The Chicago Blackhawks scored three third period goals and cruised to a 5-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.  That was the Blackhawks fourth straight win as they lead the Western Conference, meanwhile Vancouver continues to suffer from the hangover from last year’s playoff run as they have are currently out of the playoffs.

The first goal of the game did not come until early in the second period.   Jannik Hansen scored his fifth goal of the season and just: 38 into the period Vancouver had a 1-0 lead.  That would be the only time Vancouver would get the puck past Chicago goalie Corey Crawford.  Chicago answered back with two power play goals in the second period to take a 2-1 lead into the second period intermission.  Andrew Brunette scored his fourth goal of the season on the power play when Ryan Kesler took a tripping penalty.  Chicago took a 2-1 lead when Patrick Kane scored his seventh goal of the year just: 11 after Alex Burrows was in the sin bin for slashing.

Chicago put the game away in the third period when they scored three goals in the last eight minutes of the game to secure the victory.  Jonathan Toews made the score 3-1 when Viktor Stalberg spotted Toews wide open in the slot and he beat Vancouver goalie Cory Schneider.   Chicago increased their lead to 4-1 about two minutes later when Patrick Sharp took a shot from the left side that dribbled past Schneider into the net, a shot that Schneider should have stopped as the melt down continued.  Vancouver finished off the scoring when Steve Montador’s blast from the slot beat Schneider and Chicago had their 12^th win of the year.

Vancouver continues to be inconsistent so far this year as they have a record of 5-5 in their last 10 games, with a season record of 9-9-1.  It would appear the Canucks have not recovered from losing to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals last year.    With Roberto Luongo out with an upper body injury they will have to count on backup goalie Schneider as they go on the road for three games next week.  With only four teams with a worse record then the Canucks in the Western Conference they better get their act together before it’s too late.

Sami  Salo scored his first two goals of the season and Roberto Luongo made some big third period saves as the Vancouver Canucks held on to defeat the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Saturday Night to finish off their first road trip of the season.   Vancouver went 2-2 on their four game road trip and now will return home to face the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.   Vancouver was able to win despite the first career hat-trick by Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins; with the win Vancouver improved their record to 2-2-1.  Roberto Luongo who got his first win of the year made some big saves late in the third period to preserve the victory.

Vancouver was the first team to light the lamp on the power play when Sami Salo’s slap shot from the slot overwhelmed Edmonton goalie Devan Dubnyk and Vancouver led 1-0, this was the first time the Canucks scored the first goal of the game this season.   Edmonton tied the game about five minutes later on the power play as Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his first goal of the game to tie the score.   Edmonton came out strong early in the first period, but Vancouver controlled play in the second half of the period.  It looked like there would be no more scoring in the period until Nugent-Hopkins scored his second goal of the period; the rookie deflected a shot from the point that eluded Luongo with just: 29 on the clock and Edmonton went into the intermission leading 2-1.

Vancouver who had lost their previous two games to Philadelphia and Detroit did not want to end the road trip losing three consecutive games scored the first goal of the second period on the power play.   On a scramble in front of Edmonton goalie Dubnyk, Henrik Sedin propelled the puck just over the goal line to tie the score at 2-2; it was Henrik Sedin’s second goal of the season.  The score remained the same until Vancouver forward Jannik Hansen took a tripping penalty with just under four minutes to play in the second period; it was the 24th penalty the Canucks have taken this year.   Ryan Nugent-Hopkins completed his hat-trick and Edmonton led 3-2, but the lead did not last for long.   With just: 15 left in the period Alex Burrows deflected a pass from Daniel Sedin by the Edmonton goalie and the second period ended with the teams tied 3-3.

Vancouver controlled play in the third period outshooting Edmonton 9-4 and that pressure led to the go ahead goal by Vancouver.   The Canucks forced Edmonton to turn over the puck in their own end and Mikael Samuelsson passed the puck to a wide open Sami Salo and he beat Dubnyk for his second goal of the game and Vancouver led the game 4-3 with about 12 minutes remaining in the third period.  Edmonton put on some pressure late in the period, but Luongo made all the saves and Vancouver ended the road trip with a victory.   The Canucks next three games will be at home at Rogers Arena.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=373855

**Rating system for “Plus/Minus” Series**
+3 = Major Upgrade
+2 = Upgrade
+1 = Slight Upgrade
0 = Same as prior year
-1 = Slight Dowgrade
-2 = Downgrade
-3 = Major Downgrade

Team: Vancouver Canucks
2010-11: 117 points, #1 in Western Conference

GOALIES

Returning: Roberto Luongo, Cory Schneider

Arrivals: N / A
Departures: N / A

Grade: 0

No change in goal for the Vancouver Canucks, that is unless they decide to add more scoring by shopping Cory Schneider. That wouldn’t happen until midseason at the earliest.

