Blackhawks Vs. Canucks, Game 1: Roberto Luongo Dominate In Shutout Victory

After a poor start to the evening in Game 1 at Rogers Arena, the Chicago Blackhawks really turned up the intensity against the Vancouver Canucks in the last 40 minutes of action.

Unfortunately for them, the NHL’s top regular season team had already formed a 2-0 lead by that point, and thanks to brilliant play from Roberto Luongo, that was all they needed. The Canucks goaltender made 32 saves, many of them tough ones, in the game to shutout the defending Cup champs by that 2-0 final score.

Chris Higgins and Jannik Hansen scored for Vancouver, both in quick succession during the first period.

The good news for Chicago (and the bad news for the Canucks) is that the Sedin twins were held off the board throughout the game, and we’re not just talking about in the goal department. The duo put just three shots on goal in the contest, and all three came from younger brother Daniel.

Corey Crawford probably won’t get the due he’s deserved following this one, but he was a major reason why the Blackhawks were even involved in the festivities during the third period, making 33 saves of his own. That’s another good sign for Chicago.

Early on, it looked as though the Canucks would walk all over the Blackhawks in this game and potentially even this series. By the end of the contest, however, it turns out this series is a lot closer to what we thought it would be.

For continuing coverage of this series from SBNation.com, click here. For even more, check out our blogs: Second City Hockey covering the Blackhawks, and Nucks Misconduct covering the Canucks.