Kevin Bieksa paced the offense with a pair of goals and an assist, while Roberto Luongo made 29 saves, as the Vancouver Canucks staved off elimination with a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 5 of their Western Conference semifinal series.
Canucks Stay Alive With 4-1 Victory Over Blackhawks
Christian Ehrhoff and Alexandre Burrows also lit the lamp for the Canucks, who had dropped three straight after winning the opener of this best-of-seven set. The Canucks will have to win the next two games if they want to advance, starting with Game 6 back home on Tuesday.
The Canucks are 0-4 in the second round of the playoffs since last reaching the conference finals in 1994, when they eventually lost to the New York Rangers in a seven-game battle for the Stanley Cup.
The last time Vancouver overcame a 3-1 deficit to win a series was against St. Louis in the opening round of the 2003 playoffs. The Blackhawks, though, are 13-0 all-time when winning three of the first four games of a postseason series.
The Canucks won Sunday despite losing defenseman Sami Salo at the end of the first period. Salo was hit by a shot near his groin section and was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation.
Jonathan Toews, coming off a hat trick during a 7-4 victory in Game 4, had the lone goal for Chicago, which is trying to reach consecutive conference finals for the first time since 1989 and ’90.
Antti Niemi turned aside 20-of-23 shots in defeat.
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