Canucks vs Blackhawks, Apr 22/13

With a single point tonight, Vancouver can clinch the Northwest Division for the fifth year in a row. But easily the story of the game: 20 year defenseman old Frankie Corrado plays his first NHL game tonight. Corrado spent his season in the CHL between the Sudbury Wolves and Kitchener Rangers, and played 3 games for the AHL Chicago Wolves before his NHL call up against the Blackhawks. Bit of a trial by fire, don't you think?

Lots of lineup changes tonight, as Ballard joined the injured defenseman list and Higgins returned after missing 6 games. Burrows played with the Sedins, while Kesler tried his hand at the wing with Higgins and Roy on the 2nd. Lapierre centred the 3rd line with Raymond and Hansen, while Sestito, Ebbett and Kassian brought up the 4th. On the defensive side, Hamhuis and Garrison manned the first unit, Corrado played on the 2nd with Edler, while Alberts and Barker brought up the third.

Just minutes in, Roy and Higgins showed why they belong on a line together. Breaking into the zone, Roy's pass beat the defense and hit Higgins, whose shot was just barely stopped by a sprawling Crawford. For close to 10 minutes, the Canucks absolutely dominated play. Actually, scratch that. They dominated the entire first, but it just doesn't work for what I wanted to write. Anyways, the Canucks defense held the Blackhawks out of the middle, and were able to keep the puck away from the net more often than not. With 6 minutes left in the first, Hjalmarsson went for a hit on Daniel Sedin with his elbow up, but Daniel ducked it. The ref saw it, the Canucks went to the powerplay for the 2nd time. On the ensuing power play  Garrisons shot from the point hit Oduya, then went off Hansens skate and in. Like I mentioned earlier, complete dominance of the first period for the Canucks. 1-0 Canucks after 1, shots 11-5 in favor of the good guys.

Vancouver had no problem maintaining their dominance in the 2nd, as they continued to outplay the Blackhawks in every aspect. Early on, Henrik found Higgins with a great 2 line slap pass. Higgins slid a perfect pass to a streaking Burrows, who tipped the puck on net but couldn't beat Crawford. A little past the 10 minute mark of the period, Kassian took a few shifts with the Sedins, and he sure deserved. After Kassian chipped the puck in deep to Daniel, the Sedins did their incredible cycle-and-confuse routine. Daniel found Kassian in front, who pushed off his man and beat Crawford 5 hole.

With that assist, Daniel surpassed Naslund to become 2nd all time in Canucks points, second to only brother Henrik. With just a few minutes left in the period, the Hawks put up their best effort of the game on a 4 on 4. But you know what happens when the Sedins get a little room? Miracles. Henrik banked the puck from his own zone all the way up to Daniel in the neutral zone. With only Keith even close to him, Daniel took off, pulled forehand-backhand on Crawford, then lifted it back hand over Crawford. Words cannot even begin to describe how beautiful it was. Here, watch it over and over again. 3-0 Canucks after 40, shots 20-14 Vancouver.

I shouldn't even write a review for the third. Why? Because the Canucks did the exact same thing they did the first two periods. Dominance. Unfortunately, Schneider didn't get a shutout, because Sestito. Did I just use Sestito as a verb? Yes. Yes I did. After Schneider made 2 great stops in a row, the puck bounced to Sestito behind the net. Now, instead of clearing the puck to the side with nobody on it, Sestito cleared to the side with the ref. The puck bounced off the ref, and straight to Carcillo at the front, who backhanded it past Schneider. Again, can't blame the ref. He'd been there for quite a while already, and Sestito needed to be looking where he was clearing. Other than that, nothing big. Game over, Canucks 3, Blackhawks 1. Final shots 32-25.

Tidbits:

 - PP: 1/5 Just takes time to warm up. First one was all over the place, but 2nd and ensuing were able to control puck much better.
 - PK: 2/2 Weren't able to get the puck out of the zone, Schneider bailed them out.

 - Sedins: Spectacular, best they've played all season. And of course:

It took Daniel Sedin 905 games to pass M. Naslund on all-time Canucks scoring list. It also took Henrik 905 games as well. Of course it did.
— TC Carling (@TC_Carling) April 23, 2013

 - Corrado: Calm and cool under pressure. I wasn't sure he was ready (not that 1 game is a proper measuring stick), but seems like he could be a defensive staple next year. 17:20 TOI, 3 hits, 1 blocked shot.
 - Garrison: If his shot doesn't hit the net, it takes someone out in front. Love it.