Blackhawks-Canucks Outlook
By Judd Hall
No. 2 Chicago Blackhawks vs. No. 3 Vancouver Canucks
Series Price: Chicago -135, Vancouver +115
Series Format: Chicago, 2-2-1-1-1
Skinny: The Blackhawks showed that they are one of chosen few with real Stanley Cup aspirations after six-game victory against Nashville in their Western Conference Quarterfinal.
Chicago rode its young stars to its best regular season since 1992-93, when they fell to the Blues in the Norris Semifinal. And that youthful duo of Patrick Kane (4 goals, 3 assists) and Jonathan Toews (2 goals, 6 assists) took the Predators to task to make it back to the second round. Marian Hossa only had one goal in his first playoff series for the ‘Hawks, but picked up six helpers to pull his own weight. And Patrick Sharp showed that their veterans have something to prove as well with three goals and four assists against the Preds. Antti Niemi continued to play above his ability with a 2.15 goals against average and .920 save percentage to go along with two shutouts in the first round.
Vancouver finds itself in the Western Conference Semifinal for the second straight year after a six-game triumph over the Kings as a $2.31 series favorite.
Henrik (1 goal, 7 assists) and Daniel Sedin (4 goals, 6 assists) put in their usual solid effort for the Canucks. But Mikael Samuelsson came was like a man possessed against Los Angeles, scoring seven goals and helping on four other lamp lighters. Roberto Luongo had a decent time in the first round with a GAA of 2.92 and a .890 save percentage. His worst performance came in Game 3, where Luongo gave up four goals in 33 minutes of work.
In the four regular season meetings between these two clubs, the underdog has gone 3-1 with the totals going 2-2. But three of those tests came before the Olympic Break. In that March 5 showdown, the Blackhawks rolled out to a 5-1 lead in the first period en route to a 6-3 win as $1.55 home faves. That was the only time a favorite collected on the puck line in the head-to-heads.
Gambling Notes: The Blackhawks have had a lot of success against teams out of the Northwest Division this season with a 16-4 mark. Even more profitable for gamblers is Chicago has covered the puck line (-1 ½ goals) in 13 of those 20 games. They were 9-1 at home against those same foes…the lone loss coming against Vancouver.
The Canucks were 10-10 against Central Division foes this year. In the last 12 meetings, however, they have gone 9-3. Vancouver has lost four straight as a road pup this season, with the ‘over’ cashing in seven consecutive fixtures.
Outlook: Last year, these two teams battled in this same spot with the Blackhawks winning in six games. Roberto Luongo is no doubt the better goaltender on the rink for this series. The only problem for the Canucks is that they went up against a team in the first round that let them score 10 goals in the third period of their last three games. That won’t happen with such regularity in this series.
Chicago looked strong against the Preds in the last round, who proved to extremely pesky. But the Blackhawks also have four skaters that were on the ice for the Gold Medal Game in Vancouver back in February, three of which from Team Canada. That will help against the Canucks’ netminder (he was in goal for Canada in that Gold Medal Game), who is going up against great scorers. The ‘Hawks make it back to the Western Conference Final in six games.
vegasinsider.com