The Canucks say they've gotten too spread out on defense and allowed the Hawks far too much space to operate in both the neutral zone and the slot area between the circles in the offensive zone.
Hawks forward Patrick Kane said as much after Chicago's Saturday practice.
“They were stepping up a lot on us in the first couple games and making some big hits," Kane said. "Sometimes you make some adjustments on some different things and you try to find more pucks in the middle without them stepping up. The past couple games, their gap hasn’t been as good as the first three. You get more time and space, with the talent on our team you should be able to make plays."
To be sure, the Canucks are ready to make their own adjustment and clog up that middle area of the ice.
"Obviously, we’re aware of the situation," Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said. "It's pretty easy to pick up on TV with our loose gap and everything. We’ll put something in place and see if we can do a better job of shutting down their offensive potential.”
Defenseman Kevin Bieksa said it's a major area of concern that needs to be addressed.
"The past two games we haven’t done a good job there," he said of the neutral zone and center of the ice. "We’re getting a little bit too spread out and that’s allowing them to attack us with a lot of speed. It’s tough to hold the line and defend when you have guys flying in at ya from two zones away. We’re definitely going to make that adjustment."
Blog Central
Posted On Saturday, 04.23.2011 / 6:47 PM
By Brian Hedger - NHL.com Correspondent /NHL.com - 2011 WCQF: Vancouver-Chicago Live Blog
Middle of the ice sure to be a factor
Posted On Saturday, 04.23.2011 / 6:45 PM
By Brian Hedger - NHL.com Correspondent /NHL.com - 2011 WCQF: Vancouver-Chicago Live Blog
Brouwer says Edler elbow incident incidental
As the final seconds of the second period in Game 5 wound down, Blackhawks forward Troy Brouwer chased down Canucks defenseman Alexander Edler from behind right in back of the Vancouver net.
Brouwer got called for slashing on the play while trying to catch Edler, who stuck out his left arm to ward off Brouwer -- with his elbow catching Brouwer right in the face. Edler did not get called for elbowing, and the League did not review the play for a hit to the head.
Brouwer said he talked to an official about it, and was told the elbow wasn't seen.
"The ref that was behind me … had a quick chat with him and his angle was blocked by my body, so it’s tough to see," said Brouwer, who went after Edler, but was intercepted by Maxim Lapierre before eventually fighting Kevin Bieksa. "You know, he called a slash. So, he can see sticks but not elbows, I guess.”
Edler said he wasn't intending to elbow Brouwer.
"I didn't try anything with an elbow," he said after the Canucks practice on Saturday. "I saw that he was coming and tried to cut him off at the net a little bit."
Brouwer got called for slashing on the play while trying to catch Edler, who stuck out his left arm to ward off Brouwer -- with his elbow catching Brouwer right in the face. Edler did not get called for elbowing, and the League did not review the play for a hit to the head.
Brouwer said he talked to an official about it, and was told the elbow wasn't seen.
"The ref that was behind me … had a quick chat with him and his angle was blocked by my body, so it’s tough to see," said Brouwer, who went after Edler, but was intercepted by Maxim Lapierre before eventually fighting Kevin Bieksa. "You know, he called a slash. So, he can see sticks but not elbows, I guess.”
Edler said he wasn't intending to elbow Brouwer.
"I didn't try anything with an elbow," he said after the Canucks practice on Saturday. "I saw that he was coming and tried to cut him off at the net a little bit."
Posted On Saturday, 04.23.2011 / 6:03 PM
By John Kreiser - NHL.com Columnist /NHL.com - 12 Hours of Hockey - Live Blog
Intermission
OK, you can take a break.
Go get a bite to eat. A cold beverage. Take care of anything else that needs to be done.
The afternoon portion of our playoff quadruple-header is done, and we’re an hour or so away from the start of the evening session, beginning with the Canadiens and Bruins in Boston.
