Murray: Hawks have to respond to physical play

Editor’s note: Troy Murray, now in his 11th season as a member of the Blackhawks’ broadcast team, will again provide pregame analysis for the Daily Herald throughout the Blackhawks’ playoff run. The Selke Award winner was a five-time 20 goal scorer and a veteran of 15 years in the NHL, playing in 915 career games.

Q. In your eyes, was the Blackhawks performance Wednesday as bad as many people are saying?

A. I don’t think the team, by any stretch of the imagination, would be happy with the start of the game. Were there opportunities to get back in the game? Did they not get any bounces? You can always pick out some positives, but I think the game was determined in the first period and that wasn’t a good enough response. They have to be better.

Q. At least there was one positive in the play of Hawks’ goalie Corey Crawford, right?

A. I thought Corey Crawford was very good. The first goal that went in was a deflection, the second one a breakaway and a nice shot. Other than that, he did what he needed to do: he kept the Blackhawks in a position where they were still in the game.

Was Vancouver’s Roberto Luongo maybe the better goalie in that game? Well, he was the first star and got a shutout, so you tip your hat to Luongo and the Vancouver Canucks and the job they did. But Corey Crawford did what he needed to do; he was solid after the first 10 minutes and gave his team an opportunity to stick around.

Q. What do the Hawks need to do to answer Vancouver’s physicality?

A. A lot was made in the papers about the number of hits — 47-21. Obviously Vancouver came out with a game plan to be physical against the Blackhawks. It’s not that they were running around all over the place looking to take people’s heads off, they were finishing checks all over the ice.

I think that’s something the Blackhawks are going to have to do. Vancouver, in my opinion, had too much freedom in the way they moved the puck.

The Blackhawks don’t have to be overly physical, but making contact and eliminating players from the play is something they’ll have to do a much better job of.

Q. What are your keys for tonight’s game?

A. You have to have a better start. You have to expect that Vancouver is going to come out and try to do the exact same thing they did in Game 1; be physical, strong on the puck and be very aggressive.

The Hawks need to have better net presence, even though Roberto Luongo was very good. You have to challenge him on those second and third chances on a regular basis.

And I think they’re going to have to do better at meeting the physical challenge that was part of the game plan for Vancouver.