The Rundown

Ah, the old rivalry that has slowly faded as time has gone on. The Vancouver Canucks faced off against Chicago Blackhawks tonight in a game with more playoff ramifications. The Blackhawks came into tonight’s game riding a 5 game win streak, while the Canucks had dropped their previous 2 games and were still missing Sven Baertschi, Alex Edler, and Thatcher Demko. The Canucks held a 3 point lead heading into tonight’s contest, and had the chance to open up a 5 point lead over Chicago in the standings with a win.

1st Period

The game started out tight, as both teams struggled to get any zone time through the first 4 minutes, around the 5 minute mark the Canucks got 2 great chances. The first was an Alex Biega drive to the net, but he couldn’t beat the Blackhawks starter, Collin Delia. The 2nd was a great wrist shot from Boeser right by the right circle, but Delia made a nice glove save.
7 minutes in, the Canucks got another chance when Jake Virtanen stripped his man of the puck, and got into the slot, but was stopped on the backhand.
The Blackhawks pushed back, and Markstrom made his first solid stop of the night 9 minutes in on a shot from Drake Caggiula.
The 2nd half of the period was frantic, and it started off 12 minutes in when the Canucks received their first power-play of the night after Tyler Motte hustled to negate an icing. Former Canuck prospect Gustav Forsling held Motte on the boards right after, and was called for holding.
The power-play didn’t start off great, but only 50 seconds in Ben Hutton was hooked from behind by Caggiula, and Caggiula was sent off for hooking. The Canucks had 1:10 seconds of 5 on 3 to try and open the scoring.
Unfortunately, the Canucks were unable to score on either power-play chance. However, right as the Caggiula penalty expired, the Canucks got 2 great chances right in front, but Delia made 2 fantastic stops and then the Canucks rang a shot off the post… Game remained scoreless.
15 minutes into the period, and the Canucks got one of their best chances when Loui Eriksson came in on a breakaway. Delia stood tall however, and stoned Eriksson with a great pad stop.
A minute after Eriksson was stoned, the Canucks took their first penalty of the game when Jay Beagle tripped up Caggiula in front of the Canucks goal.
Chicago’s power-play looked much better, and then 1:23 in, Brandon Sutter took an undisciplined slash against a Blackhawks forward, which put Chicago to their own 2 man advantage… An awful spot for the Canucks after such a strong first period.
The Blackhawks took advantage on the 5 on 3, as Alex DeBrincat made no mistake on a one-time opportunity and blew a shot right through Markstrom to make it 1-0. Chicago still had a power-play to work with to try and extend their lead.
The Blackhawks did just that, and made it 2-0 on the ensuing 5 on 4. Markstrom made a nice stop on a deflection in front, but Brandon Saad picked up the garbage and put it over Markstrom for the Hawks 2nd power-play goal 59 seconds after they opened the scoring.
The Canucks almost trailed by 3, after Patrick Kane made a great move to get around Hutton, but Markstrom made a nice glove stop to keep the Canucks down by 2. That’s where the boys stood as they went to the intermission. A great start to Vancouver was foiled by their penalty-kill, but their 5 on 5 play was great that period. As long as the boys remained disciplined, they stood a chance.

2nd Period

The Canucks kept up their great play, and got one past Delia a little over 2 minutes in. After a good shift from the Elias Pettersson line, Alex Biega ripped a shot through traffic past the goaltender for his first goal of the season to make it 2-1.
A minute after they got one back, they nearly tied it up after another great shift from the Brandon Sutter line, but the shift ended when Sutter slammed a wrist shot off the post and out of play.
A minute after the Sutter chance, the Canucks tied the game! Josh Leivo came in on the left side and sniped a wrister under the glove of Delia for his 10th of the year.
7 minutes into the game, Brock Boeser had a couple of great looks to give the Canucks the lead, but he was stopped on the doorstep both times by Delia.
The Canucks received their 3rd power-play of the night a minute later when Pettersson was hooked by Slater Koekkoek. The Canucks looked to have a much better power-play then the 2 they had in the first.
Unfortunately, their power-play only lasted 1:15 before Hutton was sent for the box after he slashed Saad, who came in on Markstrom after he forced a turnover at the blue-line.
30 seconds after Hutton took a penalty, Derrick Pouliot laid a brutal check on Dominik Kahun, and the Canucks needed to kill off their 2nd 5 on 3 shorthanded attempt of the game.
It took a couple of massive stops by Markstrom, but the Canucks killed off both Chicago power-plays, and the game remained tied.
Unfortunately for Canucks fans, the Blackhawks retook the lead around the 14 mark of the 2nd period after the Canucks failed to clear their own zone. Markus Granlund couldn’t receive a pass cleanly, and it led to the Hawks playing the puck down low. Dylan Strome took the puck, and fired a beautiful pass across to a wide open DeBrincat, who ripped home his 2nd of the game for his 28th of the year.
A minute after the goal, the Canucks got their 4th power-play of the game after Jonathan Toews hooked Boeser in the slot. The boys needed to do something with their power-play, after their previous 3 looked terrible, but alas not much changed and they failed to convert.
The period came to a close with the Canucks down by just a goal, and while their 5 on 5 play had been fantastic, it was their special teams that had sunk the team through 40 minutes.

