TheRob said:Good win last night. Cloutier is still a worry though. 13 shots, and three goals.
The big dummy has got to start hitting. I wonder if in the back of his head he is scared to hit incase he hurts someone. You never know. Good to see him score last night though.He still finished the night at -2 and for the second consecutive game didn't have a hit.
Chicago at VancouverTV: PPV; RADIO: CKNW
GAME: Chicago Blackhawks (2-4-0) at Vancouver Canucks (4-1-1).
TIME: Tuesday, 7pm PST.
The Chicago Blackhawks look for their first win at GM Place in more than four years when they conclude a four-game road trip with a matchup against the Vancouver Canucks.
Chicago has dropped five straight in Vancouver since a 5-4 win on Oct. 4, 2001, and comes into this contest with three losses in its last four games, including two of three on this trip.
The Blackhawks trailed 2-0 in Saturday's game at San Jose before coming back to tie it at 2-2 on Matthew Barnaby's goal at 3:18 of the second period. The Sharks, however, regained their two-goal lead before holding on for a 4-3 win.
Matt Ellison scored his first NHL goal and Jason Morgan got the second of his career for the Blackhawks, who managed just six shots in the third period as they spent too much time chasing the Sharks instead of mounting their own attack.
"We have to check smarter when we're in the penalty-kill," Chicago coach Trent Yawney said. "I thought in the third period, we had the momentum, but we took a couple of penalties and then the momentum shifted, and the Sharks got it back."
Blackhawks goalie Craig Anderson stopped 40 shots in his first start of the season. Stanley Cup-winning goalie Nikolai Khabibulin started Chicago's first five games, going 2-3 with an unimpressive .866 save percentage.
Vancouver improved to 2-0 at home on Sunday with its third win in four games, 5-2 over the Dallas Stars.
The Canucks relinquished a two-goal lead but Lee Goren scored the tiebreaking goal on a deflection 3:47 into the third period. Todd Bertuzzi added a power-play goal - the 200th goal of his career - with 5:29 left to play, and Richard Park made it 5-2 with a long shot with 2:20 remaining.
"We started off with some big goals and kind of fell asleep for 5 minutes in the second period," defenseman Ed Jovanovski said. "But we addressed it in the third and we didn't deviate from what made us successful. Our game is north-south and getting pucks in and get shots going to the net."
STANDINGS (through Oct. 16): Blackhawks - 4 points, 3rd place, 6 PB, Central Division. Canucks - 9 points, 1st place, Northwest Division.
TEAM LEADERS: Blackhawks - Pavel Vorobiev, 4 goals; Tyler Arnason and Brent Seabrook, 5 assists; Arnason, 7 points; Barnaby, 15 PIM. Canucks - Markus Naslund, 5 goals and 8 points; Jovanovski, 5 assists; Bertuzzi, 13 PIM.
SPECIAL TEAMS (through Oct. 16): Blackhawks - Power play: 13.6 percent (6 for 44), 20th in NHL. Penalty killing: 80.0 percent (40 for 50), 22nd. Canucks - Power play: 15.5 percent (7 for 45), 15th. Penalty killing: 72.4 percent (21 for 29), 29th.
GOALTENDERS: Blackhawks - Khabibulin (2-3-0, 3.40 GAA); Anderson (0-1-0, 4.14). Canucks - Dan Cloutier (2-1-1, 3.44); Alex Auld (2-0-0, 2.00).
2003-04 SEASON SERIES: Canucks, 3-1.
LAST MEETING: March 19, 2004; Blackhawks, 4-3, OT. At Chicago, Arnason scored his third goal of the game 1:44 into overtime to give the Blackhawks the victory.
ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Blackhawks - 1-2-0 on the road; Canucks - 2-0-0 at home.
NUTTER#13 said:Are you shitting me? Nice flow????? Yeah, nice flow of Canuck powerplays! I guess it helps when the ref is from Port Alberni. I was at the game and it was pp after pp. Brutal! Absolutely Brutal! The only good thing about this night was my lappy at the Cecil.
