The Blackhawks had heard so much about the importance of a fast start before Game 4 of their Stanley Cup Western Conference semifinal series with the Vancouver Canucks that they could be excused for wanting to get things under way as soon as Bulls rookie standout Derrick Rose handled puck-drop duties at the rollicking United Center.

But they trailed 1-0 after two periods.

The Hawks were busy but scoreless during a defense-dominated, 0-0 first period, then spotted the Canucks the first goal of the game when Rick Rypien set up Darcy Hordichuk for his first score of the series at 8:32 of the second.

The play came after the Hawks’ most dangerous forays of the night. Andrew Ladd, Jonathan Toews and Matt Walker all tested Luongo from in close, but he stopped each shot.

Then Rypien collected a long rebound of a deflected slap shot and broke out the other way, sending Hordichuk in alone on Nikolai Khabibulin with a pass off a brilliant spin move.

The Hawks had a power-play opportunity a short time later when Shane O’Brien was sent off for slashing Dustin Byfuglien, and they were skating 4-on-3 after Havlat and Kevin Bieksa drew matching roughing calls for tangling in Luongo’s crease. But they couldn’t capitalize despite a 17-10 shots-on-goal advantage.

The Hawks were firing a ton of rubber at Luongo, including five shots on goal in the first four minutes, four during a power play after Bieksa went off for interference when he took Toews down just to Luongo’s left at 3:20.

But Luongo turned aside each of them.

Vancouver had just two shots on goal in the first 10 minutes, but went on the power play at 10:01 when Troy Brouwer was whistled for boarding. Khabibulin did not face a shot as the Hawks did an excellent job not only killing the penalty but creating their best opportunity when Patrick Sharp broke loose and got a shot on Luongo.

Bieksa was the instigator in an early skirmish with Ladd that set the tone for a chippy first period in which the Hawks outshot the Canucks 8-4.

Vancouver had struck first in each of the first three games, including twice in the first period of Game 3 on Tuesday night. After a second-period exchange of goals, the Canucks effectively sat on their two-goal lead and registered a 3-1 victory that gave them a 2-1 advantage in the series.

The Canucks also reclaimed home-ice advantage after squandering it by splitting the first two games in Vancouver.

“We’ve had a tendency to play from behind and it finally caught up with us,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “We’re better playing even or ahead.”

The Hawks were expecting a Game 3 lift from the home crowd, which hadn’t seen them play since April 25, when they took a 3-2 lead over Calgary in their first-round series, closing out the Flames two nights later. The noise was there but the energy wasn’t — Vancouver took the play to the Hawks all night while protecting Luongo with Secret Service-like diligence.

“We didn’t have much jump in our play,” Sharp acknowledged.

Quenneville was even more candid.

“I didn’t like anything about our game,” he said.

Quenneville didn’t fault the effort as much as the execution. He felt the Hawks tried to do too much fancy skating and play-making rather than send the puck and a small army of big bodies at Luongo, a strategy that produced nine goals in the two games at Vancouver.

He also expected more than 14 minutes of play from Patrick Kane, who saw his ice time reduced after he took a bad hooking penalty late in the first period that led to a Vancouver power-play goal early in the second.

The Canucks were without defensive standout Sami Salo, their third-leading playoff scorer, who missed his second straight game with a dreaded lower-body injury. Winger Pavol Demitra was a scratch as well.

He Shoots, He Scores

Milan Hejduk loves to play against the Vancouver Canucks. The rest of his Colorado Avalanche teammates are enjoying it, too.

Hejduk added to his reputation as a Canucks killer with a goal and two assists, and he scored the decisive goal in the shootout to help the Avalanche beat Vancouver for the eighth straight time, 5-4 on Sunday.

In 57 career games against the Canucks, Hejduk has 34 goals, his highest goal total against any NHL team.

“There is not really a good explanation for it; I don’t have one,” Hejduk said. “I know the stats are good for me against this team, but we do play them a lot, being in the same division, so obviously I would score more goals against them than the others.”

Wojtek Wolski, Marek Svatos and Hejduk scored for Colorado in the shootout, and Peter Budaj made 34 saves. Colorado is 5-1 in shootouts this season.

“Our shootout guys have been very good,” Avalanche coach Tony Granato said. “Those guys are all talented.”

Colorado defenseman Daniel Tjarnqvist forced overtime, scoring his second goal of the season with 2:48 left in regulation.

“He got a quick shot off,” Vancouver goalie Cory Schneider said. “I’m sure it glanced off of somebody to just change it enough that instead of hitting me in the stomach it went under the armpit.”

David Jones and Ryan Smyth also scored in regulation for Colorado, and Paul Stastny had three assists.

Steve Bernier had two goals for Vancouver, Daniel Sedin and Darcy Hordichuk also scored, and Kyle Wellwood connected in the shootout. The Canucks last win over Colorado was a 2-1 overtime victory Nov. 9, 2007.

