Turco Outplays Luongo, Leads Blackhawks To Win
By Connor McKnight--
Both Marty Turco and Roberto Luongo were stellar at points during the Hawks 2-1 shootout win over the Canucks Wednesday night. Luongo saved 31 shots for Vancouver while Turco stopped 36. The difference, clearly, was in the shootout when all three Hawks skaters scored.
Jonathan Toews dropped one into the net after going five-hole on Luongo. It's a move--or a variation thereof--Toews has perfected in the leadoff role during shootouts. It was no surprise Joel Quenneville turned to his captain to begin. Next up for the Hawks was a bit of a surprise: Patrick Sharp. Sharp has found success over the past season or so in breakaway and shootouts but prior to that he'd been a little more than snakebitten. Sharp popped one glove-side that Luongo seemed to have for just a moment. The puck leaked through, however, and the Hawks were looking great with Hossa on deck.
Except he wasn't. Marian Hossa, the leading scorer in the NHL, was not in Joel Quenneville's top three for a shootout against a hated rival.
"He was coming up soon," Quenneville joked after the game. "Not a bad call with either one [that being Patrick Kane or Hossa.] It's nice to have that luxury."
Quenneville turned to Kane, which, wasn't a bad call after all. Kane, like Sharp before him, went glove-side. Again, Luongo looked to have it stopped but, improbably, the puck slipped underneath his left leg and gave the Hawks three scores.
Turco finished off the game with a save on Mikael Samuelsson after letting the Daniel Sedin and Ryan Kessler score but it's like he said after the game... he made one more save than the other guy.
Notes--
--Nick Boynton played 27:38 on defense Wednesday night. It's a huge spike in ice time for him. Looks like Coach Q has chosen a fourth d-man to lean on.
--The fourth line came up with the only goal for the Hawks in regulation. Jack Skille and Jake Dowell assisted Viktor Stalberg on the tally. Quenneville said after the game that his fourth line's speed might match up with just about any line in the NHL. He's likely right. Dowell's a more-than-solid skater, Skille has speed to spare while Stalberg is an absolute speed demon.
--Marian Hossa was kept off the scoresheet tonight ending his point streak at seven games. Hossa said after the game, "It's time to start a new one."
