Times wires
Sunday, April 17, 2011
CHICAGO — Mikael Samuelsson, who missed Game 2 with an illness, scored the tiebreaker 6:48 into the third as the Canucks beat the Blackhawks 3-2 Sunday and moved within a victory of sweeping the defending Stanley Cup champions.
Vancouver, which had the league's best record during the regular season, can finish off Chicago on Tuesday.
The Blackhawks eliminated the Canucks in six games in the second round in each of the past two seasons. And after not leading in either of this series' first two games, they went up 1-0 on Duncan Keith's power-play goal 6:54 in.
But it was a night of missed chances. The Blackhawks had seven power plays, including a five-on-three of 1:17 while leading 1-0 in the first.
| Canucks | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Blackhawks | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
First Period—1, Chicago, Keith 1 (Toews), 6:54 (pp). Penalties—Ehrhoff, Van (tripping), 6:49; Torres, Van (roughing), 10:12; Bieksa, Van (elbowing), 10:55; D.Sedin, Van (holding), 17:20.
Second Period—2, Vancouver, Ehrhoff 1 (H.Sedin, D.Sedin), 10:03 (pp). 3, Vancouver, D.Sedin 3 (Edler, Bieksa), 10:57. 4, Chicago, P.Sharp 1 (Toews, Kane), 12:40 (pp). Penalties—Scott, Chi (interference), 9:56; Torres, Van (interference), 12:14.
Third Period—5, Vancouver, Samuelsson 1 (H.Sedin, Ehrhoff), 6:48. Penalties—Oreskovich, Van (charging), 3:39; H.Sedin, Van (hooking), 9:36; Campbell, Chi (elbowing), 10:46. Shots on Goal—Vancouver 10-9-7—26. Chicago 16-9-7—32. Power-play opportunities—Vancouver 1 of 2; Chicago 2 of 7. Goalies—Vancouver, Luongo 3-0-0 (32 shots-30 saves). Chicago, Crawford 0-3-0 (26-23). A—21,743 (19,717).
Rangers get bounces
NEW YORK — Brandon Dubinsky's goal — off Capitals defenseman Karl Alzner, goalie Michal Neuvirth and the stick of wing Alex Ovechkin — with 1:39 left gave the Rangers a 3-2 win and cut their series deficit to 2-1.
Neuvirth stopped 46 of 47 shots in the first two games.
"Bang bang … it was in the net," Dubinsky said. "You try to make a conscious effort to shoot, jam the net and make it tougher on Neuvirth. And we did that."
| Rangers | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Capitals | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
First Period—None. Penalties—Gilroy, NYR (holding), 15:01; Hendricks, Was (interference), 17:20; Knuble, Was (delay of game), 17:55; Christensen, NYR (goaltender interference), 19:43.
Second Period—1, N.Y. Rangers, Christensen 1 (Wolski, McCabe), 5:30 (pp). 2, Washington, Ovechkin 2 (Arnott, Green), 19:00. Penalties—Green, Was (hooking), 1:13; Carlson, Was (cross-checking), 4:41; Ovechkin, Was (hooking), 8:50; Hannan, Was (holding), 10:41.
Third Period—3, N.Y. Rangers, Prospal 1 (Staal, Dubinsky), 8:01. 4, Washington, Knuble 1 (Backstrom, Ovechkin), 14:48 (pp). 5, N.Y. Rangers, Dubinsky 1, 18:21. Penalties—Backstrom, Was (tripping), 9:13; Gaborik, NYR (cross-checking), 13:38; Carlson, Was (roughing), 16:45; Boyle, NYR (roughing), 16:45. Shots on Goal—Washington 7-7-11—25. N.Y. Rangers 8-11-16—35. Power-play opportunities—Washington 1 of 3; N.Y. Rangers 1 of 7. Goalies—Washington, Neuvirth 2-1-0 (35 shots-32 saves). N.Y. Rangers, Lundqvist 1-2-0 (25-23). A—18,200 (18,200).
Predators take 2-1 lead
NASHVILLE — Mike Fisher's third goal of the series, with 9:39 left, lifted the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Ducks and 2-1 series lead. Nashville is 4-0 in Game 3s at home (though it has lost all five of its previous playoff series).
Nashville led 2-0 after the first and outshot Anaheim 37-16.
"That could've been a real dagger if we let that one slip away," captain Shea Weber said.
| Predators | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Ducks | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
First Period—1, Nashville, Erat 1 (Franson, Ward), 15:00 (pp). 2, Nashville, Tootoo 1 (Smithson), 15:38. Penalties—Smithson, Nas (tripping), 3:31; Sbisa, Ana (roughing), 13:08.
Second Period—3, Anaheim, Selanne 3 (Perry), 18:10 (pp). 4, Anaheim, Selanne 4 (Perry), 18:40. Penalties—Getzlaf, Ana (slashing), :22; Koivu, Ana (high-sticking), 8:19; Marchant, Ana (boarding), 10:42; Getzlaf, Ana, major (fighting), 16:55; Fisher, Nas, major (fighting), 16:55; O'Brien, Nas (elbowing), 17:29; Marchant, Ana (roughing), 19:48; O'Brien, Nas (roughing), 19:48.
Third Period—5, Nashville, Legwand 1 (Suter, Erat), 5:25. 6, Anaheim, Beleskey 1 (Koivu), 6:48. 7, Nashville, Fisher 3 (Kostitsyn, Suter), 10:21. Penalties—Koivu, Ana (hooking), 17:40. Shots on Goal—Anaheim 4-6-6—16. Nashville 12-15-10—37. Power-play opportunities—Anaheim 1 of 2; Nashville 1 of 5. Goalies—Anaheim, Emery 1-1-0 (37 shots-33 saves). Nashville, Rinne 2-1-0 (16-13). A—17,113 (17,113).
Around the league: Flyers coach Peter Laviolette did not say which goalie will start tonight. Brian Boucher stopped 20 of 21 shots Saturday in relief of Sergei Bobrovsky, who allowed three goals on seven shots. … Bruins star defenseman Zdeno Chara, who missed Game 2 with dehydration, will travel for tonight's Game 3. But coach Claude Julien declined to say if he will play.