Saturday, December 20, 2008

Canucks Fall Short To Hawks Saturday

They certainly had their chances. However the Vancouver Canucks couldn't figure out enough ways to beat Chicago goalie Christobal Huet as they fell 3-1 to the red hot Blackhawks.

The Canucks were definitely happy with their start to the game and were rewarded for their efforts with a goal from Daniel Sedin. After finding a loose puck beside the Hawks goal, he made no mistake scooping it home. Henrik Sedin and Jannik Hansen collect the assist on Daniel's 15th of the year at 3:45.

Daniel nearly gave the home team a two-goal lead early in second period with a breakaway opportunity. However he was unable to capitalize and right away the Hawks went to the other end of the rink and looked to their leading scorer to tie things up. Patrick Kane broke down the right side of the Canucks zone and was able to score on a beautiful back-handed shot that beat Curtis Sanford on the short side. Andrew Ladd and Kris Versteeg help Kane score his 16th of the year at 2:51.

Pavol Demitra had a great chance to get Vancouver back into the lead as he had a re-directed chance from the top of the crease beat Huet. However the puck trickled just wide of the right post. Shortly after that the Hawks got their own lead as Partick Sharp used Shane O'Brien as a screen in front to eventually snap home a shot into the top corner. Sharp's 18th of the year also turned out to be his third game winner of the season at 6:17.

The Canucks certainly had some great opportunities to draw level before the intermission break. Henrik Sedin had two good chances in close on a power play, Mattias Ohlund missed with a snap shot from between the circles while on the man advantage, Mason Raymond snapped a great chance off the cross bar, and Willie Mitchell wound up being stoned by Huet in the final minute of the frame.

The Hawks did a decent job in the final period not allowing the Canucks many great chances. When the puck was in the Chicago end, the best opporunities came from Ohlund and Steve Bernier. However Huet was there to shut the door and keep his team in the lead.

Captain Jonathan Toews capped off the scoring by hitting the empty net with 39 seconds remaining in the game. Craig Adams picked up the lone assist on the 9th of the year for Toews.

Final shots on net favoured the Hawks 34-31. Vancouver wound up going 0-for-6 on the power play while their opponents went 0-for-4.

The win was the seventh straight for the Blackhawks, who are now 18-6-7. As for the Canucks, their record now stands at 18-12-3. Vancouver will be back on home ice Monday night where they will take on the Anaheim Ducks. Game time is 7:00pm.

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