Hawks Pound Canucks. Now We'll See How Vancouver Responds

by Sean Zandberg on May 3, 2009 2:18 AM PDT in Canucks = Fail Comment 23 comments

More photos » Jonathan Hayward - AP

"C'mon you guys! I'm laying my nuts on the line here!" (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Jonathan Hayward)

It had to happen sooner or later. The Canucks finally lost a playoff game this post season, and did it in disturbing fashion, blowing a 2-0 lead, the 2nd game in a row that a lead was blown.

There are not enough obscenities I can utter towards the referees for the phantom hooking call on Kevin Bieksa in the 2nd period. Tragic. Willie Mitchell took a stupid delay of game penalty moments later to give the Blackhawks a 5 on 3 advantage and they capitalized on it, tying the game at 2.

That was all the Canucks had in the tank it seemed, because 3 minutes later Dave Bolland scored a shorthanded goal (where in the hell did he come from?) on the breakaway. The Hawks never looked back. I was thinking of Bonnie Tyler's "Holding Out For A Hero" tune, but there were none to be found on the Canucks bench.

I'm not blaming the refs for the loss. But that bullshit call on Bieksa was the beginning of the end. So was Steve Bernier's missed opportunity with a breakaway. Before we knew it it was all over.

Beyond Ryan Johnson, I think the Canucks can all look at eachother and ask what the fuck happened tonight and then promise eachother that they will stop blowing these leads.

How will they respond in Chicago in front of that rabid crowd? That will be the million dollar question over the next few days, as the teams don't play again until Tuesday.

The status of Sami Salo will also be questioned. The CBC guys were mentioning how much the loss of Salo was hurting the team but that infuriated me. We don't need Salo to win. Roberto Luongo agrees. “Obviously Sami is a big part of our defence corps but it’s not an excuse and not the reason why we lost tonight,” Luongo said. “We played without him in St. Louis [3-2 win] and we have make sure we step up and do a good job without him.”

Yeah, the winning streak had to stop at some point, but you wish it didn't happen like this.

Comments

Disappointing

I have to agree with you on the awful hooking call on Bieksa. That’s why the trail referee should never call penalties on an up-ice rush. Once the play settles down in the zone, the back official should be just as active as the front official, but Tim Peel calling that “trip” from centre ice was bush league. Again, definitely not the reason we lost (the Hawks were by far the better team) but bad calls are even worse when they’re the result of bad positioning and (for lack of a better term) “rookie” mistakes.

I have to somewhat question you playing down the status of Salo, though. To my thinking, he’s either our #1 or #2 defenceman so far in the playoffs (him and Mitchell are undeniably the top 2). Again, his absence wasn’t the reason we lost tonight, and we can win without him. But if he’s gone for an extended period of time, we may be in trouble against a team with such superlative depth at forward… And we’ll really miss that booming point shot…

by MattChesser on May 3, 2009 6:24 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Bad call on Bieksa

But there were some other really bad calls against the Hawks. None too impressed with the reffing last night.

If I can't be a good example, I'll just be a horrible warning

by Trixietrx on May 3, 2009 8:19 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

absolutely. it went both ways. I was just saying what I thought the turning point was.

Nucks Misconduct

by Sean Zandberg on May 3, 2009 12:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ha, nice caption. Balls is the only guy who shouldn’t be pissed at his play from last night.

This type of result was bound to happen. Even if you go back to game three in St. Louis where the special teams saved our ass in the third, then game four was that OT five hole and then game one against Chicago was surviving the third. Luck runs out if you don’t learn from some key mistakes. We said in the series preview if Vancouver gets sloppy and lets Chicago’s speed burn them, they’ll run away with it and quick order and that is precisely what happened in game two.

They laid over and died last night. To a man, I’m eager to see how they all respond.

'Nucks Misconduct - Housing Swedish Millionaires Since 2000.

by Yankee Canuck on May 3, 2009 9:01 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

One more thing

Time get Pyatt in there in exchange for Hordichuk. And from the sounds of it Ossi is going in too as Salo probably destroyed himself on that goal.