DEFENSE

Returning: Kevin Bieksa, Dan Hamhuis, Alexander Edler, Keith Ballard, Sami Salo, Andrew Alberts, Aaron Rome

Arrivals: N / A
Departures: Christian Ehrhoff

Grade: -2

While some may argue this rating should be a -3, the Canucks were decimated by injuries on defense last year, so just getting healthy offsets some of the loss of Ehrhoff.

FORWARDS

Returning: Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Alex Burrows, Ryan Kesler, Mason Raymond, Mikael Samuelsson, Manny Malhotra, Chris Higgins, Max Lapierre, Jannik Hansen, Victor Oreskovich

Arrivals: Marco Sturm, Mark Mancari, Andrew Ebbett
Departures: Raffi Torres, Tanner Glass, Jeff Tambellini

Grade: 0

The only significant loss for the Canucks was third-liner Raffi Torres, who they replaced with Marco Sturm. Sturm brings less jam but a bit more offense. Vancouver got some good use out of Glass and Tambellini, but decided to replace them with Mancari and Ebbett, both of whom have spent some time going back and forth from the AHL to the NHL. We’ll call that 3 for 3 swap an even trade.

OVERALL RATING: -2
2011-12 Prediction: #1-#3 in Western Conference

The Canucks can count on great defense and goaltending this season, but the big question mark is their depth up front especially with Mason Raymond injured to start the year. If they are struggling to score goals, Vancouver has some attractive trade bait (Schneider, Hodgson) to be able to land a top line winger. Despite al of that, Vancouver will still likely win their division.

Everyone seems to want to dump on the Vancouver Canucks, but I would certainly call a trip to the Stanley Cup Finals a successful season. The main reason the Canucks lost is because of unfortunate injuries, a lack of depth up front and inconsistency from their goaltender. While 2 of those 3 can’t be cured with offseason moves, one of them will be the focal point starting July 1.

The Canucks have arguably one of the best goaltending tandems in the NHL, and that will in all likelihood stay that way. Luongo was shaky in the playoffs, but when he is on his game, he is one of the best goalies in the world. The loss of Christian Ehrhoff will hurt, but Vancouver should be just fine on defense, especially with Bieksa re-signing to a cap friendly deal. Up front, the Canucks feature 2 scoring lines that are as good as it gets for a 1-2 punch. The problem is after that, where there is not much scoring.

Vancouver GM Mike Gillis has just under $11M to play with this summer, and 6 roster spots to fill. The first 2 will be the re-signing of RFAs Jannik Hansen and Victor Oreskovich. Gillis found out last year that there is no such thing as having too many defensemen, so he will try and bring back Sami Salo on a short-term deal. The remaining dollars will be spent on some quality top 9 forwards; ones who may not be the biggest names, but they’ll be capable of scoring 15-20 goals and will not shy away from playing physical. Keep in mind; if Gillis really wants to rock the boat, he has the assets to acquire an impact forward. All he has to do is drop the names Cody Hodgson and Cory Schneider, throw in a salary like Samuelsson’s or Ballard’s and he’ll have the makings of a blockbuster trade.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS 2011-12 ROSTER (using CAPGEEK CAP CALCULATOR)

FORWARDS
Daniel Sedin ($6.100m) / Henrik Sedin ($6.100m) / Alexandre Burrows ($2.000m)
Mason Raymond ($2.550m) / Ryan Kesler ($5.000m) / Mikael Samuelsson ($2.500m)
TOP 9 LW ($0.000m) / Manny Malhotra ($2.500m) / TOP 9 RW ($0.000m)
4TH LINE LW ($0.000m) / Maxim Lapierre ($1.000m) / Jannik Hansen (RFA)
Victor Oreskovich (RFA)

DEFENSEMEN
Dan Hamhuis ($4.500m) / Kevin Bieksa ($4.600m)
Alexander Edler ($3.250m) / Keith Ballard ($4.200m)
Aaron Rome ($0.750m) / Chris Tanev ($0.900m)
Andrew Alberts ($1.225m)

GOALTENDERS
Roberto Luongo ($5.333m) / Cory Schneider ($0.900m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS
SALARY CAP: $64,300,000
CAP PAYROLL: $53,408,333
CAP SPACE: $10,891,667

There will be some changes in Vancouver this summer, that’s inevitable, but don’t expect the core of the team to be drastically altered. This was, is and will be an elite NHL team for years to come, so you can expect the Canucks to once again be at or near the top of the Western Conference in 2011-12.