“In my mind we should have won this game,” Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said. “I think we played well enough to win this game, but when you put two pucks in your own net by your own sticks it’s a little more challenging.”

Bernier gave the Canucks a 4-3 lead with 10:03 left in the third on a one-timer from the right circle. Earlier in the period, Hejduk tied it when he picked up a loose puck in the slot and flipped it past Schneider for his 11th goal of the season.

Hordichuk gave Vancouver a 1-0 lead just 2:17 into the game, and it held up until the second period when Jones tied with a great individual effort.

Jones skated out of the Colorado end and chipped the puck along the right boards into the Canucks’ end. He skated by defenseman Shane O’Brien and, with the defenseman trying to check him off the play, Jones leaned over and slipped the puck past Schneider for his fourth goal of the season.

Smyth gave Colorado the lead with his ninth goal. Smyth took a pass from Hejduk as he skated into the Vancouver end and put a hard wrister under Schneider’s right pad to give Colorado a 2-1 lead with 8:35 left in the second period.

Sedin and Bernier scored goals 2:04 apart late in the second period. Sedin knocked in his own rebound for his team-leading 12th goal of the season with 4:11 in the period, and Bernier scored a power-play goal to make it 3-2.

Source: Canucks.com

In nine seconds Monday night, the Wings went from the verge of a sweep to the verge of … well, I’m not exactly sure. They are not really in trouble yet, but they can see trouble from here.

The Wings were four minutes away from seeing who could say “we swear we’re not thinking about the second round” without winking. They led this first-round series over Nashville, 2-0, and they led Game 3 by a score of 3-2.

With 3:57 left, Ryan Suter tied it.

With 3:48 left, Jason Arnott fired the puck over Dominik Hasek’s shoulder to give Nashville its first lead of the series.

“I see very well the last one,” Hasek said. “Both goals you feel like you could maybe make the save.”

A few minutes later, the Predators sealed the win with an empty-net goal. This was Nashville’s chance to turn this into a series, instead of just a series of games. In nine seconds, they did just that. They also finally got a lift from their captain, Arnott, who was dreadful in the two games in Detroit.

The Wings do not sound terribly worried, but they are concerned about at least one thing. Earlier in the game, Nashville scored two goals barely two minutes apart. In Saturday’s game, the Predators scored two goals 11 seconds apart. Astute readers will notice a trend here, and Nick Lidstrom is nothing if not astute.

“When they get one goal on us, we have to bear down the next shift or two,” Lidstrom said.

Full Story: How Wings-Predators series changed in nine seconds – [Detroit Free Press]

Dan Hamhuis and Jerred Smithson also scored for Nashville, battling for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Dan Ellis made 34 saves for the Predators, who broke a three-game losing streak.

Niklas Kronwall scored the lone goal for NHL-leading Detroit. Chris Osgood stopped 24 shots.

Peverley capitalized on a Red Wings’ miscue 6:10 into the second period. Osgood and Kronwall had a mix up behind the net when Osgood left the puck for the defenseman. But Peverley was closer to the puck than Kronwall and he pounced on it and put it in from the side of the net for his third goal.

Smithson added an empty-net goal with 17 seconds left.

Hamhuis opened the scoring with 9:33 left in the first period when he cut in off the right wing and put a shot past Osgood as he cut across the crease for his fourth goal.

Kronwall tied it with 2:17 remaining in the opening period. He converted a cross-crease pass from Johan Franzen for his sixth goal.

NHL-leading Detroit welcomed back captain Nicklas Lidstrom, the star defenseman who missed six games because of a knee injury. He has won five of the last six Norris Trophies as the NHL’s top defenseman. He had two assists.

Jiri Hudler and Brad Stuart also scored for the Red Wings, who had three power play goals, and Niklas Kronwall had two assists. Dominik Hasek made 20 saves, including one on J.P. Dumont’s breakaway with 1:49 left.

Shea Weber, Martin Erat and Jordin Tootoo scored for Nashville — all in the last 8:36. Chris Mason stopped 29 shots.

Weber’s power-play goal spoiled Hasek’s shutout attempt with 8:36 left. Weber scored on a one-time slap shot from the high slot. Erat’s goal also came on the power play. He put one in from a goal-mouth scramble with 5:25 left. Tootoo scored with Mason pulled for the extra attacker with 1:01 remaining.

Detroit led 2-0 after the first period, thanks to two power-play goals.

Franzen opened the scoring with the Red Wings on a 5-on-3 power play at 8:43. He tipped in Henrik Zetterberg’s pass while standing at the lip of the crease. Hudler made it 2-0 with 4:17 left in the opening period with a one-time shot from the bottom of the right circle. It was his 12th goal and first since Jan. 12, a span of 21 games.

Stuart got his first goal as a Red Wing, with 4:39 left in the second period. With the teams playing 4-on-4 he scored on a backhand wraparound. It was the sixth goal of the season for the defenseman, acquired from Los Angeles at the trade deadline.

