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Déjà vu: 'Hawks beat Canucks, in Conference Finals Print
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Written by Mike Cook   
Tuesday, May 11, 2010 23:55
The top two teams in the Western Conference will compete for a chance to play for the Stanley Cup.

Troy Brouwer and Kris Versteeg scored 36 seconds apart in the second period to set the tone, and Chicago beat Vancouver 5-1 to win the conference semifinal series 4-2. The Blackhawks will head down the West Coast to face top-seeded San Jose in the finals. The Sharks beat Detroit 4-1 in their series.

Chicago had a chance to clinch home ice throughout conference play on the final day of the regular season, but lost in overtime to Detroit, finishing one point behind the Sharks. However, Chicago is 5-1 on the road in the playoffs.

"I definitely think so," Chicago's Dustin Byfuglien said when asked by a television reporter if this year's team is better than last year's. "I think we have a little more experience in the locker room. We have more all around, and we know how to play when things get rough."

The Blackhawks lost to Detroit in the Western Conference Finals last season.

Dave Bolland, Patrick Kane and Byfuglien also scored and Antti Niemi had 29 saves for the Blackhawks, which eliminated Vancouver in Game 6 of the conference semifinal last season – but that was in the Windy City.

Shane O'Brien scored and Roberto Luongo stopped 30 shots for the Canucks, who lost all three home games in the series by a combined 17-7 and won just two of six home playoff games. Henrik and Daniel Sedin combined for five shots, all by Daniel.

Luongo was brilliant in the first period, stopping Byfuglien 76 seconds in, and dove back a couple of minutes later to stop a shot by Brent Sopel moments after Jannik Hansen couldn’t bury a perfect chance for the home team.

Sharp nearly gave Chicago a 1-0 lead on a breakaway, but Luongo was up to the challenge with a fantastic glove save. The Blackhawks failed to score on a goalmouth scramble moments later, a play upheld by video review.

Brouwer, a healthy scratch the past three games, earned his first career playoff goal 2 minutes into the second period, tipping a Sharp pass over the glove of Luongo. Versteeg took advantage of Kevin Bieksa overskating the puck to make it 2-0 just 36 seconds later to suck the energy from the raucous GM Place crowd.

With the team needing to step up its game, the Canucks went into an offensive shell. Vancouver was sloppy with the puck and had just three shots in the opening 15 minutes of the middle frame.

Bolland sealed the series with a short-handed breakaway goal in the final minute of the period, after stealing the puck from Pavol Demitra at the blue line.

"Obviously, it's very disappointing," Canucks head coach Alain Vigneault said. "Our expectations were high. We wanted this opportunity ... and for the second year in a row we weren't able to get it done. They're a very good team, an elite team, and improving. For whatever reason, where we had been real good this year – at home – we didn't play well, and we lost the series."

Demitra, who underachieved with three goals and 13 assists in 28 games this year, was at the point because Alex Edler was hurt in the first period. The Canucks; defense was already hurting because Sami Salo, who was injured Sunday, when a Duncan Keith slapper struck him in the groin area, played at less than 100 percent. The approving crowd chanted "Balls of Steel" at one point in the first period.

"The last two games, we played basically with five D, and that was tough on our back end," Vigneault said.

O'Brien beat Niemi with a wrist shot to make it 3-1 early in the third, but Kane and Byfuglien scored 25 seconds apart midway through the frame.

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