VANCOUVER, British Columbia — There’s a way to play a physical style of hockey while being smart about it.
And then there’s the way the Canucks did it Friday night in their 7-4 loss in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series against the Blackhawks.
Behind captain Jonathan Toews, the Hawks took advantage of the overly aggressive Canucks to score four power-play goals — including three from Toews — and take a commanding 3-1 advantage in the best-of-seven series. The Hawks, who are 13-0 all-time when winning three of the first four games in a Stanley Cup playoff series, can close this one out Sunday night if they beat the Canucks in Game 5 at the United Center.
Toews, in particular, made the Canucks pay for their out-of-control play as he tied a franchise record with five points in a postseason game that included assists on Brent Seabrook and Patrick Sharp goals. The Hawks captain equaled the efforts of Stan Mikita on April 4, 1973 against the Blues and Steve Larmer on April 30, 1990, also against St. Louis.
Sharp added three assists and Tomas Kopecky and Dave Bolland also scored as Antti Niemi again got the better counterpart Roberto Luongo in goal.
“It was one of those nights when you get some chances and you throw it on net and it happens to go in,” said Toews, who became the first player in Hawks history with three power-play goals in a playoff game. “You work hard (and) you don’t always expect to get lucky like that. We worked hard as a team to draw some of those penalties.”
The Canucks took eight penalties for 16 minutes as they tried to match the Hawks’ smart, physical play but instead unraveled for the second game.
“We lost our composure again,” Luongo said. “I don’t know why, we talked about it, we were all on the same page before the game started and … I don’t know. One thing led to another and we lost our composure in the second period.”
Niemi made 26 saves while Luongo allowed six goals on 33 Hawks shots before Bolland’s empty-netter.
“I think right now he’s the second-best goaltender on the ice,” Canucks coach Alain Vigneault said of Luongo. “He can be better.”
Hawks winger Dustin Byfuglien was again a menace to Luongo and the Canucks as he camped out in front of the Vancouver crease and took every hit thrown at him, drawing three penalties in the process.
“You can make a nice, clean hit and if they have to fall they fall,” Byfuglien, who had an assist and three hits. “They’ll get up and come and cross-check you or something. That’s a retaliation and a bad penalty. It’s not just making you look bad it’s making your team look bad.”
A victory Sunday night would advance the Hawks to the conference finals for the second consecutive season.
“It’s going to be tough,” Sharp said. “To close out a series is always the toughest game. This one definitely feels good to win on the road and take this victory back to Chicago.”
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