April 27, A Good Night for Vancouver

Last night the Canucks played the seventh game of their series with the Blackhawks, and it turned out to be a classic.

Vancouver struck early in the first period on a goal by Alex Burrows from Ryan Kessler and Mason Raymond. After Burrows broke the ice the game went by without any goals until the final two minutes of the third period when Jonathan Toews put a shorthanded second chance opportunity behind Luongo. The play was all the work of Toews by carrying the puck into the zone and creating the opportunity. It really looked like Chicago was destined to pull off the comeback after winning three straight games to force the game seven, then forcing overtime late in the third.

The fans and players in Vancouver looked pretty miserable after that one.

Five minutes into overtime, Chris Campoli missed on a pass from Chicago’s zone, and when the puck came back to him just seconds later he tried to clear it. Burrows stepped in front and batted the puck down to his stick. With no one to beat but Corey Crawford, Burrows carried the puck to the front of the net, and ripped a slap shot from just outside the hash marks to beat Crawford over his right shoulder.

Once and for all the Canucks took care of business against the Blackhawks. They had been knocked out by Chicago the previous two seasons.