Watch for both teams to come out in desperation mode

Sure the Blackhawks have put together back-to-back impressive wins, but the reaction that has ensued has been a little over the top for a team that still trails Vancouver 3-2 in their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

“It just seems like everywhere you go, people are talking like we're up in the series,” Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said. “Well, we're not. We're still fighting for our lives and nothing is changing there. We've got to keep going the same way.”

It will be one desperate Canucks team that takes the ice Sunday at the United Center, one that doesn't want to face the prospect of playing in a deciding Game 7.

“We are playing this like a Game 7,” Vancouver center Ryan Kesler told reporters. “We are going to play like we are playing for our lives. We are going to throw it all on the table.”

Using a phrase that had been heard a lot around Chicago until recently, Canucks GM Mike Gillis said Friday that his team's best players haven't been the team's best players the last couple of games.

Meanwhile, the Hawks' core group — including Toews, Marian Hossa and Duncan Keith — has just begun to spring to life.

“We feel like we are a different team,” Toews said. “When you're backed into a corner like that, obviously your going to turn into a different team where you're playing desperate hockey. So we're throwing what we can at their team.

“Scoring the amount of goals we did in the last two games gives you a little bit of swagger and a little bit of confidence.”

The Canucks, who will again start Roberto Luongo in net, hope to return the favor.

“We should treat it as a must-win,” Henrik Sedin told tsn. “We can't go there and think we are going to get another chance at home.”