Blackhawks Respond – Top Canucks 4-2 to Even Series at 1
Tuesday, May 4th, 2010 | Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, NHL, Sports
The Chicago Blackhawks rose to the occasion on Monday night and defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-2 to even the series at 1 game apiece. It was a must-win at the United Center, as the Hawks did not want to fall behind the Canucks 2 games to none heading out to Vancouver.
It didn’t start pretty, as the Canucks scored 2 quick goals in the games 1st 5 minutes to take a 2-0 lead. But Annti Niemi and the Hawks defense buckled down after that, keeping the Canucks out of the goal the rest of the game. Brent Seabrook’s goal with 12 minutes left in the period helped calm everyone’s nerves and cut the Canucks lead in half.
After the team’s played a scoreless 2nd period with just a total of 16 shots on goal from both teams, the Blackhawks took control in the 3rd period. They out shot the Canucks 13- 6 and tied the game up on Patrick Sharp’s short-handed goal just 7 minutes into the period. It looked like we might be paying an overtime affair, but Kris Versteeg’s 1st goal of the post-season gave the Hawks their 1st lead of the series with only 1 and a half minutes left to go in regulation. Patrick Kane’s empty netter with less than a minute left sealed the victory for the Hawks.
Antti Niemi bounced back from a rough Game 1 in which he gave up 5 goals in just 2 periods. Niemi shut down the Canucks after the 2 early goals and ended up making 24 saves on the night. The young star-in-the-making is really rising to the occasion this post-season.
What an unbelievable game and what an unbelievable series this is shaping up to be. Patrick Sharp summed it up best — “We’ve managed to respond after tough losses all season long. We say after every game that the next one is the biggest.”
My favorite play of the game — Patrick Sharp breaking up a an altercation between a stupid Canucks player and one of his own teammates – instead of getting involved he just shoved the Canucks player away and laughed at him. Sharp later commented that there’s no reason to fight in the post-season, just move on and keep playing…
The series now shifts to Canada where the Blackhawks and Canucks will play on Wednesday and Friday nights in Vancouver. Let’s hope we come back tied at 2-2 or with a 3-1 advantage ready to close it out on home ice at the United Center on Sunday…