3rd Period

The first 5 minutes of the final frame saw great action at both ends of the rink. The Canucks came out with purpose to begin the period, and had some solid pressure through the first few minutes before the Blackhawks big line fired back with a couple chances of their own.
6:30 minutes into the period, Eriksson got called for a pretty weak interference call after he laid a pick on Forsling, and the Blackhawks went to their 5th power-play of the night.
The Canucks had their best penalty kill of the night however and killed it off, and a minute later watched as Goldobin got hounded in the Blackhawks zone on 2 separate occasions with no call. Right after, Brendan Perlini came down the wing and nearly sniped home a 4th Hawks goal, but he hit the post.
The Canucks kept up the pressure for a majority of the next 5 minutes, as they looked for the equalizer.
16:30 into the period,and the Canucks got their most important power-play opportunity of the game when Sutter got struck up high by the stick of Perlini. So the Canucks went to the power-play for the 5th time in the game.
The Canucks pulled their goalie with the extra man, and the 6 on 4 power-play converted! The Canucks worked the puck around the zone, until finally Troy Stecher fed Pettersson for a patented Pettersson one-time bomb that shot right past Delia up high to tie the game at 3.
The 3rd period came to a close with the game tied up at 3. It had been a great 60 minutes for the Canucks, and momentum was on their side as they began the extra frame.

Overtime

Only 30 seconds in, and the Canucks found themselves with a great chance to end the game when Virtanen and Horvat came in on a 2 on 1. Virtanen took a shot off the pad of Delia, but it bounced over the stick of Horvat and the game continued.
Then only 30 seconds later, Markstrom made a phenomenal play to send Pettersson in on a breakaway. However, Pettersson was stoned cold by Delia.
Finally, 3:19 seconds into overtime, Toews undressed Chris Tanev and roofed a shot over the shoulder of Markstrom to win the game for Chicago. With the overtime loss, the Canucks fell out of their wildcard spot as the St. Louis Blues won their game earlier in the night.

Advanced Stats

Both photos courtesy of naturalstattrick.com

Wrap Up

This game was a much better game for the Canucks then 2 nights ago, and if not for the great play of Delia, and a poor special teams effort the Canucks probably come away with 2 points. However, hockey can be a cruel mistress and the boys couldn’t get it done tonight.
Josh Leivo was an absolute monster tonight, and was the best player for the Canucks. 3 points on the night, and more than a few noticeable dangles to create space and open passing lanes. While his goal was ‘weak’ in comparison to Pettersson’s blast; it was a sneaky release that fooled Delia.
Last game, I thought the Canucks played terrible in the 1st period. Tonight, they were great 5 on 5 throughout all 3 periods, and looked dangerous in the overtime. The Canucks played hard, they battled for pucks, they generated good chances throughout the entire game, and didn’t give up too much in the defensive zone at 5 on 5. A lot to like from the squad at 5 on 5…
However, their special teams play was atrocious through the first 2 periods. Their power-play was non existent until their 6 on 4 opportunity when Pettersson scored the equalizer, and their penalty kill wasn’t good until the 3rd either. This is where the loss of Edler and Baertschi really stung. The Canucks missed what Edler brings to their power-play, as Hutton had a few costly turnovers while on the man-advantage.
The Canucks needed the win to remain in a playoff spot. They weren’t able to deliver, and will try to regain their spot on Saturday against the Calgary Flames.