Canucks coach maintains that Hawks ran up the score

Canucks coach Alain Vigneault didn't back off his accusation that Joel Quenneville and the Blackhawks tried to run up the score when the teams met Nov. 20 in Vancouver.

Vigneault still is bothered by the fact Quenneville had Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane on the ice during a 5-on-3 power play with a little more than 11 minutes to play in a game the Hawks were leading 6-0 and ultimately won 7-1.

Vigneault wasn't buying Quenneville's explanation that he was simply rolling over his forward lines and defense pairings. Duncan Keith, Nick Boynton and Viktor Stalberg also started that power play.

“Come on, come on, be serious Toews and Kane. It's 6-0 going into the third, what do you think? Let's be serious,” Vigneault said Friday. “We just came from Calgary and we were up 6-2 with three minutes left and my top players didn't see the ice. We had a power play and they didn't see the ice.

“Everybody's got their way of doing things. There's nothing wrong with what they did. It's within the rules. They do things their way and we do things our (way).

“I think it's every team's right to do what they want. We obviously weren't very good (but) 5-on-3 you send Toews and Kane on the ice. They have every right to do that, they did it, and that's it.”

Quenneville stands by his belief he did nothing wrong.

“It's over as far as I'm concerned,” Quenneville said. “I think I was just doing the opposite of what I got accused of, so we'll just leave it at that.”

Canucks defenseman Kevin Bieksa didn't seem to take as much offense to what happened last month as Vigneault did.

“If I was in their situation, I'd do the same thing,” Bieksa said. “If we were up 5-1 on these guys, I'd love to bury them too. It's just the way it is.”

Delicate balance:

Joel Quenneville admitted that as a coach he is always concerned with playing with a big lead and how not to appear to be piling it on.

“You're very well aware of it in all instances,” Quenneville said. “I've been at both ends of the spectrum and am respectful for being on the other side of it.

“You've got to be careful, too, that you don't lose a game like that. You balance everything out and sometimes it's tricky. Sometimes you think you're doing the right thing, but at the same time you have to do what's best for your team.”