WQF Game 4: Canucks 2 Blackhawks 7

You guys didn’t really expect a sweep, did you?

The Hero

Dave Bolland. With so many reports that he hadn’t fully-recovered from the concussion that’s sidelined him since the beginning of March, I’m surprised the Blackhawks allowed him to risk his long-term health and play anyway. I’m even more surprised he recorded 4 points. Full credit to him. With him back in the lineup, the Sedins were largely ineffective.

The Goat

I have two. The Sedins were horrible and were a combined minus-7. I don’t know how much of that was the Dave Bolland effect, but if the Canucks want to end this series tomorrow, they need more from their last two Art Ross winners.

Actually, make that three goats. I don’t like John Scott. With less than 5 minutes left and his team leading by six goals, trying to pick fights is all kinds of douchebaggery.

From Brad Ziemer (Vancouver Sun):

Torres was challenged in the third period by John Scott, the 6-foot-8 forward who played defence Tuesday night.

“I think he just said he wanted to beat me up,” Torres said. “So I said okay, great, good for you.”

Torres and Scott did not fight, but each received 10-minute misconducts in a rough third period.

The Numbers

• 7. For the second game in a row, the Blackhawks enjoyed 7 powerplay opportunities. In two home games combined, Chicago had a 14-6 powerplay advantage and almost a 10-minute advantage in powerplay time (15:15 – 5:55) over the Canucks. TH
• 8. Like Bolland, Bryan Bickell returned to the lineup last night and led all players with 8 hits. In only 13:27 minutes of ice-time, he also scored a beauty of a goal and had a plus-4 rating.
• 1. Roberto Luongo has a good track record for bouncing back after bad games. Last year, the Hawks scored 7 goals in game 4 at GM Place; Lui followed that up by allowing only 1 goal in game 5 in Chicago.

The Next Time

Chalk last night up as an aberration. Even in this record-breaking season, the Canucks have certainly served up some stinkers. The difference is, they never stunk it up for too long and usually just bounced right back. And as bad as game 4 was – and as bad as the score was – this only counts as one loss for the Canucks. They still have a 3-1 series lead and head home to more friendly surroundings.