The Vancouver Canucks finished the regular season with the most points and based on that were the number one rated team.  The Canucks made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final, before losing to the Boston Bruins 4-0 in Game 7, of course there goal was to win the Stanley Cup, they came close and by all accounts it was a successful season.

With the 2010-2011 season over it is time to look to the future and what they have to do to get better so they can make it back to the Stanley Cup Final next year and this time be victorious.  The future start on June24th as the 2011 NHL Entry Draft begins. 

The Canucks will probably not do anything crazy and will try and keep their current team as is as much as possible and will concentrate on making minor adjustments to improve their depth.  If they can remain healthy next year and make some key additions through free agency there is no reason they can’t make it back to the Stanley Cup Finals again.

Having a successful season has it ‘s pitfalls as well, as Vancouver will not have a chance at the top prospects as they will have one pick in the first round, picking second last with the 29^th pick.  All indications are that they will choose a defensemen to bolster their depth on the blue line, as there is the possibility of losing some of their depth on defense through free agency.  The Canucks have three key defensemen eligible for free agency, Kevin Bieksa, Sami Salo and Christian Ehrhoff.  They will likely let Ehrhoff go and try to resign Salo & Bieksa.  Vancouver’s other picks in the entry draft are #60 in the second round, #90 in the third round, # 120 in the fourth round, # 150 in the fifth round, # 180 in the sixth round and finally #210 in the seventh and final round.  Unless Vancouver GM Mike Gillis can move up in the draft, which is unlikely, don’t expect any of their draft choices to make an immediate impact next year, as they pick second last in each of the seven rounds.

Free agency starts on Canada Day, July 1 and Vancouver should be looking at improving their secondary scoring to play with Ryan Kesler on the second line; some potential candidates could include Brooks Laich, Ville Leino and Simon Gagne.  It should be a very interesting summer for the Canucks as they try and get over their disappointment in losing the Stanley Cup and try to make some minor tweaks that will get them back to the Stanley Cup Finals again next year.

The Boston Bruins scored two second period goals, including a shorthanded goal and went onto shutout the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 to win the Stanley Cup.   The last time the Bruins won the Stanley Cup was 39 years ago, in 1972.  Once again Tim Thomas was the story as he stopped all 37 Vancouver shots and won the Conn Smythe Trophy for the most valuable player, Thomas who is 37, is the oldest player to win the trophy.

Vancouver carrying the play early in the final game of the season as the Canucks are much more active at home.   Alex Burrows had a good scoring opportunity, but once again Thomas was there to make a big save, and shortly after that Higgins alone on Tim Thomas and the Boston goalie makes pad save.   Boston finally got some extended pressure in the Vancouver end with their fourth line; they didn’t have any good scoring chances, but regained some momentum. Boston gets the all important first goal of Game seven, Brad Marchand’s centering pass was shot into the Vancouver net by Patrice Bergeron and Boston had a 1-0 lead.  This will have Bruins fans smiling; the team that has scored first in the previous six games has won that game.   Boston has leveled the ice after being outplayed early.

The Boston Bruins are twenty minutes away from winning their first Stanley Cup since 1972 as they scored two more goals and they go into the second intermission leading 3-0.  Once again early in the second period Vancouver was carrying the play, but it was Boston who has the first scoring chance as Brad Marchand hits the post.  Vancouver had a chance to tie the score when Burrows had an open net, but Charo did his best imitation of Thomas and made the stop to preserve Boston’s lead.  Marchand would light the lamp later in the period on a wraparound shot that Luongo ended up knocking into his own net, as he continues not to make a big save when the Canucks need it and Boston Led 2-0.  Shortly after the Marchand’s goal Mark Recchi had a chance to make it 3-0 when he went in alone on Luongo, but the puck rolled off his stick.  Vancouver had a chance to get back in the game when Zedeno Chara was given an interference penalty, but instead of scoring a power play goal, they gave up a short handed goal.  Patrice Bergeron scored his second goal of the game on a shorthanded partial breakaway, as he was taken down by Christian Ehrhoff and they crashed into Luongo with the puck sliding into the net and Boston lead 3-0 and the Rogers Arena crowd was stunned.  Once again the Sedin’s are a no show.

