Vancouver, BC (Sports Network) - Troy Brouwer opened the scoring two minutes into the second period and four other Chicago forwards scored throughout the contest, as the Blackhawks used a balanced offensive attack to advance to the Western Conference finals with a 5-1 win over Vancouver in Game 6 of their semifinal series at GM Place.
Blackhawks Eliminate Canucks In Game 6 To Earn Return Trip To Conference Finals
Patrick Kane, Kris Versteeg, Dave Bolland and Dustin Byfuglien all scored for Chicago, which also defeated the Canucks in this round last season and will now face the San Jose Sharks for the right to compete for the Stanley Cup.
It was exactly one year ago that the Blackhawks ousted the Canucks, although that Game 6 victory was in Chicago. Antti Niemi finished with 29 saves in the victory. The Blackhawks are in the West finals for the second consecutive postseason. In 2009, Detroit defeated Chicago in five games.
Shane O'Brien scored the only goal for Vancouver, which won the Northwest Division and entered the playoffs as the No. 3 seed but saw its season end on home ice. The Canucks lost all three home games in this series. Canucks sniper Henrik Sedin was held without a shot on goal Tuesday.
Roberto Luongo allowed five goals on 35 shots and will face another offseason of questions about his ability to succeed in the postseason.
Kane hit the post on a 2-on-1 three minutes into the game, and a nice glove save by Luongo on a breakaway by Patrick Sharp with six minutes remaining in the opening stanza kept the contest scoreless after the opening 20 minutes.
The early stages of the middle stanza saw the visitors score twice within a 36-second span.
First, at the two-minute mark, Brouwer’s first goal of the postseason gave the Blackhawks the lead. Sharp streaked down the left-wing side and, from the outer circle, slid a pass into the slot for Brouwer, whose redirection lit the lamp.
Only 36 seconds later, Versteeg gave Chicago a two-goal edge. He picked up the puck in the neutral zone after a turnover by Vancouver and hustled in down the right side on a 2-on-1. O’Brien gave Versteeg too much room and Versteeg cashed in with a blazing wrister from inside the circle.
With under five minutes remaining in the second, Sedin had a good look with a one-timer from the slot but missed wide. Moments later, Vancouver's Kevin Bieksa fired a one-timer from above the right circle through traffic that nearly went in.
Duncan Keith's slashing minor at 18:57 of the second gave the Canucks a power play for the remainder of the stanza. During the 5-on-4 action, Pavol Demitra tried to pass the disc across the blue line but Bolland intercepted it and moved in all alone on a clear breakaway. Bolland's short-handed tally from the top of the crease with 44.7 seconds remaining gave Chicago a commanding three- goal lead.
Vancouver showed signs of life at the start of the third. Bieksa hit the post with a blast from the left point inside the first minute of the stanza before O’Brien’s marker at the 3:44 mark finally got the home crowd standing.
Alex Burrows brought the puck over the blue line along the right side, cut into the slot and left a drop pass for O’Brien, who beat Niemi with a wrist shot from atop the right circle.
However, the Blackhawks quickly erased any comeback hopes.
Less than five minutes later, the visitors scored twice in 25 seconds and essentially put the game away.
Kane's seventh postseason tally at 8:17 made it 4-1. A perfect lead pass by Jonathan Toews from the neutral zone sent Kane in on a partial breakaway and he tallied with a low wrister from in close.
On the next shift, another breakaway made the contest a laugher. This time it was Kane who issued the breakout pass. His long feed through the neutral zone found the stick of Byfuglien, who went in on another partial breakaway and sent a majority of the fans toward the exits with his fourth goal of the postseason.
The last time Chicago reached the conference finals in consecutive seasons was 1989 and 1990...Vancouver is now 3-5 all-time in best-of-seven series when trailing 3-1...Both teams finished 0-for-2 on the power play...Six of Byfuglien’s seven career playoff goals have been scored in this arena.
See More:
