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 It cost Vancouver dearly Saturday night.
Andrew Shaw and Marcus Kruger scored 9 seconds apart early in the
third period and Corey Crawford made 36 saves to lead the Chicago
Blackhawks to a 2-1 victory that sent the Canucks to their sixth
loss in seven games.
Saturday's barrage from the Blackhawks was reminiscent of their
Stanley Cup-clinching goals 17 seconds apart late in Game 6 of
June's final against the Boston Bruins.
"It can turn around pretty quick if we get some chances, especially
the opportunities we got," said Crawford, who outdueled fellow
Canadian Olympic hopeful Roberto Luongo. "They were A-plus chances
and usually we bury those and we did tonight."
Shaw redirected a pass from Patrick Kane in front of Luongo to tie
the score 1-1 at 4:40 of the final period, moments after Chicago's
Patrick Sharp ripped a shot on a power play that went off the
crossbar and both posts but stayed out.
The Canucks then somehow gave up a 2-on-1 seconds after the ensuing
faceoff, with Kruger firing a shot that went right by Luongo to give
Chicago its second straight victory.
"We got a greasy goal, a lucky one there to get us going, and then a
big response the following shift. It was a big comeback," said
Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville, whose team has scored a
league-high 87 goals this season. "We haven't had many games like
this. Tight, tight games going into the third period so it's nice to
find a way."
One night after his team broke out with a 6-2 victory over the
Columbus Blue Jackets to snap a five-game losing streak that
included just six Vancouver goals, Canucks coach John Tortorella
lamented the two lapses in concentration.
"I think we beat ourselves there, and teams like Chicago will
capitalize on that," he said. "We kill a penalty, we get our guy on
the ice and we throw the puck away — ends up in our net. A faceoff
(play) we run and how we forecheck off a faceoff every time, we
decide to go off the map with it and we give up an odd-man rush —
it's in our net.
"That's a big part of the game."
Ryan Kesler scored on a 5-on-3 man advantage in the first period for
Vancouver, which has been held to one goal in 10 of its 25 games so
far this season.
The Canucks are 0-9-3 when scoring two goals or less and 12-0-1 when
scoring three times or more.
Despite Vancouver's struggles to find offense, Luongo said his team
can't forget about its own end.
"We have to learn how to win some games 1-0, 2-1," said Luongo, who
played on consecutive nights for the first time since November 2011
and finished with 27 saves. "That's the way the league is right now.
We can't just focus on the offense. If you look around the league,
it's all low-scoring games. We have to find a way to win those."
[to top of second column] |
After Chicago took the lead, Vancouver's Dale
Weise had a great chance to tie things up, but saw Crawford
smother his backhand chance with under 8 minutes to go.
The Canucks continued to press late, with Alexandre Burrows
fanning on a shot in front off a pass with Luongo on the bench
for the extra attacker.
"We have to put pucks away. It can't just be one game and then
you're off again," Canucks captain Henrik Sedin said. "It's
about getting that feeling when you're going to score goals.
Right now it's not happening."
Trailing 1-0 after the first period despite carrying the
majority of the play, Chicago was thwarted by both Luongo and a
lack of accuracy in front of goal in the second.
Johnny Oduya ripped a shot wide from the slot early in the
period before Luongo stopped a Shaw by deflection and made a pad
save on Brandon Saad.
Vancouver's No. 1-ranked penalty killing then fought off
Chicago's first power-play opportunity of the night, with the
Blackhawks' best chance coming when Jonathan Toews fired a shot
wide from the slot.
Burrows, who hasn't scored in 14 games this season, then had a
chance on a wraparound but couldn't find the range to beat
Crawford.
"The most frustrating part is that you feel you're letting your
teammates down," Burrows said of his slump. "They're counting on
you to score some goals and you're not getting the job done."
Kesler opened the scoring with 1:27 left in the first period
when Vancouver's 29th-ranked power play connected on a two-man
advantage against Chicago's equally feeble 29th-ranked penalty
killing unit. Jason Garrison's one-timer from the point
rebounded right out to Kesler, who settled himself before
burying his 10th of the season and first in eight games.
"I feel like we owned that first period and they come out on
top, but we didn't get down on ourselves," Shaw said. "We kept
working and stuck to it all game, and it just took nine seconds."
NOTES: Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa missed the game for
"family reasons." The team did not provide a timeline for his
return. ... Canucks forward Zach Kassian was benched for the
third period and saw just 4:10 of ice time on the night. ... The
Canucks conclude their season-long six-game homestand on Monday
against the Los Angeles Kings. Vancouver opens a four-game road
trip Thursday against the Ottawa Senators. ... The Blackhawks
continue a season-high tying seven-game road trip on Monday
against the Edmonton Oilers.
[Associated
Press]
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