Vancouver needed to come out strong early in the third period and get an early goal; instead Jannik Hansen took a cheap shot at Andrew Ference and put Boston on the power play at 5:33 of the third period.   Boston was not able to capitalize on the advantage, but two more minutes clicked off the clock and it put Vancouver on the defensive.  Vancouver activating their defense to try and produce more scoring opportunities, but they can’t beat Thomas.   Vancouver was given another chance on the power play on a questionable hooking penalty to Milan Lucic, the refs are trying to get Vancouver a goal, but they were unable to generate any good scoring chances and for all intense purposes the game was over.  Brad Marchand finished up the scoring getting an empty net goal with less than three minutes to play and Boston shut out Vancouver 4-0.

Notes:  This is the first time a team has won the seventh game in three different series…Boston had 3 shorthanded goals in the series, while Vancouver had only two power play goals.

The Boston Bruins scored four first period goals and went onto defeat the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.   Boston scored the four goals in a 4:14 span and Tim Thomas did the rest to force Game 7 in Vancouver on Wednesday.

Boston could not have dreamed of a better first period as they scored four first period goals and chased Roberto Luongo as they go into the first intermission leading Vancouver 4-0.  Boston scored all their goals in a 4:14 span, which is a record for the fastest four goals scored by one team in the Stanley Cup Final.   Brad Marchand got the Boston scoring explosion going when his snap shot went over Luongo’s shoulder and Boston got the all important first goal.  Milan Lucic made is 2-0 just :35 seconds later as Lucic shot went between Luongo’s legs; Luongo could have easily stopped both goals.  Boston scored on their first power play when Andrew Ference’s shot from the point beat Luongo and just like that it was 3-0.  That goal proved to be the end of Luongo’s night as Vancouver brought in backup goalie Cory Schneider to stop the bleeding.   Schneider didn’t fare any better as just 1:10 seconds later Thomas Kaberle’s shot from the point was deflected by  Michael Ryder and Boston had a commanding 4-0 advantage 9:45 into the game.   Vancouver had some chances, but unlike Loungo, Thomas was there to make the save.   Kesler had a chance on a wrap around, but Thomas slid over to keep Vancouver scoreless and also stopped Jannik Hansen on a breakaway in the final minute of the period.  Boston outshot Vancouver 19-11.  Alain Vigneault

Things settled down in the second period as it was more evenly played and there were no goals scored.   Vancouver had an early power play chance and had some good pressure, Daniel Sedin had the best chance to score, but his shot from the slot rang off the post.  Cory Schneider has looked very comfortable in net as he has made some good saves to keep the deficit at four.   Vancouver had an another power play chance when Patrice Bergeron took a penalty, but Vancouver had no scoring chances, in fact the best scoring chance was by Daniel Paille on a shorthanded  chance as Vancouver continues to struggle to score power play goals.  Boston has now killed off twenty straight penalties.  Patrice Bergeron took a late penalty which will continue into the third period, if Vancouver has any chance of coming back they must score.

Vancouver finally capitalized on the power play just: 22 seconds into the third period when Henrik Sedin’s back hand beat Thomas and Vancouver narrowed the deficit to three, trailing 4-1 with more than 19 minutes to play in the third.  That was Henrik Sedin’s first goal of the series.  That goal woke up the Canucks and they were putting serious pressure on the Bruins and they thought they made it 4-2, but after video review it was determined that Jannik Hansen’s one timer hit the post.  Vancouver ran into penalty problems and gave Boston a 5 on 3 power play and David Krejci made the Canucks pay and once again Boston had a four goal lead with about thirteen minutes to play.  Vancouver closed out the scoring when the game was already decided when Maxim Lapierre took a pass from Daniel Sedin and he shot the puck into the wide open net.   Game 7 will be on Wednesday in Vancouver with the winner being crowned the Stanley Cup Champion.

Notes:  It has been 39 years since Boston last won the Stanley Cup…Vancouver has never won the Stanley Cup in their 40 year history.

Maxim Lapierre scored the only goal of the game early in the third period and Roberto Luongo stopped all of Boston’s 31 shots as Vancouver won Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final 1-0.  Luongo had a big bounce back game in earning his fourth shutout of the playoffs.   Vancouver will have a chance to win their first Stanley Cup on Monday on the road in Boston.

The Boston Bruins had a golden opportunity to get the first goal of the game as they had three power play chances in the first period.  They were mostly ineffective on their power play opportunities and failed to take advantage which came back to haunt them in the end.   Boston had a great chance to open the scoring on an odd man rush but Chris Kelly’s shot rang off the cross bar.  Vancouver also had a good chance to get the first goal of the game when Mason Raymond was in alone on Thomas, however, Thomas slid over to make the save.   Vancouver is outhitting Boston and initiating the contact, what a difference from Game 4.  Boston outshot Vancouver 12-6 with the aid of three power plays.