NUTTER#13 said:Are you shitting me? Nice flow????? Yeah, nice flow of Canuck powerplays! I guess it helps when the ref is from Port Alberni. I was at the game and it was pp after pp.
Phoenix at Vancouver
TV: Sportsnet;RADIO: CKNW
GAME: Phoenix Coyotes (3-4-1) at Vancouver Canucks (5-1-1).
TIME: Thursday, 7pm PST.
The Vancouver Canucks are thriving thanks to one of the NHL's top power-play units.
The Canucks hope to continue their success with the man advantage as they host the Phoenix Coyotes.
Vancouver has scored 16 goals during a three-game winning streak over Minnesota, Dallas and Chicago, respectively. The Canucks have 10 power-play goals in seven games this season.
For the second straight game, Vancouver converted three of 10 chances with the man advantage en route to a 6-2 win over the struggling Blackhawks on Tuesday.
In addition to another strong game on the power play, the Canucks also got the best effort of the young season from their top line of Todd Bertuzzi, Brendan Morrison and Markus Naslund. Split up the previous two games because of poor play, the trio was dominant at times, combining for two goals and five assists.
"We were maybe passing a little too much and not finishing the plays, but we're starting to move around and get the passes through and create stuff," said Naslund, who leads the team with six goals and nine points.
"When you're labeled as an offensive team and you don't do it, it's a little frustrating, but you just have to stay with it," added Morrison, who scored his first goal of the season and added two assists for his first points in six games. "It's one game, but it's a step in the right direction."
Phoenix has won two straight to up its record to 3-4-1 under first-year coach Wayne Gretzky.
Derrek Morris scored on the power play one minute into overtime and Oleg Saprykin had two goals in the Coyotes' 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.
"We got a little bit lucky with the shot in overtime but it was hard-fought victory for us," Gretzky said.
Saprykin scored two backhanded goals against Edmonton goaltender Jussi Markannen in a 2:09 span of the first period.
"I thought the first 30 minutes we played really solid hockey," Gretzky said.
STANDINGS: Coyotes - 7 points, 3rd place (tied), Pacific Division. Canucks - 11 points, 1st place, Northwest Division.
TEAM LEADERS: Coyotes - Saprykin, 4 goals; Paul Mara and Mike Leclerc, 4 assists; Saprykin and Mara, 6 points; Tyson Nash, 29 PIM. Canucks - Naslund, 6 goals and 9 points; Ed Jovanovski, 6 assists; Bertuzzi, 13 PIM.
SPECIAL TEAMS (through Oct. 18): Coyotes - Power play: 21.3 percent (10 for 47), 7th in NHL. Penalty killing: 81.4 percent (35 for 43), 18th. Canucks - Power play: 18.2 percent (10 for 55), 11th. Penalty killing: 70.6 percent (24 for 34), 29th.
GOALTENDERS: Coyotes - Curtis Joseph (3-2-0, 1 SO, 1.80 GAA); David Leneveu (0-2-1, 0, 3.30). Canucks - Dan Cloutier (3-1-1, 0, 3.16); Alex Auld (2-0-0, 0, 2.00).
SEASON SERIES: Canucks, 1-0.
LAST MEETING: Oct. 5; Canucks, 3-2. At Vancouver, Naslund scored two goals to spoil Gretzky's coaching debut.
ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Coyotes - 2-3-0 on the road; Canucks - 3-0-0 at home.
NUTTER#13 said:Entertaining is a game in which the score is close. 6-2 with 10 pp's to 5 pp's is taking the game away from the players. What I was trying to get at is the calls on the Hawks were brutal. The Canucks didnt deserve 10 pp's in the game. The Hawks werent commiting anymore fouls than the Canucks were but they get twice as many pp's. When the refs take away the play of the game and determine the results themselves, it always sucks.
NUTTER#13 said:No roots there but I have liked the Hawks ever since the Savard, Larmer, Wilson etc days.