|
 Although Lack was shaky at the outset, allowing Chicago to score
the game's first two goals, he also was the man of the hour when he
needed to be the most, stopping seven of eight Blackhawks shots in
the shootout as the Canucks earned a hard-fought 3-2 win at the
United Center.
"I thought I let the first goal in a little bit cheap, so I wanted
to get it back and keep my team in it," Lack said. "I thought we all
did a huge job coming back from 2-0 and taking it to the shootout.
It was a good game for sure."
Tortorella, who is in his first year at the helm of the Canucks
after five years in charge of the New York Rangers, not only had
confidence in his goalie but also that his team would rally.
It was the ninth time this season that the Canucks have rallied back
to win after allowing the opposing team to score first, which leads
the league. The Blackhawks still have a dominant 19-0-4 record when
they score the first goal in a game this season.
"First period, I think we showed them a little bit too much
respect," Tortorella said. "You should respect that team. It's a
really good hockey club, but I think we just kind of tested the
waters a little bit. I thought we started taking over the game in
the second period. Didn't get frustrated with not producing on the
power play. Had some chances on the power play, but didn't produce,
and banged one in and found our way."
Center Ryan Kessler scored the deciding tally to help the Canucks
break a two-game losing streak while also snapping Chicago's
two-game winning streak.
Center Mike Santorelli scored the first goal of the shootout for the
Canucks (21-11-6), followed by misses by left winger Daniel Sedin,
center Henrik Sedin, right winger Zack Kassian, defenseman Yannick
Weber, left winger David Booth and center Zac Dalpe before Kesler's
game-winner.
Chicago (25-7-6) managed just one goal in the shootout, coming from
forward Patrick Sharp. Missing for the Blackhawks were right winger
Patrick Kane, center Jonathan Toews, right winger Marian Hossa, left
winger Brandon Saad, right winger Ben Smith, right winger Kris
Versteeg and center Michal Handzus.
The win tied the season series between the two teams at 1, with one
more game remaining later this season.
"There's no time or space and I think we didn't shoot enough and
tried to get a little bit more disruptive," said Chicago coach Joel
Quenneville, whose team outshot the Canucks 26-24.
Luongo has a 15-10-3 all-time record against the Blackhawks, but
after tough defeats in the previous two games, Tortorella thought
he'd throw a curve ball at the defending Stanley Cup champions — and it worked.
[to top of second column] |
"Having a goalie we didn't see before didn't help us,"
Quenneville said.
Despite the shootout going eight deep on each side, Quenneville
was surprisingly not as angry as some might have thought.
"It's a confidence thing, it's a feel thing," Quenneville said.
"Eventually, I think things like that can go in your favor, and
right now it's been just okay."
Chicago grabbed the lead first at 7:49 of the first period on
Versteeg's tip-in goal (seventh of season).
The Blackhawks made it 2-0 at 4:57 of the second period on
Kane's slap shot from inside the left circle for his
team-leading 21st goal of the season.
"(It's) definitely disappointing when you're up 2-0 to give up a
lead and then lose the game," Kane said.
After Chicago goalie Antti Raanta stopped the Canucks' first 12
shots, he wasn't as lucky on the 13th attempt as Kassian nailed
his seventh goal of the season on a 25-foot slap shot.
Raanta got bottled up on one side of his net at 10:48 of the
third period and Vancouver took advantage of his being out of
position. Defenseman Kevin Bieksa flicked the puck through the
crease to Daniel Sedin, who easily slid it past Raanta for his
12th goal of the season, tying the game at 2.
With the loss, Chicago lost its league lead in wins (Pittsburgh
now has 26), but still leads the NHL in points (56).
NOTES: Despite the loss, Chicago still leads Vancouver in the
all-time series 81-65-27-8. ... Attendance was 21,966, the
second-largest home crowd for the Blackhawks this season. ...
With Tuesday's win at Nashville, Blackhawks coach Joel
Quenneville moved into fourth-place on the all-time coaching
wins list with his 685th triumph as a head coach in the NHL. He
moved past Pat Quinn, who had 684 wins. Quenneville also leads
all active coaches in the NHL with 1,249 games coached,
including Friday's contest. ... Chicago continues its homestand
with games Monday vs. the New Jersey Devils and Dec. 27 vs.
Colorado. After a Dec. 28 game at St. Louis, the Blackhawks
return home for games against the Los Angeles Kings (Dec. 30)
and New York Islanders (Jan. 2). ... Vancouver came into the
game with the NHL's best penalty killing unit (89.8 percent).
... Friday marked the end of a three-game roadtrip for the
Canucks, who return home to play Winnipeg on Sunday before
enjoying a week off before hitting the road again at Calgary on
Dec. 29.
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