Early in the second period it was all Vancouver and they were outskating and outhitting Boston, forcing Boston into turnovers which resulted in Victor Oreskovich having a point blank shot in front of Thomas, but once again Tim Thomas was there to make the save.   Henrik Sedin continues to turn the puck over, and his turnover led to Michael Ryder having a good scoring chance in the slot, however, Luongo makes his first big stop of the second period.  Vancouver had two power play chances in the second period, but they were once again held scoreless on the power play.  Boston has now killed off the last 17 power play chances for Vancouver.   Tanner Glass had a great opportunity to open the scoring when he was left alone to the side of Tim Thomas, but he fanned on the shot, I guess that is why he is known for his physical play and not his scoring ability.  The second period ended scoreless with Vancouver outshooting Boston 12-9.

Once again Vancouver carries the play in the third period causing Boston turnovers, Thomas makes big save off Chris Higgins as a result of a turnover by Zedeno Chara.   The first and only goal of the game was scored by Maxim Lapierre with just under five minutes into the third period.   Lapierre was able to beat Thomas when a point shot from Kevin Bieksa went wide and bounced off the boards and landed on his stick and his shot just barely went into the net.  Boston’s best chance to tie the score came off a slap shot from Shawn Thornton, but Luongo was there to make the save.  Game 6 is on Monday in Boston as Vancouver will have a chance to win their first title.

The Boston Bruins scored two goals in the second period 2:18 seconds apart and Tim Thomas was unbeatable as the Bruins shut out Vancouver 4-0 in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals; the series is now tied at 2 heading back to Vancouver for Game 5 on Friday.  Thomas made 38 saves as the Canucks offense has come to a grinding halt as they have only scored one goal in the last two games.

The first period started at a high tempo, as both teams were skating and hitting trying to get the upper hand.  Vancouver had the first power play of the game; the Canucks had some good pressure, but once again could not beat Thomas.  Vancouver’s defense is jumping into the play and it appears to be causing some confusion for the Bruins.  Vancouver looks much more serious about winning this game as they appear to want to go back to Vancouver up 3-1.  Boston got the only goal of the first period as David Krejci sent Rich Peverley in on a breakaway and he beat Luongo between the legs and Boston got the all important first goal as they went into the first intermission leading 1-0.   Vancouver got another power play chance in the period, but managed only one shot on goal at the tail end of the power play and was never a threat to score.  Vancouver has only scored one power play goal in the series, which is surprising as they figured to have the advantage in special teams.  With under a minute to play Boston almost made it 2-0 when Michael Ryder hit the post.  Even though Vancouver did not score they had a number of scoring chances and had it not been for Tim Thomas could have had the lead, they have to feel good the way they played in the opening period.

Even though Boston has been outshot 25-18 through two periods, they lead where it counts on the scoreboard as Boston scored twice in the period to take a commanding  3-0 lead.  Boston carried the play early in the second period and that led to Vancouver taking their first penalty of the game.  Boston is 3-13 in the series and was ineffective on their first power play.   Boston scored the first goal of the second period as Michael Ryder’s snap shot eluded Luongo’s glove and Boston had a 2-0 lead, Luongo is not looking very confident as he should have been able to make the save.  Boston increased the lead to 3-0 when Henrik Sedin turned over the puck to Patrice Bergeron and he passed in front to Brad Marchand and he back handed the puck over Luongo glove and all the momentum is with Boston, Sedin’s turnover is another example of his poor play in the series.

If Vancouver was going to get back in this game they knew they had to score the next goal and they had a chance to do that early in the third when they had: 49 of power play time to start the third period.  Vancouver failed to capitalize as there power play was 0-6 in the game and it is now an embarrassing 1-22 in the series.  Boston put the game away about two minutes later when Milan Lucic centering pass bounced off Rich Peverly into the net and Boston lead 4-0.  That goal was the last we would see of Roberto Luongo who was replaced by backup goalie Cory Schneider for the second time in the playoffs.   The last two games have not been Luongo’s best as he has allowed 12 goals.   Schneider actually made some big saves in the third period or the score would have been more lop sided.   After Boston made it 4-0 it looked like the Canucks lost their will to compete and really was no threat the rest of the game.  Vancouver will have until Friday to figure how to recapture the momentum they built up in games 1 & 2.

Notes:  Keith Ballard replaced Aaron Rome…The Sedin Twins are a combined -11 in the Stanley Cup Finals.