'Nucks Misconduct - Housing Swedish Millionaires Since 2000.

by Yankee Canuck on May 3, 2009 9:31 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's Ossi Time

As Salo stays home.

'Nucks Misconduct - Housing Swedish Millionaires Since 2000.

by Yankee Canuck on May 3, 2009 11:55 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Roberto needs to step it up

We’re not going to win another game unless he starts playing at the same level he did during the St. Louis series.

by yugret on May 3, 2009 11:20 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Not sure you can fault Luongo for too much last night. He probably should have stopped Bolland on the shorty, but also keep in mind this save happened before the entire night fell apart. He’s not invincible; three 5-on-3’s in a single game is about as inexcusable as it gets.

'Nucks Misconduct - Housing Swedish Millionaires Since 2000.

by Yankee Canuck on May 3, 2009 11:54 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

That was an unreal save I remember how it felt like we couldn’t beat him no matter what after that.

by Shooby34 on May 3, 2009 1:51 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I rewatched it 10 times. I accidentally poked myself in the eye because I jumped up like 40 feet in the air and shot up my hands.

I'm old enough to understand. Jerks.

by rollonubears on May 3, 2009 2:15 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

He could have had pretty much all of those goals

That save was really sick, but it wouldn’t have needed to happen if he had controlled the rebound or been further back in the crease. The fourth and fifth goals in particular were not impossible saves to make. The Canuck skaters obviously aren’t going to dominate the Blackhawks, especially in Chicago, so we need Playoff Luongo back, not October Luongo.

by yugret on May 3, 2009 3:37 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Tough night.

It was bound to happen sooner or later and serves as a nice wake up call

Hawks are everything we expected, and maybe more.

by kesrows on May 3, 2009 11:40 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

It sucked. I stopped watching with about 15 minutes left in the third. I had homework to do.

I got way too into the game last night. It was all Luongo’s fault haha. When he made the greatest save I have ever seen live I had an adrenaline surge that really pumped me up. I went from trying to stay detached to living and dying with every play after that incredible save.

The play that really killed me was the shorthanded goal. I am not an angry person. I can’t remember the last time I was really angry. Except for that. For some reason that just enraged me. Where the fuck was our defense? I screamed out at the top of my lungs and had to stop watching for 5 minutes to cool off. That play just made me more angry then anything has for years.

The next game is not a must-win, but it is close. We have to challenge. If they win emphatically then we are pretty much screwed for the series. It has to, at the very least, be a very close game. It is as close to a must-win without being one as you can get. An OT loss would be disappointing but not back breaking. Pretty much anything else would be.

Hopefully, we can play more like we did in the first period. If you look at this series, and combine periods from both games, we have played what amounts to one game of great hockey and one game of scratch your eyes out hockey.

Prediction: Luongo plays his fucking ass off next game. He is his biggest critic. He will get on himself for a subpar (for him) performance last night and will get back to form. Hopefully he does.

Go Canucks!

I'm old enough to understand. Jerks.

by rollonubears on May 3, 2009 11:55 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

The thing about the shorty to me was it was just a continuation of a bad streak of events. Following Luongo’s great save was the first Chicago goal, then the weak call on Bieksa, then Kesler not getting off the ice during the 5-on-3 after he broke his stick then the shorty. The third period wasn’t much better. Just a lot of negatives which is amazing considering it was all Vancouver for almost half the game.

'Nucks Misconduct - Housing Swedish Millionaires Since 2000.

by Yankee Canuck on May 3, 2009 12:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Where was the defense though?!?!?! It is the type of play that if it happens for your team you just laugh about it, and if it happens against you it is the most infuriating thing possible.

I'm old enough to understand. Jerks.

by rollonubears on May 3, 2009 1:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think the first goal was kind of Luongo’s fault. He had a chance to freeze the puck to slow the game down and utilize our face-off advantage. Instead it resulted in an icing call on us with the wrong (and tired) guys on the ice to defend our zone (Sedin line).