The final score for the two afternoon games: Southeast Division 2, Atlantic Division 0. Tampa Bay stunned a sellout crowd in Pittsburgh by routing the Penguins 8-2 to send that series to Game 6 in Tampa Bay on Monday. Faced with the same situation – win at home to advance – the Washington Capitals succeeded where the Penguins had failed, eliminating the New York Rangers with a 3-1 win in Game 5.
So for now, we’re at intermission. Come on back about 7 p.m. ET for the evening games.
Go get a bite to eat. A cold beverage. Take care of anything else that needs to be done.
The afternoon portion of our playoff quadruple-header is done, and we’re an hour or so away from the start of the evening session, beginning with the Canadiens and Bruins in Boston.
The final score for the two afternoon games: Southeast Division 2, Atlantic Division 0. Tampa Bay stunned a sellout crowd in Pittsburgh by routing the Penguins 8-2 to send that series to Game 6 in Tampa Bay on Monday. Faced with the same situation – win at home to advance – the Washington Capitals succeeded where the Penguins had failed, eliminating the New York Rangers with a 3-1 win in Game 5.
So for now, we’re at intermission. Come on back about 7 p.m. ET for the evening games.
Posted On Saturday, 04.23.2011 / 5:48 PM
By John Kreiser - NHL.com Columnist /NHL.com - 12 Hours of Hockey - Live Blog
Caps move on; Rangers go home
The Rangers pulled Henrik Lundqvist and got a goal with 31.5 seconds remaining when Wojtek Wolski tucked in a rebound. But all that did was enable the Rangers to avoid being shut out -- they hadn't scored since the second period of Game 4 -- nearly 138 minutes.
A post-goal scrum left the Rangers down a man, and the Caps missed the empty net a couple of time before mobbing Michal Neuvirth after their series-clinching 3-1 victory.
A post-goal scrum left the Rangers down a man, and the Caps missed the empty net a couple of time before mobbing Michal Neuvirth after their series-clinching 3-1 victory.
Posted On Saturday, 04.23.2011 / 5:42 PM
By John Kreiser - NHL.com Columnist /NHL.com - 12 Hours of Hockey - Live Blog
That will put it away
With the Rangers pressing, the Caps broke out 2-on-1, and Marcus Johansson made a brilliant pass right onto Alexander Semin's stick as he cut to the net. Semin made no mistake, and it's now 3-0 with time running out on the Rangers' season.
Posted On Saturday, 04.23.2011 / 5:41 PM
By John Kreiser - NHL.com Columnist /NHL.com - 12 Hours of Hockey - Live Blog
Running out of time
It's an electric atmosphere at the Verizon Center. The 18,398 red-clad fans are ready to celebrate as the Caps continue to lead by two goals.
Michal Neuvirth is devouring what few shots the Rangers are able to get through his defense, but the Caps are being smart and not just sitting back -- third-period shots were 7-7 at the final TV timeout.
Barring a miracle, the Rangers are going to run out of time.
Michal Neuvirth is devouring what few shots the Rangers are able to get through his defense, but the Caps are being smart and not just sitting back -- third-period shots were 7-7 at the final TV timeout.
Barring a miracle, the Rangers are going to run out of time.
Posted On Saturday, 04.23.2011 / 5:24 PM
By John Kreiser - NHL.com Columnist /NHL.com - 12 Hours of Hockey - Live Blog
Desperate times for Rangers
The Rangers came out in the third period with the kind of desperation that would have helped them earlier in the game. But after having the Rangers control play for the first 60-90 seconds, the Caps answered by upping their own pace. Through the first 11 minutes, the Caps outshot the Rangers 3-2 -- New York isn't having any success finding time or space in the offensive zone.
With the defense pinching, the Caps wound up with a 2-on-1 midway through the period, only to see Game 4 hero Jason Chimera fire wide on what would have been the clincher.
Mike Green returned to the bench late in the second period after missing more than 20 minutes of playing time after taking a slapper in the helmet. But he has yet to play a shift since returning.
With the defense pinching, the Caps wound up with a 2-on-1 midway through the period, only to see Game 4 hero Jason Chimera fire wide on what would have been the clincher.