Franzen then got his second goal, also on the power play, when he tipped Lidstrom’s shot from the point out of mid air. It was the first multigoal game of Franzen’s career and his 16th of the season.

Smith, just 18 years old, was selected by Nashville in the second round of the 2007 entry draft. In 40 games this season with Plymouth of the Ontario Hockey League, Smith has posted a 2.86 goals-against average and .921 save percentage with three shutouts.

Smith was also Team USA’s starting netminder for the 2008 World Junior Championships, going 4-2-0 with a 2.40 GAA.

J.P. Dumont and Ville Koistinen also scored for the Predators, who have won two straight.

Dan Ellis stopped 29 shots in the win for Nashville, which now has 76 points and jumped into eighth place in the Western Conference.

“It’s 15 games and it’s going to be a nice run,” Erat said. “It’s just packed around eighth place and we have to get the points from every game when we can.”

Nashville has swept the series with Edmonton for the second straight year and has won nine of 12 overall.

Tom Gilbert scored the lone goal for the Oilers, who had a four-game winning streak stopped. Mathieu Garon started in net, but was pulled after allowing three goals on 12 shots. Dwayne Roloson played the final two periods and gave up two goals on 12 shots.

“Some nights you’re going to play good and not win, and some nights you’re going to play bad and end up with a win, but tonight we didn’t deserve it at all,” Garon said.

Nashville scored just 55 seconds into the game as Dumont blasted a hard shot from the left circle that handcuffed Garon.

Less than three minutes later, Erat notched his first goal of the game as he threw a shot on net that banked off of defender Steve Staios and got past Garon.

Nashville took a 3-0 lead at the 13:09 mark of the first as Erat picked the top right corner with a blast from the right point.

Erat completed the natural hat trick just 54 seconds into the second period as he banged in a rebound off a shot from Shea Weber.

Edmonton finally got a goal at the 5:45 mark of the second as Gilbert sneaked in from the right point to slap a shot past Ellis to make it a 4-1 game.

However, Nashville regained its four-goal advantage less than four minutes later as Vern Fiddler gained the zone and dropped a pass to a trailing Koistinen, whose hard shot beat Roloson.

Ellis made eight saves in the third period to keep Edmonton from rallying.

Dumont snapped a 3-all tie when he sent a slap shot past Mikael Tellqvist at 5:36 of the final period. Dumont also had two assists for his second three-point game of the season.

Peverley scored his second of the year when he converted a pass from Radek Bonk at 5:59. Martin Gelinas added an empty-net goal at 19:20 of the third period

Nashville’s win spoiled an energetic Phoenix comeback after the Coyotes fell behind 3-0 midway through the opening period.

As has been the trend in recent games, things did not start well for Phoenix. The Coyotes allowed three goals on the Predators first eight shots.

Bonk put Nashville on the board at 4:34 of the opening period when he put the rebound of his initial shot that hit the left post into an open net. It was Bonk’s first goal since Dec. 19 at Chicago.

The Predators increased their lead to 2-0 when David Legwand converted a pass from Dumont for his 13th goal of the season at 11:27. Nashville captain Jason Arnott knocked in his own rebound exactly two minutes later for a 3-0 lead.

At that point, and with 6:33 remaining in the first period, Phoenix coach Wayne Gretzky pulled Ilya Bryzgalov in favor of back up Tellqvist. Bryzgalov stopped five of the eight shots he faced.

Phoenix edged back when captain Shane Doan scored a power-play goal at 18:27 of the first period.

Daniel Winnik brought Phoenix within one when he scored at 7:40 of the second. Winnik made a move just outside the crease and managed to slide the puck between goalie Dan Ellis and the right post for his seventh of the season.

Phoenix tied it at 15:21 of the second when Ellis could not handle Ed Jovanovski’s wrist shot from the blue line.

- Associated Press

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In the overtime, Brad Richards received a pass at the right circle and faked a shot before throwing the puck on net. Dan Ellis stopped the shot, but Prospal was right there to bang in the rebound for the win.

Richards also scored a goal while Johan Holmqvist finished the game with 18 saves for the Lightning, who have won three of their last four games.

Alexander Radulov scored the lone goal while Ellis finished the game with 23 saves for the Predators, who had a three-game winning streak stopped.

The Predators took a 1-0 lead with 7:23 left in the first period as Radulov flicked a wrister from the left circle that beat Holmqvist over the right shoulder.

Ellis only needed to make five saves in the first period to keep Tampa Bay off the board.

The Lightning tied the game at the 13:09 mark of the second period. Vincent Lecavalier snapped a wrister from the right point that Martin St. Louis deflected on net. Ellis made the save, but Richards lifted the puck past the prone goaltender.

Nashville managed just two shots on net in the middle stanza, both of which Holmqvist turned aside.

The Predators had 10 shots on net in the third period and the Lightning six, but none went into the net as the teams skated to the overtime.