Versteeg goal allows Blackhawks to tie series 1-1
The never-say-die Blackhawks pulled it off again.
Surviving a stunning start that saw Vancouver score 2 goals in the first five minutes Monday night at the United Center, the Hawks finally kicked their game into playoff mode and rallied for a 4-2 victory on the strength of 3 third-period goals to even their best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series at 1-1.
Kris Versteeg scored with 1:30 to play in regulation snapping a 2-2 tie after Patrick Sharp had brought the Hawks even with a short-handed goal at 6:49.
Patrick Kane added an empty-netter with 48 seconds left, sending the UC into bedlam.
It was a wildly entertaining game between perhaps the two fastest and most skilled teams left in the playoffs.
"I think everybody who was in the building had a treat tonight," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
Versteeg had most of the net to shoot at from the left side after taking a pass from Duncan Keith with goalie Roberto Luongo down and out, and he didn't miss despite a slight juggle of the puck.
"I double-pumped and kind of faked myself out," Versteeg said. "It was a little ugly, but the puck came back and, hey, I'll take it."
Luongo was square to Keith in the slot when the pass was made to his right.
"I tried to get over, and I did," Luongo said. "He just pretty much put a perfect shot under the bar and in there."
The Canucks quickly silenced the huge UC crowd to start the game with goals from Mason Raymond at 1:22 and Mikael Samuelsson at 5:02.
Samuelsson's goal came during a 5-on-3 power play with Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Seabrook serving penalties for delay of game.
"At that point you're thinking just get yourself back in the game," Kane said. "You're thinking you can't go down 0-2, especially with the first two games in your building."
Sharp thought the team might have been too fired up to make amends for its Game 1 loss.
"We had a day-and-a-half to talk about what went wrong in Game 1, and we came out and did that," Sharp said. "I don't know if we wanted it too bad or just overworked, I don't know what the issue was.
"Maybe working too hard going for hits, trying to get involved too much and running out of position."
The rest of the way was played at the kind of pace the Hawks haven't shown in their previous seven playoff games.
Seabrook's goal less than three minutes after Samuelsson scored sparked the Hawks and got the crowd back into the game.
"I thought the goal Seabrook scored and a couple shifts right before the goal showed we were ready to dig deeper," Sharp said.
Hawks goalie Antti Niemi was outstanding, shutting the door after his teammates left him out to dry on the 2 Vancouver goals.
"Niemi, that was unbelievable," Versteeg said. "It could have been 3-0 at any given point."
Niemi and Luongo matched save for save until the third period when Sharp tied it at 2-2 on a special individual effort while short-handed.
Sharp chipped the puck off the boards past defenseman Christian Ehrhoff at his own blue line, took off on a 2-on-1 with Versteeg, kept the puck as defender Alex Edler drifted to Versteeg, cut to the net and beat Luongo with a backhander for his fourth goal of the playoffs.
"I saw Steeger going hard to the net and I was going look for the pass, but it seemed the defense kind of went over with Steeger, and it was me and Roberto," Sharp said. "He came out so far that if I was able to get around him, hopefully I could get it in."
Sharp's short-handed goal seemed to knock some wind out of the Canucks.
"That was a huge goal," Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith said. "It seems we've done that before, and short-handed goals can be huge momentum builders. You never want to take a penalty, but we seem to be real good at scoring short-handed goals."
The Hawks killed a critical late penalty for having too many men on the ice with Sharp nearly scoring again on a breakaway.
That set the stage for Versteeg's dramatic finish.
"To score that one late and not have overtime, it was a pretty big goal," Kane said. "That was a must-win game right there. We obviously feel pretty confident we put ourselves right back in the series."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Tim Sassone's game tracker</p>
<p class="News">Blackhawks 4, Canucks 2</p>
<p class="News"><b>Three stars:</b></p>
<p class="News">1. Patrick Sharp, Hawks: Great individual effort on third period short-handed goal that tied it.</p>
<p class="News">2. Kris Versteeg, Hawks: Nailed the game-winner with 1:30 to play.</p>
<p class="News">3. Brent Seabrook, Hawks: The defenseman had a goal, an assist and 8 hits.</p>
<p class="News"><b>Fourth star?</b></p>
<p class="News">Hawks goalie Antti Niemi shut the door after the Canucks got 2 goals in the first 5:02.</p>
<p class="News"><b>The quote</b></p>
<p class="News">"The goal is not to get to one first or two first. It's to get to four (games) first." - Canucks coach Alain Vigneault</p>
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<h1>More Coverage</h1>
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<h2>Photo Galleries</h2>
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<li><a href="/story/?id=378104">Images of the Blackhawks vs. Canucks, Game 2 </a></li>
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<h2>Stories</h2>
<ul class="links">
<li><a href="/story/?id=378115"><b>IMREM:</b> This drama had a do-or-die feel for Hawks<span class="date"> [5/3/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=378121">Strategy works to get Hawks back in game<span class="date"> [5/3/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=378096">Canucks' early goals don't rattle Niemi <span class="date"> [5/3/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=378075">'Stosh' still draws attention<span class="date"> [5/3/10]</span></a></li>
<li><a href="/story/?id=378077">Burish back in lineup to provide energy<span class="date"> [5/3/10]</span></a></li>
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