advertisement

Canucks use big 1st period to beat Blackhawks 5-1

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Antti Niemi's second straight start didn't last long.

Niemi, making back-to-back starts for the first time this season, was pulled after the first period of the Blackhawks' 5-1 loss to the Canucks on Saturday night at GM Place.

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville gave Niemi the hook in an attempt to shake up the team after the Canucks scored three times on 12 shots.

"I wasn't blaming the goaltending at all tonight," Quenneville said. "Down 3-0 you try to change the momentum with a lot of hockey left. It didn't work."

While Niemi appeared to have trouble finding some pucks, he didn't get a lot of help from his teammates either.

"Lot of (tough) bounces," Niemi said.

Mikael Samuelsson made it 1-0 at 7:19 when nobody bothered to pick him up in the slot. A Brent Seabrook turnover led to Henrik Sedin's goal at 10:21.

"I was trying to pass to (Marian) Hossa and I just didn't put enough zip on it," Seabrook said.

An unchecked Steve Bernier scored late in the first at 18:22 on a rebound.

"We didn't have the energy, and our thought process mentally, some of the mistakes we haven't seen those maybe all year," Quenneville said.

Cristobal Huet worked the last two periods, but the Hawks couldn't mount a comeback despite outshooting the Canucks 44-28.

Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo played well, but he got a good look at the Hawks' best chances.

The Hawks had no answer for the Sedin line. Henrik Sedin had 2 goals and an assist, while Daniel Sedin had a goal and 2 assists.

"They're great players, world-class players," Seabrook said.

Alex Burrows, the third member of the Sedin line had 3 assists. Henrik Sedin has 74 points to lead the NHL in scoring.

Hawks defensemen Cam Barker (minus-3) and Brian Campbell (minus-2) had tough nights.

The Canucks were zeroing in on the game as way to show they deserved to be mentioned in the same breath with the Hawks and San Jose in the Western Conference.

"We want to show we're right up there with them," Luongo said.

"Chicago is obviously a good hockey club, but we're a good hockey club, too," Canucks center Ryan Kesler said. "I don't think we get enough respect around the league."

It stayed 3-0 until Jonathan Toews scored 3:30 into the third period, but any momentum the Hawks had was lost 32 seconds later when Henrik Sedin answered with his second goal of the night over Huet.

"That's why they won the game because every time we got something going they found a way to frustrate us and come right back at us," Toews said. "I don't think we had our intensity or played with the jump we normally do."

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.