to get away with more cheating/holding (head shots).
10min 4 on 4, no one score then tie & both teams get one pt. You cant/shouldn’t have the team that doesn’t win in ot get no pts, unless you give 3 for a reg. win. If there doesn’t have to be 3 points out of every game now, then they can have 1 pt for each team after the 4 on 4 for 10min. A 3 on 3 is retarded, no matter how exciting. Just like a shootout theres no 3 on 3 in playoffs… Whatever it is its needs to be the actual game of hockey and if its not in the playoffs it shouldn’t ever be in the season…
It was a pretty good 1st period for the Hawks, but they came out without killer instinct in the 2nd and let the Nucks back in. I give Vancouver full credit for taking what was offered them last night, which was a chance to win a hockey game that was there to be taken. Nucks employed a strong forecheck, shut down passing lanes, and won many loose puck battles the Hawks would normally win. Nucks PK was very good on its own merit, and the Hawks were not able to get sticks on rebounds that seemed last night to bounce the wrong way around the the Nuck net.
Kane continues to amaze. He is playing with such confidence and his ice vision is a something else. The guy is on a roll. Kaner took more physical abuse last night than I have seen all year. Some heavy board rub outs that came at him all night. Tazer took his share too. I was pleased to see Bicks and Bollig dish a little back, as that is their job. I think it was on the 3rd when Bollig had a good shift with strong physical play and it kind of woke the Hawks up from what had been a pretty lethargic effort the last 2 periods. The game was still there to be won thanks to Raanta.
While you don’t like to lose points, especially at home, this was a shoot out loss. Even with kind of a piss poor effort we still got a point. Hawks have played a busy schedule thus far. One of the most active schedules in the league I think up to this point. There are going to be games like this where all pistons are not firing. Yes, those guys are pros, and good ones at that, but in any pursuit it isn’t on autopilot all the time. I expect a good bounce back game against the Devils Monday.
Mo, I’m with you concerning your persuasive argument about shootouts. I prefer a tie where both teams get equal rewards during reg season. I do however enjoy the 4 on 4 we get in OT. It is usually wide open hockey with some good chances to score. It is exciting to watch and I would rather a game be decided in that format than with a shootout. Funny that in soccer they do it opposite. Shootouts only in playoffs because everybody is exhausted, and someone needs to win, but in regular season games can end in a draw. Anyway, a shootout decision seems a little hollow to me.
Lets Go Hawks!
Mining Man- agreed… Kane/Raanta 2 Hawk stars… Sub-par performance for entire 1st line 10/19/81… also Smith played well… Rosey was bumbling most of the game…
Rosey looks like he needs a couple of complete weeks off…
lastly- that 29 has a 2-3 more games to “get his legs” back… AND then the excuses will be gone… AND time to start earning the pay!!!
Agree with Mo, et. al. Shootouts are a ridiculous way to win or lose a game…whether its 5 minutes, 7 minutes or 10 minutes, 4 on 4 is the way to go…even when we win in S/Os its like, whoa, lucky on that one…
Wall, I agree with your analysis…I will give Bickell through next week to find his legs and his game, after that we can start calling it what it has been thus far this season…
Phil, it was a good shift by Bollig…and Wall, Smith did look good out there, as did Kruger…but they only played 8 minutes as a line…not good enough…we need to roll 4 lines, especially when Toews/Hossa are sleepwalking…Q was outreached by Tortallini last night…Q fell right where Torts wanted him…not good.
BTW…right now, the entire Rockford team is in a funk…lifeless. listless, boring, and unimaginative…no one is going to come up and help this team right now…those kids need to dig deeper with bigger efforts…
Couple things
That game was really boring.
Not sure why the hate on the Toews line. They dominated possession and were really close to potting a few goals. Even with a “slumping” Hossa (16 points in the last 15 games) and Toews, they dominated. They just didn’t score. It happens. They aren’t always going to look like the Globetrotters of hockey.
Somehow… and this should really show how much Kane carries Handzus around the ice, Kane was a +4 in Corsi, Handzus was a -2. (Versteeg +3). Completely ridiculous that he has dragging that boat anchor around and it will likely cost him the Art Ross.
Want to get Toews going? Put Kane on his wing. Want to get Bickell going? Put him opposite of Kane.
The fourth line continuously gets killed in possession metrics, which makes me concerned for sustained success. The goal they gave up last night was because Kruger some how lost track of a Sedin and left him wide open while he floated to the middle. I don’t expect him to do that very often.
As far as rolling of the lines… there were 8 penalties in the game. 16 minutes of special team time. That makes it difficult to give your 4th line a lot of even strength minutes.
The third line kind of misses possession driver Jeremy Morin… but I think giving Bickell a few more games should help even it out.
As far as overtime goes. Just keep it 4 on 4, make the goalies switch end for the long change, and maybe add a few more minutes. Problem with adding more minutes is how crappy the ice will be. Hockey really needs to adopt 3 point wins but it will never happen.
“Can you think of any losses when the Hawks played well?” -ebonyraptor
They completely outplayed Dallas and Tampa in home losses. I thought they were better than Tampa in that 6-5 OT loss on road too. That was the Khabibulin nightmare. And the inexplicable Kane-Shaw OT pairing which always ends in disaster.
Anyway, don’t have much to add about this game except that I really like Raanta.
Oh, one other thought. Q has zero confidence in Morin and Pirri to play the way he likes which makes me wonder about Adam Clendening. You’d think that it would be Clendening’s time to get a good amount of PT next year, mixing him in during Rozival’s final season. Clendening appears to be a bit of a Zubov type player on offense–strong offensive instincts, passing skills, and shot, just decent skater. Defensively though, he may never be more than average. He’s a player who the Hawks really need, theoretically, but will Q ever warm up to him?
What is with the Hawks when they played Canadian teams. The Leafs game was pathetic. They have had stinkers against the Oilers and Flames last year and now this game. Come on it’s the Canucks, you guys hate the canucks and this is the best you could come up with. Outside of Kane and Saad like previously mentioned the rest should be bag skated. Seriously what was that foolishness during the SO Versteeg basically looked uninterested, Hossa winds up for a slap shot seriously.
I know a lot of people don’t like criticizing Q but I think playing the veterans all the time leads to complacency and laziness. Look at the Penguins, half the team is AHL and their staring 3-4 starting D men are out and yet they have won 7 in a row because the young guys are hungry and will to play 110%. It’s just a thought to rest some guys as it is an olympic year and all
That can happen… in the east conference.
JS, with Toews/Hossa, they are so good, it easy to see when they are not 100%…I am a little frustrated that with Toews it is now into a 3rd week with his less than 100% play…now we all know Toews, and thus know it must be an injury, but it doesn’t change the fact, that line is no longer dominating a game like they did as recent as a month ago.
JS, I agree with using a possession minded Morin, but would like to see him with Kruger and Smith. Bollig simply does not seem to much offensive instinct and is no great defensive player either. Bottom line, Hawks took two days off then the night off as well. Hopefully they will be better tomorrow.