No Reason For Blackhawks To Panic
VANCOUVER (WSCR) -- The Chicago Blackhawks lost to the Vancouver Canucks by a score of 2-0 in their opening game of the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs. But they're still in a good position, and can take home-ice advantage away with a win on Friday.
Game two could very well be the tipping point for the whole series, the Blackhawks can either come back to Chicago down 0-2 or tied 1-1 with a chance to take the series lead.
"It's not an elimination game," Steve Konroyd, former Blackhawk and current analyst, said on the Mully and Hanley Show when talking bout Friday's game. "But I think if you look at the percentages of teams that go up 2-0, it wouldn't surprise me if they win 75-80 percent of the time, and especially when you're talking about a one seed versus an eight seed. So yes it's huge, and yes the Blackhawks have been through this before."
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Each of the last two times the Blackhawks and Canucks have met in the playoffs, the Canucks have won the first game of the series. And each series ended with the Blackhawks advancing to the next round.
"It's hard to remember even last year," Konroyd said. "But we were embarrassed 5-1 at home by the Vancouver Canucks, and everyone thought the sky was falling and everyone thought we were done after a tough series with the Nashville Predators.
"They can do it. But it has to be [Friday] night, they can't wait any longer."
The Blackhawks found themselves in a 2-0 hole after the first 10:23 of the game, but from that point on played toe-to-toe with the Presidents' Trophy winners. The Canucks held a slight lead in shots (33 to 32) and faceoffs won (30 to 28).
But there was one obvious aspect of the game the Blackhawks need to improve if they want to win game two: their physicality.
"It was a fun game to watch," Konroyd said. "I thought it was pretty even, aside from the physical aspect of Vancouver. So they realize that 'if we can just maybe amp it up a notch, we're right there.'"
