Blackhawks-Canucks Series Outlook
By Judd Hall
No. 3 Vancouver Canucks vs. No. 4 Chicago Blackhawks
Series Price: Vancouver -140, Chicago +110
Series Format: Vancouver, 2-2-1-1-1
Skinny: It’s been a hell of a season for the Canucks. They reached 100 points in the regular season for the fifth time and claimed their sixth division title in franchise history. And Vancouver doesn’t look like they’re slowing down after dispatching the Blues in four straight to make it to the Western Conference semifinal.
As dominant as a sweep sounds, Vancouver had to work for its first round victory. Sure the Canucks only trailed once in the entire series, but they only won one of the games by two or more goals.
The Canucks were able to get to the second round for the seventh time in team history thanks to quality special teams play and exquisite goaltending. St. Louis converted just once on the 27 power plays they had, while Vancouver went 4-of-18 with the advantage…two of which were game winners.
Roberto Luongo proved that he is strong enough to win a series on his own as well by stopping 96 percent of the shots fired his way to give post a goals against average of 1.16. If we extend to the final three games of the regular season, Luongo is 7-0 with a 0.82 GAA and 97.2 save percentage.
Daniel and Henrik Sedin continue to put up great numbers in their contract year, combining for three goals and six assists. Alex Burrows also found the back of the net three times on the Blues in what has been a breakout season for the 28-year old winger.
All is not roses for the Canucks though as Mats Sundin scored just one goal in two appearances due to a sore groin. He should be ready to go for this series after having 10 days off to rest up.
Vancouver will need all the help they can get as they take on the youthful Blackhawks.
No team scored more goals (21) in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs than Chicago, who dropped the Flames four-games-to-two. Perhaps even more impressive than the amount of goals scored by the ‘Hawks is the fact that 1/3 of them came on the power play
What was different is that they spread the wealth as six skaters enter this series with at least two goals. Patrick Kane had a pair of lamp lighters and Jonathan Toews did the same to go along with four helpers. But the Blackhawks saw Cam Barker come up big with three goals against Calgary; he had six scores in 68 games during the regular season.
The ‘Hawks were able to stay so aggressive on the offensive side of the rink because of their man between the pipes. Nikolai Khabibulin showed what it means to have a playoff-tested goaltender, even if his stats (2.52 GAA, 91.4 save percentage) don’t support that statement…especially after looking at his counterpart for this series.
Gambling Notes: When you look at the season series between you would think that this is a fairly even matchup as they both won two games. Yet this is a tale of two teams, at least when you talk about the Canucks. Vancouver dropped the first two meetings of the series, but they weren’t at full strength. Luongo started the first matchup and looked pretty sloppy, while the second tilt between them had Curtis Sanford manning the nets.
Fast forward to the present and you’d be hard pressed to fade the Canucks as they’ve won seven straight games, one of which came against their current opponent.
It’s going to be awful hard to bet against the Canucks right now. They’ve won seven straight games when you count the end of the regular season. You’re also getting to back a big time ‘under’ team as Vancouver is cashing in at a 9-2-2 clip.
The Blackhawks haven’t been a slouch at the rink either as they’ve won 10 of their last 13 battles. They’ve also been a pretty good team play on the puck line recently, covering in seven of those 10 triumphs.
If you want one glaring fact to use in fading Chicago, it’s Khabibulin and his play against the Canucks. The Russian backstop is 6-16-3 with a 3.39 GAA and 88.7 save percentage in 26 career games against Vancouver.
Outlook: Chicago bucked the trend of young teams failing in their first playoff series against more experienced clubs. But I’m going to say that the Blackhawks were able to win against Calgary because they started the series at home. Now they’re going to open up on the road in one of the more hostile environments.
This game is really going to come down to the Canucks being able to stop Chicago’s power play. The Flames were a Top 5 penalty kill team during the regular season, but the ‘Hawks just ripped them apart. Vancouver gave up three power play goals to the ‘Hawks on 17 chances in the four games they played this year.
I look for Luongo to continue his hot play as Vancouver’s PK denies the Blackhawks at every turn. Should be a decent series, but the Canucks win in it five games.
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