Chicago Blackhawks win fourth straight with shootout victory over the Vancouver Canucks
Pundits predicted that the matchup between the Vancouver Canucks and the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday 20 October was an early meeting between the two teams that will compete for the Western Conference
title. But the way things are going for the Canucks this year, they will struggle just to make the playoffs as they dropped their fourth game in the last five by losing 2-1 in overtime to the Blackhawks.
How it happened
The Blackhawks opened the scoring late in the first period when Viktor Stalberg got his second of the season.
Marty Turco was solid in goal for the Blackhawks saving 36 of 37 shots on the night, but he couldn't keep Daniel Sedin from tying up the game one minute into the third period. Sedin got his team-leading
seventh goal of the season when a scramble in front of Turco trickled through the crease to Sedin who was waiting at the far post.
With no scoring in the extra period the game went to a shootout where the first five shooters all scored. It was up to the Canucks' third shooter, Mikael Samuelsson, to keep the shootout going but he failed
to beat Turco.
What they're saying
Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa, who remains the league's leading scorer, saw his seven-game point scoring streak come to an end, but was happy that his team got the win.
"It wasn't the prettiest game, but two points are two points," he said. "We grind until the end, (got) a shootout win, two points and we're happy with it."
Roberto Luongo was back between the pipes for the Canucks after giving up six goals against the Minnesota Wild on 19 October, which led to his being pulled after the second period. Luongo was solid on
the night stopping 31 of 32 shots, and head coach Alain Vigneault was quick to applaud the efforts of his goalie.
"He's a proud player and a real competitor, and that's what competitors do," Vigneault said. "He (bounced back) and the rest of our team knew we weren't good enough yesterday. We all said we're going to
come here and work hard, and we did."
What it all means
The Chicago Blackhawks have now won four games in a row and have shot up the standings to the top of the Western Conference. They take on the St. Louis Blues on Friday October 22.
The Canucks struggles continue as they now drop to 2-3-2 and have lost four of their last five games. They play the Minnesota Wild – who recently beat the Canucks 6-2 in Minnesota – Friday 22 October in
Vancouver.
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