Mike Green returned to the bench late in the second period after missing more than 20 minutes of playing time after taking a slapper in the helmet. But he has yet to play a shift since returning.
Posted On Saturday, 04.23.2011 / 4:56 PM
By John Kreiser - NHL.com Columnist /NHL.com - 12 Hours of Hockey - Live Blog
Rangers get some push
After more than 30 minutes of being dominated, the Rangers are starting to push back.
Beginning shortly after the halfway mark of the middle period, the Rangers began to pick up their tempo and get more pucks deep on Washington's defense, generating some heat on Michal Neuvirth.
But Neuvirth was up to the task, and his defense did a good job of funneling a lot of shots to the outside or getting in the way of them.
New York got its second power play when defenseman John Erskine was called for taking down Brandon Prust with 2:41 left. The Rangers were able to get some zone time and had a good chance on a tip by Brandon Dubinsky. But Neuvirth was able to see everything, and the Caps killed the penalty and the rest of the period, sending the teams to the dressing room after 40 minutes with Washington ahead 2-0 -- and the Rangers facing the prospect of seeing their season end in about an hour.
Beginning shortly after the halfway mark of the middle period, the Rangers began to pick up their tempo and get more pucks deep on Washington's defense, generating some heat on Michal Neuvirth.
But Neuvirth was up to the task, and his defense did a good job of funneling a lot of shots to the outside or getting in the way of them.
New York got its second power play when defenseman John Erskine was called for taking down Brandon Prust with 2:41 left. The Rangers were able to get some zone time and had a good chance on a tip by Brandon Dubinsky. But Neuvirth was able to see everything, and the Caps killed the penalty and the rest of the period, sending the teams to the dressing room after 40 minutes with Washington ahead 2-0 -- and the Rangers facing the prospect of seeing their season end in about an hour.
Posted On Saturday, 04.23.2011 / 4:46 PM
By John Kreiser - NHL.com Columnist /NHL.com - 12 Hours of Hockey - Live Blog
Green's back
Washington defenseman Mike Green returned to the bench with about 5:30 left in the second period. He missed just over a full period after taking a slap shot by Matt Gilroy in the helmet.
Posted On Saturday, 04.23.2011 / 4:31 PM
By John Kreiser - NHL.com Columnist /NHL.com - 12 Hours of Hockey - Live Blog
Caps extend their lead
Mike Green wasn't on the bench for the Caps at the start of the second period after taking a Matt Gilroy blast in the helmet with 6:11 left in the first. The team said the All-Star defenseman's return is questionable. Green would be missed -- he scored the first goal on Saturday and has points in all five games.
The Caps nearly scored 45 seconds into the period on a beautiful three-way passing play -- a brilliant defensive play by Marc Staal kept Ovechkin from being able to put the puck into the net. Staal got a stick on a little touch pass from Nicklas Backstrom, who opted to pass instead of shoot.
Alexander Semin missed another chance a minute later -- Henrik Lundqvist was in the right place to stop his wide-open backhander.
But the Caps continued to dominate play and made it 2-0 at 7:04 when Alex Ovechkin took advantage of a long shift by the D-pair of Staal and Dan Girardi. He raced up the right wing, cut in on a weary Staal and tucked a backhander past Lundqvist, who was left to fend for himself.
It's all Caps at the first TV timeout -- they're up 2-0 and heading to their third power play.
The Caps nearly scored 45 seconds into the period on a beautiful three-way passing play -- a brilliant defensive play by Marc Staal kept Ovechkin from being able to put the puck into the net. Staal got a stick on a little touch pass from Nicklas Backstrom, who opted to pass instead of shoot.
Alexander Semin missed another chance a minute later -- Henrik Lundqvist was in the right place to stop his wide-open backhander.
But the Caps continued to dominate play and made it 2-0 at 7:04 when Alex Ovechkin took advantage of a long shift by the D-pair of Staal and Dan Girardi. He raced up the right wing, cut in on a weary Staal and tucked a backhander past Lundqvist, who was left to fend for himself.
It's all Caps at the first TV timeout -- they're up 2-0 and heading to their third power play.
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