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	<channel>		<title>RUWT? News</title>
		<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com</link>
		<description>RUWT? News for Vancouver Canucks vs. Chicago Blackhawks 5/7/2009</description>
		<language>en-us</language>
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		<lastBuildDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:12:31 GMT</lastBuildDate>
		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:12:31 GMT</pubDate>
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				<title><![CDATA[Ladd's goal gives Blackhawks OT win]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[By RICK GANO
AP Sports Writer

CHICAGO(AP) -- Andrew Ladd had perfect position. When the puck
came flying off teammate Dave Bolland's stick from far away,
Ladd was right in front of Vancouver goalie Roberto Luongo to
tip it in.

Ladd's goal less than 3 minutes into overtime Thursday night
capped a remarkable 2-1 comeback victory for the Chicago
Blackhawks and tied the Western Conference semifinal series at
2.

"Bolland has great patience with the puck," Ladd said. "He
turned around, saw my stick and got it to the right spot. We've
got a little momentum here and can take it back to Vancouver."

Game 5 is Saturday night in Vancouver and the Canucks will have
to regroup after losing a game they apparently had sealed up.
Chicago's Martin Havlat tied it at 1 with 2:44 left in
regulation after Luongo had been unflappable most of the night.

"We were a couple of minutes away from winning this game,"
Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said. "It happened. We've got to
deal with it and get ready for the next game."

After the Canucks had two point-blank shots to score, but were
turned away by Nikolai Khabibulin, Bolland chased down the puck
along the boards at the other end. He fired a shot from beyond
the right circle and Ladd knocked it in at 2:52 of overtime.

"It was a shot from the half wall. Ladd was right in front of
me," said Luongo, who finished with 26 saves. "It was coming
fast from the outside of the net. I extended my leg and he
tipped it in the five-hole, so it was a good play by him."

Havlat's tying goal came on a wrist shot from between the
circles after Ladd had worked the puck free from the boards and
shoveled it in his direction.

"I had 1-on-1 against the goalie and Ladd gave me a great pass.
I had a lot of time and I haven't had that in this series,"
Havlat said. "We kept fighting until the last second and it paid
off. We were patient."

In the closing seconds of regulation, Bolland had a breakaway
before Vancouver's Alexander Edler caught up to him, hit his
stick from behind and then forced him away from the net. Bolland
went down on the play and the crowd at the United Center
screamed for a penalty with 8.2 seconds to go.

Darcy Hordichuk took a pass from a spinning Rick Rypien to score
his first playoff goal midway through the second period to put
the Canucks up 1-0 - the fourth straight game Vancouver opened
the scoring.

And Luongo again appeared too tough for the Blackhawks to crack.
After allowing eight goals in the two games at Vancouver, Luongo
gave up just one in Game 3 and looked on his way to a shutout
before Havlat tied it.

"A huge comeback for us. We're right back in the series now,"
Chicago coach Joel Quenneville said. "It looked grim, but the
enthusiasm was in the right places."

After Chicago's Jonathan Toews had his shot blocked, Rypien
scooped up the puck and raced to the other end against
Blackhawks defenseman Matt Walker. Just before reaching the
circles, Rypien made his nifty spin move to evade Walker and
then passed to Hordichuk, who beat Khabibulin on the stick side
for the 1-0 lead.

The score came shortly after Luongo made a spectacular stop on a
rebound attempt by Chicago's Troy Brouwer. After the Canucks
went ahead and with each team down a man, Luongo made a
sprawling pad save to deny Patrick Sharp.

Chicago came out with strong early rush and Luongo had five
saves in the first 6 minutes, including another nice pad stop of
Toews' point-blank attempt just as a power play was expiring.

The Blackhawks mustered an 8-4 shots-on-goal advantage but were
blanked in the opening period for the fourth straight game.

Khabibulin finished with 14 saves.

