Canucks Exorcise the Chicago Curse in Game Seven
Written by: Larry “The Nucks IceMan” Johnson
It took 60 minutes of regulation time and 05:22 of overtime in game seven, to finally exorcise the Chicago Curse that had been haunting the Canucks for 19 play-off games and two seasons. Nothing came easy for the Canucks, who outplayed the Hawks for most of the game and squandered plenty of opportunities to go up 2-0.
This has all been rehashed so much today that I will not repeat what everyone else has said. Suffice to say the Canucks will move on to the second round against the Nashville Predators.
Some of the Canuck best players surfaced late in this series while others were never found. Alex Burrows found his scoring touch in game six and was the hero in game seven with both Canucks goals. Kudos to Coach Vigneault for uniting Burrows and Ryan Kesler, as those two found magic again and anyone who watched, could see that they were the number one line. THEY became the dynamic duo.
Ryan Kesler shut down Hawks Jonathan Toews in the series until 18:04 of the third period in game seven, which was a feat in itself. Kesler did not score any goals but what a game seven he had.
He play over 25 minutes, was a -/plus two, had two shots and led the Canucks with six hits. The Tasmanian Devil was everywhere and his energy level was as high as I’ve ever seen it. This is how a captain plays.
The third line of Maxim Lapierre, Jannik Hansen and Chris Higgins put on a clinic of puck possession in the third period, reminiscent of some of the Sedins keep-aways during the regular season. Lapierre, who had his best game as a Canuck, was a force to be reckoned with on the fore-check, registered five hits, two shots and in the face-off circle was lights out – at 75%!
That’s Manny Malhotra type of face-off stats. The Canucks have found their third line centre in Lapierre.
What a performance that line turned in. Higgins could have easily had at least a goal and Hansen was the true foot soldier, making the Hawks defense pay every time they touched the puck.
Even the fourth line of Tanner Glass, Victor Oreskovich and Raffi Torres contributed early in the game, with a solid effort in finishing their checks and applying the pressure in the Hawks zone.
The Sedin line was the only line that did not show up in this series. Henrik had no goals, five assists and tied Christian Ehrhoff with the worst plus/minus on the team, with a minus four. He had better success in the face-off circle in game seven (56%) than in game six (45%).but overall he and Daniel played poorly.
They looked slow, easy to defend in the offensive zone, were a liability in the defensive zone and really couldn’t generate the cycle that had been successful in the regular season. Not only that, but they played soft and didn’t adapt to the Hawks strategy after games one and two.
The Captain sure didn’t play like a leader and proof of his un-wiliness and lack of confidence to shoot, really showed up in the third period. On a Grade A opportunity, Henrik walked in with a clear shot on the Hawks net and instead passed to an out of position Alex Burrows at the side. Say what!
Mikael Samuelsson, ah never mind. He must have caught the Sedin fever because he played no better than they did. I was surprised that Coach Vigneault didn’t bench them in the third period, because the other lines were so much better and dominate.
Three D-men played solid in the back end. Alex Edler – four hits, four shots and a 0 plus/minus, Kevin Bieksa – three hits, one shot and a 0 plus/minus and Dan Hamhuis – three hits, one shot and a -/plus one. They all logged between 27-28 minutes each of ice time and were very effective stepping up to meet the Hawks forwards in the neutral zone, boxing them out down low, taking them out along the boards, negating second shots by clearing rebounds, killing penalties and jumping up into the offensive rush.
Keith Ballard started out tentatively but as the contest went on, he seemed to find his game and was much better in the second and third period with two hits, two shots and a 0 plus/minus. He even threw in one of his patented hip checks to boot.
Even though Christian Ehrhoff finished with a -/plus one in this game, I thought he was the softest of all the D-men and was coughing up the puck, like a cat with a fur ball all series. That was one of the reasons he finished with a +/minus four.
He was easy to play against and had just a horrible series. The Canucks can only hope that he rebounds in the next series or he will be a liability back there. I thought I heard Coach Vigneault say that with the excess of D-men, he would play the ones that were playing the best?
Andrew Alberts struggled in both games six and seven. He just looked so out of place on the back-end. The speed of the game was just too overwhelming for him and he couldn’t get to his check in the defensive zone. The fast Hawk forwards were circling him like vultures over their prey.
Not sure what the Canucks will do with Alberts, but right now Chris Tanev, although a lot smaller and less physical, looks a whole better in that position.
The Canucks survived, and with it gained a mountain of character from which they can move forward with, into the next series with Nashville. I’ll have more to say about that upcoming season tomorrow.
For now, I’m totally exhausted emotionally. What a roller-coaster ride this series was! Hang on because there’s still more dips, curves, hills and valleys to maneuver.
Like parent and child, the Manitoba Moose also survived a seven game series with a 4-1 win over Lake Erie Monsters. Moose goaltender Eddie Lack stood on his head facing 33 shots, while the Moose only generated 18 at the Monsters. Not hard to see who had the better goaltender.
Moose centre, Marco Rosa, had a dynamite series with 7G, 4A and was a -/plus 7. I’ll say this again until I get blue in the face, why wasn’t he called up instead of Cody Hodgson?
Photo Credits – AP, Getty Images, Goggle Images and Yahoo Sports!
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