Recap: Canucks Prevail Against Comeback Kids from Chicago

March 22nd, 2017

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Hockey is a kooky and curious sport sometimes.

On Saturday night against the Edmonton Oilers, the Vancouver Canucks had a copious amount of chances, but couldn’t beat Cam Talbot for a single tally. Against the Chicago Blackhawks, they basically scored almost every time they had the puck.

Granted, they didn’t have the puck for most of the night, but they were able to score five goals on 15 shots to beat the Blackhawks 5-4 in overtime.

By all means, the Canucks should have lost this game. Chicago was easily the better team, even though they were down 4-1 early in the third period.

As both the Canucks and Colorado Avalanche know, you can never count the Blackhawks out of a game. It wasn’t quite three goals in 3:02 on Tuesday, but the Blackhawks did score three third-period goals in order to salvage a point in this contest.

They actually scored four third-period goals, but John Hayden’s tally was just a hair offside. The Hockey Gods were going the Canucks’ way tonight, unless you’re on Team Tank.

First Period

The Canucks came out strong against the Oilers on Saturday. They had no such effort in the first period against the Blackhawks.

Neither team seemed to get their feet underneath them in the first period. Ben Hutton took a high-sticking penalty midway through the period, and Ryan Miller had to make his best save against Artemi Panarin.

Jonathan Toews took a late interference penalty, sending Vancouver to the power play. On only their third shot of the game, Henrik Sedin tipped a Daniel Sedin shot past Corey Crawford for the first goal of the game. It was the first time in seven contests that the Canucks scored the opening goal.

Second Period

Believe it or not, Jayson Megna is capable of some good things.

Early in the second period, he stripped Nick Schmaltz of the puck and set up Brandon Sutter for a pretty deke that got past Crawford. The Canucks had a 2-0 lead with only four shots on goal.

Ryan Hartman would cut the lead in half with a power-play goal. The Blackhawks came up the ice and Marian Hossa was able to feed Hartman, who beat Miller on a nice deke off the rush.

Shots? Who needs shots? On just their fifth of the game, Reid Boucher tipped a Chris Tanev pass behind Crawford. Despite giving up three goals on five shots, it was nearly impossible to fault Crawford on any goal. Joel Quenneville must have echoed these same thoughts, as he kept Crawford in the game.

Chicago turned on the pressure for the rest of the period, but they couldn’t beat Miller. By the time the period ended, the Blackhawks held a 45-19 shot attempt advantage on Vancouver, leading them 21-8 in shots.

Third Period

The Blackhawks couldn’t carry their momentum into the third period. Jack Skille made an impact in his return by setting up Sutter for his second goal of the game on a two-on-one. Skille did a great job by making both Crawford and Brian Campbell think he was going to shoot. He then dished it off to Sutter, who had an easy tap-in.

That was the end of Crawford’s night, after he gave up four goals on 10 shots. It was more of a mercy hook because you really couldn’t fault him on any goal that got past him.

An unofficial rule for every NHL team: never count the Blackhawks out.

Hossa gave Chicago its second power-play goal of the game, on a sizzling one-timer from the slot. It was another penalty kill where both Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi looked utterly lost.

Just over two minutes later, the Blackhawks made this a one-goal game off of the stick of Richard Panik. He continued his strong year with his 20th goal of the season. All of a sudden, the Canucks looked doomed to repeat what the Avalanche let Chicago do on Sunday.

Hossa almost tied this game up after a sloppy Vancouver change, but his breakaway attempt went right off the crossbar. John Hayden did tie the game up with less than four minutes to go, but the goal was overturned on an offside review.

Finally, Hartman scored an actual goal that counted while the goalie was pulled. He was able to bang home the game-tying goal after a feed from Patrick Kane. The Hawks had ample pressure, and it would have been very lucky for the Canucks to get out of this game with a regulation win.

The Hawks still pressured even with less than a minute left. Their pressure forced Henrik Sedin to throw the puck over his own glass, giving the Blackhawks 1:30 of power play time heading into overtime.

Overtime

The Canucks were surprisingly able to contain the Blackhawks’ power play. Right as the power play came to an end, the referees called a questionable goaltender interference call on Toews. The Blackhawks’ captain crashed into Miller after getting shoved by Alex Edler. The referees determined it was enough to put the Canucks on the power play.

On the power play, the Canucks cycled it around before Daniel Sedin wristed a long snap shot past a screened Scott Darling. Henrik Sedin was screening Darling, and the play went under review for goaltender interference. It ended up counting, and the Canucks somehow pulled off a win against those comeback kids from Chicago.

Scoring Summary

FIRST PERIOD

VAN – Henrik Sedin (14) (PPG) assisted by Daniel Sedin (26) and Michael Chaput (4)

SECOND PERIOD

VAN – Brandon Sutter (16) assisted by Jayson Megna (4)

CHI – Ryan Hartman (17) (PPG) assisted by Marian Hossa (18) and Nick Schmaltz (17)

VAN – Reid Boucher (4) assisted by Chris Tanev (7) and Sven Baertschi (16)

THIRD PERIOD

VAN – Brandon Sutter 2 (17) assisted by Jack Skille (4) and Alex Edler (14)

CHI – Marian Hossa (23) (PPG) assisted by Brent Seabrook (33) and Brian Campbell (12)

CHI – Richard Panik (20) assisted by Trevor van Riemsdyk (9) and Jonathan Toews (34)

CHI – Ryan Hartman 2 (18) assisted by Patrick Kane (48) and Duncan Keith (44)

OVERTIME

VAN – Daniel Sedin (14) (PPG) assisted Troy Stecher (19) and Henrik Sedin (30)

THW THREE STARS

1. Ryan Miller (40 saves)

2. Marian Hossa (1 goal, 1 assist)

3. Brandon Sutter (2 goals, 52% 5-5 SAT)

Next Up

Vancouver Canucks at St. Louis Blues

Thursday, March 23, Scottrade Center, 5:00 p.m. PST

Broadcast Channels: FS-MW, SNP

2016-17 Season Series: Tied 1-1

Dallas Stars at Chicago Blackhawks

Thursday, March 23, United Center, 7:30 p.m. CST

Broadcast Channels: CSN-CH, FS-SW+

2016-17 Season Series: Blackhawks lead 4-0

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The Hockey Writers