I really don't know how to recap this game without uttering several obscenities in several directions.
Who was the hungrier team tonight? Chicago. You could see it. However, a lot of their momentum was created by phantom calls by the officials. With less than 4:00 left in the 3rd, Brian Campbell did his best acting job to sell a Ryan Kesler "hold". It was fucking lame, and I don't appreciate that kind of soccer shit, I don't care WHO does it. That was horrific timing because the Canucks were trying to tie the game at that point.
I really didn't understand the Dank Sedin "holding the stick" call half way through the second period either. He FELL of the guy's stick. Hey, maybe I'm misreading it, but really. The refs not only dictated this game, but the Canucks also did not control their emotions enough on home ice either. Chicago was also the better team 5 on 5. Yes they were. And that was the bottom line at the end of this one.
Final shots: Hawks 31 Canucks 21. Yeah, outshot again.
Several things I noticed tonight beyond the horse shit officiating:
-the Canucks were tripping over eachother and their passes were not crisp. Nerves? I think so. So much for experience meaning anything.
-The Hawks had free reign from the points again tonight. The Canucks gave the point men all sorts of room.
-Mats Sundin plays his best game as a Canuck and the team loses. 1 goal and 1 assist for the Big Swede. Encouraging, but is it too late?
-I think it's fair to say that the Blackhawks have a better balanced attack, which is something I alluded to before the series even started. All 3 of their forward lines can be deadly. That could be said about the Canucks, but.....no. I don't think we need to look any further than Dustin Byfuglien to know the truth there. 2 goals for him tonight, and 19:55 played.
Is this series all but over? No fucking way. It seems that way, but I'm not buying into it. I'm looking forward to seeing how the Canucks respond in Game 6 in Chicago..away from home and all the insanity that brings playing in front of the home crowd. Obviously home ice advantage means nothing in this series, where the road team has won more than not. 3 road wins combined here.
One thing I do know is that I'll bet the Canucks bandwagon just lessened it's load after tonight's game.
But it's not over...yet. You could look into Alex Burrow's eyes with less than a minute left and think that the Canucks are done but I'm not buying into that.
More on Game 5 from the MSM:
-Said Luongo post game:
“We’re going to re-group and re-focus and we’re going to come out Monday and play the hardest game we’ve played all year,” Canuck captain Roberto Luongo said defiantly. “We’re going to make sure we put our best game on the ice and bring the series back here [for Game 7 Thursday.]
“A lot of people are going to write us off but we believe in this locker room that we can win. We should have won both games in Chicago so we know we can go in there and win.”
-More on that, including AV's thoughts on the Bieksa and Kesler penalties here.