Do we need to spell it out for the Canucks? .

You know what some say, stupid is as stupid does.

Meet the Vancouver Canucks.

In what was supposed to be a close and even Western Conference semifinal series, the Hawks have taken advantage of one bad Vancouver penalty after another to push the Canucks to the brink of elimination.

The Hawks lead the best-of-seven series 3-1 and can advance to the Western Conference finals for the second year in a row with another win Sunday night at the United Center.

It's hard to imagine the Canucks recovering from what happened Friday night in Game 4, when they completely lost focus and their composure in a 7-4 loss to the Hawks at GM Place.

"It's losing by way of everything we've talked about," Canucks center Ryan Johnson said. "To go into any series and take this many penalties and still expect to win, you're kidding yourself. It's mind-blowing."

A columnist in the Vancouver Sun called the play of the Canucks in game 4 "reprehensible," when they spent most of the night trying to get even with Dustin Byfuglien instead of playing hockey.

The Canucks have no chance to win with the likes of Shane O'Brien and Alex Burrows - Dumb and Dumber - running around and taking cheap shots at the Hawks.

O'Brien took not one, but two cross checking penalties in the first period against Byfuglien. The Hawks scored their first power-play goal with O'Brien serving his second penalty.

"I just wanted to make it a little harder on him than he's had it all series," O'Brien said. "I guess I proved everybody right and took a couple stupid ones."

Burrows' cross check to the back of Byfuglien's head in the second period was bad enough to warrant a suspension if the NHL was paying attention.

Then as Byfuglien lay on the ice shaken up, Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa leaned in and appeared to taunt the Hawks' winger.

"He was just waiting for the refs to come in before he started getting going," Byfuglien said, taking a well-aimed shot at Bieksa's courage.

The Hawks really don't have much to say about the Canucks at this point in the series, which is the perfect strategy. Many of them faced wave after wave of questions about Vancouver's lack of discipline following Game 4 and said all the right things.

"I don't know if we're in their head, that's not a question for me to answer," Patrick Sharp said. "All I know is we're playing the game hard and smart and being aware when they have some dangerous players on the ice and taking advantage of some opportunities."

There's little doubt that the 6-foot-4, 257-pound Byfuglien is in the heads of Canucks such as O'Brien, Bieksa and Burrows.

"I just stand there and create traffic - they're the ones that are making the big hype and not doing anything about it," Byfuglien said.

"Buff's doing a great job," Sharp said. "He's going to the dirty areas and they obviously don't like him there. If it's not him banging it in, it's opening it up for someone else.

"I don't know if we have them rattled. We're just playing the game the way we want to."

There's no way the Hawks want to see the Canucks again after tonight until next season.

"We're not really focused on trying to figure out what they need to do," Duncan Keith said. "Our focus is on what we need to keep on doing. We've done some good things the last couple games and we need to keep that going."

This would be the Canucks' worst nightmare, to be eliminated for a second year in a row in the din of the United Center by a team they have grown to detest.

The Hawks would say the feeling is mutual.

"We have to refocus," said Canucks goalie and captain Roberto Luongo, who is being outplayed by Antti Niemi. "The series is not over. Maybe a lot of people think it's over, but it has been done before. The Canadiens came back against Washington."