Canucks Frustrate the Blackhawks Recap and Chance Data

Patrick Kane gets robbed by a quick Luongo poke-check.
Photo Credit: Jonathan Daniel/Getty

We already knew it, but the chance data confirms that the Canucks beat up on, and significantly outclassed the Blackhawks last night. It was only when the Canucks finally went up by two that the Hawks began to out-chance the Canucks, going on an 11-6 chance run to end the second period. Re-watching the second frame, I noticed that Luongo was way better than I realized watching the game live. His save on Leddy was the stand-out, but he made a couple of tough saves on Brunette, and had a really solid poke-check on Patrick Kane to preserve the Canucks three goal lead heading into the final twenty minutes. 

In the third the Canucks were responsible, and shut things down against a lethargic, accepting Hawks squad. The Blackhawks failed to register a single scoring chance in the frame, thus forfeiting the ability to hold their head’s high after the loss. Would the Hawks have showed up in the third period if Luongo had allowed a late goal in the second?

The key to last night’s win was the Canucks powerplay, but kudos should be given as well to the jerky style of hockey the Canucks played. They frustrated the Blackhawks and caused the team from Chicago to take a handful of really stupid penalties. Their discipline broke down so massively that on Daniel Sedin’s goal, Cory Crawford threw his stick, so even if Daniel hadn’t scored on the open net chance, the Canucks would’ve had either a 5-on-3 or a penalty-shot on the play.

The Canucks beat up on the Hawks physically, out-chanced them handily while the game was tight and caused them to act like babies on the ice. It was Christmas in November. As much fun as it is to see the Canucks beat up on their rivals, lets hope that next time the Chicago Blackhawks have Duncan "the great equalizer" Keith in the lineup and actually show up to play.

Bonus stat: Dave Bolland who the Sedins "can’t figure out" apparently, was on the ice for two even-strength chances for and five against. He was also on the ice for another 4 chances against while the Canucks had the man-advantage. To top-off his frustrating night, he was the primary skater responsible for two offside calls while Chicago was on the power-play, and he whiffed on a wide open net in the first period (about forty seconds before Frolik’s lucky goal). If that doesn’t make you happy, I don’t know what will.

Here are the advanced-stat tables from last night’s game courtesy timeonice.com.

 Scoring Chances for NHL Game Number 20198