The second goal was the brutal call on Bieksa and Willie hitting a home run. To make things even worse, Kesler is without a stick at the top of the triangle so he can’t take away any passes.

Bernier missed his check on the Eager goal.

Four guys chased the puck to leave Kane alone vs Luey.

Overall, just very sloppy play after the 1st period and some bad breaks. If they don’t show signs of rebound and a 60-minute game on Tuesday, I’d be very concerned. Losing Salo is very bad IMO and could bring back the Canucks of January.

by cyxj on May 3, 2009 1:00 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Well, Ossi is at least a stay home guy. He should be responsible and won’t create the same boneheaded plays that leads to the Bollard and Kane goals. In theory anyway.

Bieksa and Ohlund need to step up offensively if Salo is out for the remainder. No more pretty passes, no more guessing. Fire it and pray for the rebound. Vancouver has to start getting the dirty goals and paying the price in front of the net (which is another reason I want Pyatt back out there).

'Nucks Misconduct - Housing Swedish Millionaires Since 2000.

by Yankee Canuck on May 3, 2009 1:04 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

There were a lot of missed opportunities in this game. I remember Sundin made a beautiful backhanded pass right up the middle that I think half of Canada would have been able to finish, but no one was there to finish it. There were some plays that seemed pretty damn similar for both sides, yet Chicago was actually capitalizing. We didn’t have very many shots, but it seemed like we had a ridiculous amount of chances. But Khabibulin stopped sucking after the 1st period and start pulling a Luongo, not letting in things that normally would have gone in.

I still think we will win the series, but the supreme confidence I had following the Blues is significantly diminished.

I'm old enough to understand. Jerks.

by rollonubears on May 3, 2009 1:18 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh yeah, Ossi is good. Ossi is wise. He’ll get the job done. I hope AV gives him more playing time than he has in the past though. He may not have Salo’s shot accuracy, but he’s very reliable in his own zone (which we need right now) and he’s feisty.

Nucks Misconduct

by Sean Zandberg on May 3, 2009 1:35 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Glad you like him so much

I still really have no clue what this guy is about.

by kesrows on May 3, 2009 2:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

What a fragile bunch we are :) Win 5 in a row and not give them credit, lose 1 and winning the series becomes questionable?
Vancouver played a stinker from the 2nd onwards last night. It was bound to happen though, Like Cherry said after the loss. 2 weeks at home in the playoffs is killer, gettin on the road and regainin that Nucks chemistry and style will make the difference.
As for the Bolland goal, that was a lucky break. Vancouver was breakin up the ice with a 5-3 with Bolland trapped back there, if Havlat doesnt get that puck, a great scoring chance would have materialized. I can guarantee Quennville was happy for the goal, but not happy that Bolland was so far behind the play. It was a fluke play and isnt the norm.
Over-all, we didnt play well. We did however generate scoring chances to match the Hawks, and gave up way to many chances in return.
I’m still confident, cause lets face it. How many times have we seen goals like Bollands and Kanes this year against us. They were abberations and i’m positive that the team will bear down mentally to eliminate those kinds of breakdowns.
Lou will also be motivated, and i’m expectin a better effort from everyone.

by Nuckels on May 3, 2009 2:17 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

It’s over. Doesn’t matter if you get beat 6-3 or 1-0…a loss is a loss. It takes 4 to win a series…and both teams need to win 3 out of 5 with Chicago having home ice.

Flush it out of your system andmove to the next game…it’s time to roll on those Hawks.

by GZ Expat on May 3, 2009 3:11 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I just wonder what the psyche of the Canucks is right now. They’ve blown 3-0 and 2-0 leads now. I know how that would play with my mind. It can introduce a lack of confidence to put a team away. The Canucks need to remedy this issue immediately. Maybe they should let Chicago score the first goal..:)

Nucks Misconduct

by Sean Zandberg on May 3, 2009 3:18 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs