NHL Western semis: Blackhawks at Canucks, Game 1
The Vancouver Canucks had no trouble with the St. Louis Blues in the Western Conference quarterfinals, but they figure to be challenged big-time by the young Chicago Blackhawks in the conference semifinals that begin Thursday.
But Vancouver, which is the lone Canadian team left in the Stanley Cup playoffs, is a -140 series favorite on WagerWeb.com.
All that time off (9 days) following the sweep of the Blues was a good thing for Vancouver. They are healthy now, including veteran winger Mats Sundin, who is ready to go after missing Games 3 and 4 in St. Louis with an undisclosed injury.
The Canucks dominated Chicago in the teams’ final two regular season meetings, a 7-3 rout in Vancouver on Feb. 7 and a 4-0 fight-filled affair on March 29 in Chicago. They are a -150 money line favorite on WagerWeb.com for Game 1, with an over/under of 5 goals.
The fighting in that final meeting in March started when big Blackhawks forward Dustin Byfuglien caught Canucks star goalie Roberto Luongo in the mask with his glove after being stopped on a partial breakaway. By the time things settled, Vancouver defenseman Shane O’Brien had been taken hard to the ice by a referee trying to keep him away from Adam Burish, who was challenging top-line forwards Daniel and Henrik Sedin, and Canucks agitator Alex Burrows was caught on tape twice grabbing a handful of Duncan Keith’s hair and pulling.
“That brawl will be in the back of everybody s minds, but it’s a different game now,” said Chicago’s Adam Burish, who received three roughing minors and a 10-minute misconduct.
The Canucks were 23-for-24 on the penalty kill against the Blues, but Chicago was 7-for-24 on the power play in its six-game series victory over Calgary. In addition, the Canucks are the league’s second-most penalized team in the playoffs at 20.2 minutes per game.
Vancouver’s top line of the Sedin brothers and Burrows scored six of the Canucks’ 11 goals in the sweep of St. Louis. Chicago’s scoring was more spread out against the Flames, with rookie Kris Versteeg tallying two goals and five assists to top the Hawks in scoring, while Martin Havlat, Patrick Sharp, Brent Seabrook, Cam Barker and Jonathan Toews each had six points.
The battle of goaltenders should be tremendous. Nikolai Khabibulin has won a Cup in his career and had a 2.52 goals-against average and .914 save percentage in the series against Calgary.
But Vancouver’s Luongo is considered the best goalie in the world and posted a 1.15 goals-against and .962 save percentage in the four games against the Blues. Luongo is 9-7 with a 1.63 goals-against and .946 save percentage in 16 career playoff games.
WagerWeb.com Key Trends
* Under is 5-1-1 in the last 7 meetings in Vancouver.
* Under is 8-2-2 in the last 12 meetings.
* Blackhawks are 7-19-1 in the last 27 meetings.
* Blackhawks are 2-11 in the last 13 meetings in Vancouver.
* Underdog is 5-0 in the last 5 meetings.
NHL betting odds at WagerWeb Sportsbook!
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