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Hawks make another comeback, even series
Nikolai Khabibulin ended an 11-year run of futility against the Vancouver Canucks with the help of his special teams, and the Chicago Blackhawks completed their comeback this time and evened their Western Conference Semifinal series.
Patrick Sharp scored twice, including the game-tying goal on a two-man advantage, and Dave Bolland converted on a shorthanded breakaway for the go-ahead tally as the Blackhawks captured Game 2, beating the Canucks 6-3 on Saturday night at GM Place.
Ben Eager and Patrick Kane scored third-period goals for the Hawks, Bolland added his second of the game into an empty net and Khabibulin recovered from a shaky start to finish with 18 saves, snapping a winless drought against the Canucks that stretched back to Jan. 26, 1998. Since then he was 0-8-2 with one tie in the regular season and dropped Game 1 by a 5-3 final despite a three-goal comeback in the third by Chicago.
"We had a bad start, but he's a goalie who's been in these situations before," Bolland said. "He knows what to do. He's a great goalie and he sticks behind us all the way. I think it's us that have to come back and help him out, play defense and not let them get so many chances at our net."
Coming from behind has fast become a staple for the Blackhawks' success in this postseason. They rallied in each of their first two wins against Calgary in the opening round and also erased a 4-1 deficit in Game 4 before the Flames eventually prevailed.
"I don't know what exactly it is," Sharp said. "I think we're a young, confident group out there and we never really get too down no matter what the score is. … Playing a good opponent like Vancouver, you don't want to be spotting them a two- or three-goal lead every night, but it was nice to see we had the ability to come back anyway."
Defensemen Sami Salo and Alexander Edler scored power-play goals to stake the Canucks to a two-goal lead after the first period, and Henrik Sedin added one late to make things interesting. Roberto Luongo frustrated the Hawks again early, and ended up stopping 26 shots, but Chicago kept throwing shots on net and broke through to tie the game on a pair of Sharp goals 3:06 apart in the second.
Patrick Kane was in the box for hooking when Bolland put the Blackhawks ahead for the first time. Kane gloved Keith's long breakout pass at the Canucks' blue line, skated in alone on Luongo, deked and scored just 3:10 before the second intermission for a shorthanded goal.
Eager extended the lead 2:13 into the third when he beat Luongo following an outstanding individual effort by Adam Burish. With Edler draped all over him as he controlled the puck and headed toward the goal line, Burish, with one hand on his stick, sent the puck in front and Eager kept his stick on the ice to redirect it into the net.
Kane then made it 5-2 at 5:48 when he took a pass from captain Jonathan Toews, walked out of the left corner and put a backhander past Luongo. Sedin took a Mats Sundin feed and beat Khabibulin with 2:45 remaining, just after a 5-on-3 had expired, but Bolland hit the empty net with 1:10 left to cap the scoring.
After a disappointing 1-for-7 performance on the power play in the series opener, the Canucks needed just 30 seconds to capitalize on a delay of game penalty on Niklas Hjalmarsson and open the scoring. Henrik Sedin sent a pass from along the boards just below the goal line to a wide-open Salo, who stepped into a shot and beat Khabibulin at 5:35 from the edge of the left faceoff circle.
"They had two guys on Daniel (Sedin) and Bernie (Steve Bernier) down in the corner," Henrik Sedin said. "The puck came over, I think their forward came down to me, so it opened up for Sami. He's got a great shot."
The Blackhawks continued to shoot themselves in the foot, as Eager was penalized for roughing at 6:16 and Duncan Keith was sent off for slashing 16 seconds later. Edler cashed in on the 5-on-3 at 6:44 when he finished off a series of passes back and forth with Sundin by ripping a drive into the net from just above the spot where Salo scored.
Luongo kept Chicago off the scoreboard midway through the second, diving across the net and making a spectacular stick save off Eager, who appeared to have an open net when a rebound off a 2-on-1 chance ended up on his blade. The Hawks broke through moments later, however, as Sharp lit the lamp with 9:36 left in the period.
With that little bit of momentum, their fortunes rapidly changed and Sharp scored again 3:06 later to even the score. This time a pair of quick Vancouver penalties created a lengthy two-man advantage for Chicago, as Kevin Bieksa took a hooking penalty and Willie Mitchell went off for delay of game 19 seconds later. On the ensuing penalty kill, Ryan Kesler broke his stick, leaving the Canucks further shorthanded, and Sharp eventually blasted home the game-tying goal.
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