It's not about wins and losses right now. You may recall I was one of the few not panicking after we lost the two in Calgary. Vancouver is a bad matchup for us, a much better team than Calgary, and they have (yes, I'll say it again) fresh legs.
Fresh legs and textbook interference. Well, right now the high sticks probably need to be on the list, but those will probably stop. Our inability to create chances because we can't put our scoring lines on the ice will.
He had gotten rid of the puck several seconds before. If that happened on the Hawks, Cyno would have blown an eyeball. Fresh legs are a big reason why Vancouver is going to make them look bad this series.
1. Traffic in front of the net is needed. 2. Charge the net. 3. Don't take dumb penalties. 4. Win faceoffs. 5. Carry the puck into the zone. I think #4 is the most important. They've been terrible tonight. As bad as that's been, Vancouver's been the one to create real chances at even strength. The Hawks haven't been close to solving Luongo.
You mean on that check a minute ago? That was perfectly clean. It was textbook interference. I think it's called a textbook 'check' Which you can't do when the guy is not playing or has not just played the puck.
This series will be over in four or five. This is just like the last few regular season matchups. The back end of the Hawks' D is a huge problem, and apparently we can't put any of our scoring lines on the ice without giving up bad chances.
The Blackhawks are the ones committing the penalties. Vancouver is outskating the Hawks right now, and that's what draws penalties. That second goal is on Toews' defensive breakdown.
That's a textbook trip. It may have been touchy, but he's got to know better than that. Eight minutes of penalty-killing in the first period is a great way to ruin your best players' legs.