Bolland leads Blackhawks

Times wires
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

CHICAGO — Dave Bolland returned to the lineup after missing 17 games with a concussion inflicted by the Lightning's Pavel Kubina and had a goal and three assists Tuesday as the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks avoided being swept in their Western Conference quarterfinal, routing the Canucks 7-2.

Chicago's Patrick Sharp scored two power-play goals in a chippy final period that featured pushing, shoving, jawing and a fight between Vancouver's Kevin Bieksa and Chicago's Viktor Stalberg. The teams combined for 90 penalty minutes in the period.

The Blackhawks got an offensive lift from their defensemen as Brian Campbell and Duncan Keith scored 17 seconds apart in a four-goal second period. "We said before the game we're going to leave everything out there," said wing Michael Frolik, who had a goal and two assists. "We maybe helped our confidence for the next game. You never know what can happen."

Bolland played after missing the final 14 regular-season games and the previous three playoff games with a concussion sustained on an elbow to the head from Kubina on March 9. Kubina was suspended for three games.

Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo may have been shaken up making a save late in the opening period. He was pulled in the final period after giving up his sixth goal on 28 shots.

First Period—1, Chicago, Bickell 1 (Frolik, Bolland), 1:43. 2, Vancouver, Salo 1 (Edler, Raymond), 4:46 (pp). Penalties—Bolland, Chi (elbowing), 3:39; Keith, Chi (cross-checking), 5:37.

Second Period—3, Chicago, Campbell 1 (Kane, Crawford), 5:18. 4, Chicago, Keith 2 (Frolik, Bolland), 5:35. 5, Chicago, Bolland 1, 14:45. 6, Chicago, Frolik 1 (Bolland, Hjalmarsson), 18:57. Penalties—Vancouver bench, served by Torres (too many men), 3:06; Ehrhoff, Van (interference), 16:24.

Third Period—7, Chicago, P.Sharp 2 (Kane, Toews), 2:49 (pp). 8, Chicago, P.Sharp 3 (Hossa, Campoli), 13:21 (pp). 9, Vancouver, D.Sedin 4 (Ehrhoff, Kesler), 16:24. Penalties—Lapierre, Van (boarding), 2:14; Lapierre, Van, misconduct, 4:05; Hansen, Van (boarding), 4:05; Glass, Van, minor-misconduct (roughing), 4:05; Campoli, Chi (roughing), 4:05; Scott, Chi, misconduct, 4:05; Oreskovich, Van, misconduct, 7:58; Burrows, Van (roughing), 12:09; Toews, Chi (roughing), 12:09; Edler, Van (charging), 13:09; Torres, Van, misconduct, 15:25; Scott, Chi, misconduct, 15:25; Bieksa, Van, major (fighting), 16:20; Hjalmarsson, Chi (roughing), 16:20; Stalberg, Chi, major (fighting), 16:20; Johnson, Chi (roughing), 17:56; Lapierre, Van (unsportsmanlike conduct), 19:23. Shots on Goal—Vancouver 7-6-10—23. Chicago 13-13-9—35. Power-play opportunities—Vancouver 1 of 4; Chicago 2 of 6. Goalies—Vancouver, Luongo 3-1-0 (28 shots-22 saves), C.Schneider (4:05 third, 7-6). Chicago, Crawford 1-3-0 (23-21).

League stays with NBC, Versus in benchmark deal

The NHL is staying on NBC and Versus for the next 10 years with a TV deal commissioner Gary Bettman called the most significant in league history.

The league and the NBC Sports Group said the deal will run through the 2020-21 season. Media reports had the package worth a total of $2 billion. That would easily exceed the $120 million contract the NHL had with ESPN from 1999-2004, before it moved to Versus and NBC.

Versus and NBC have had separate deals, but they became part of the same family when Comcast absorbed NBC in January.

The NHL had drawn interest from ESPN, Turner and Fox but decided to stay where it has been since the end of the 2004-05 lockout. "When we looked at the entire package and the relationship, it was clear we were going to stay with the incumbent," Bettman said.

Under the deal, for the first time all playoff games will air on NBC, Versus or one of NBC Universal's cable networks, which include USA, MSNBC and CNBC, on which NBC has shown Olympic events. NBC and Versus will show 100 regular-season games per season, nearly double the number they aired this season.

rookie of the year finalists: Sharks center Logan Couture (32 goals, 56 points), Islanders right wing Michael Grabner (34 goals) and Hurricanes center Jeff Skinner (rookie-best 63 points) are the finalists for the Calder Trophy. They received the most votes from members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association. The winner will be announced at the league awards ceremony June 22.

Blackhawks: Defenseman Brent Seabrook didn't play against Vancouver, two days after taking a hard shoulder hit to the head from the Canucks' Raffi Torres, a hit many Blackhawks thought should have gotten Torres suspended. Coach Joel Quenneville said Seabrook has an upper-body injury. Torres, in his first game back after a four-game suspension for an elbow to the head of the Oilers' Jordan Eberle, was penalized in the second period Sunday for interference. The league said the hit was good and took no further action. Seabrook was examined for concussion symptoms between periods and played the third.

Ducks: Goalie Jonas Hiller was sent back to Anaheim as he works to recover from vertigo. Igor Bobkov replaced him in Nashville for tonight's Game 4 with the Predators.