Notes: Canucks D Sami Salo, who rejoined the team Tuesday
night after being injured in Game 2, did not play for a second
straight game. ... Baseball Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk
participated in a goal shooting contest between the second and
third periods. ... NBA rookie of the year Derrick Rose of the
Bulls dropped the ceremonial first puck.]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[nhl]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/96576-Ladds-goal-gives-Blackhawks-OT-win</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/96576-Ladds-goal-gives-Blackhawks-OT-win</guid>
				<pubDate>Fri, 08 May 2009 04:23:32 GMT</pubDate>
			</item>
		
			<item>
				<title><![CDATA[Canucks-Blackhawks Preview]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[By RICK GANO
AP Sports Writer

Vancouver At Chicago, Game One, 8:00 p.m. EDT

CHICAGO (AP) --  Getting off to a slow start is getting old for
the Chicago Blackhawks. Keep it up and they could find
themselves out of the Stanley Cup playoffs in a hurry.

In all three games of their Western Conference semifinals
against the Vancouver Canucks, the Blackhawks have fallen into
an early hole.

They were down 3-0 in Game 1 before rallying to tie, only to
lose 5-3.

In Game 2, they fell behind 2-0, caught up and then took the
lead on a short-handed goal on their way to a 6-3 victory.

And on Tuesday night, back at home in the loud confines of the
United Center, they found themselves staring at a 3-0 deficit
before the Canucks recaptured home-ice advantage with a 3-1
victory.

"I think when you're down 3-1, 3-0 whatever it was, it's tough
to play catch up every game," Chicago's Patrick Kane said
Wednesday. "We came back twice in this series, but you can't
come back every game. I think we started to force some plays,
tried to make too many pretty plays and it caught up with us."

The Canucks bottled up the neutral zone to throttle the
Blackhawks' speed, protected the puck and played strong defense
to take the 2-1 series lead. And they got a splendid performance
from goaltender Roberto Luongo, who had 23 saves.

It's a plan they hope to extend into Thursday night's Game 4:
play solid and simple hockey, keep the Blackhawks from opening
up the game with their skating skills and also silence the
sellout crowd that works itself into a frenzy by cheering during
the Star Spangled Banner.

The Canucks are expecting the Blackhawks to come out with a
ferocious rush in the early minutes Thursday.

"They'll attempt to come out strong in this building. They had a
few flurries early in the (Tuesday) game, but after that we
settled into our system," Luongo said Wednesday.

And he made sure Chicago didn't stage another comeback.

"It was nice once we established the lead, we kept playing our
game and kept forechecking hard," Luongo said. "Not just sit
back and try to protect the lead."

The Canucks could get another lift Thursday night if versatile
defenseman Sami Salo, who missed Game 3 with an injury, can
return to the ice. He flew in from Vancouver on Tuesday night
after staying behind for treatment. He worked out Wednesday but
not did not practice.

"There is always a chance for anything. We'll see how it is
tomorrow and go from there," Salo said. He was hurt after
scoring a goal in Game 2.

Vancouver was also bolstered by the emotional return Tuesday
night of Taylor Pyatt, who played for the first time since his
fiancee was killed in a car accident in early April.

Pyatt played 12 minutes and 38 seconds, had four shots on goal
and blocked three shots.

"I wasn't even sure if I'd even get back on skates this season,"
said the soft-spoken Pyatt. "But as time sort of passed by and a
couple of weeks went by, I felt the urge to get back on the team
and get back on the ice. ...

"I've been back skating with the guys for a while trying to get
my body ready physically. I still wasn't quite sure mentally if
I would by OK until a few days ago."

Chicago's slow starts so far can also be attributed to spending
too much time in the penalty box in the early going. During the
three games, the Blackhawks have been called for 10 first-period
penalties.

"Staying out of the penalty box is what we're going to stress
and coming with more energy to start," Chicago coach Joel
Quenneville said.

"I don't know if it's a case of us being ready and them not
being ready," Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault said.

"We know starts are important. ... So we'll try to get ready and
do the same thing tomorrow night."]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[nhl]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/96349-Canucks-Blackhawks-Preview</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nhl/news/96349-Canucks-Blackhawks-Preview</guid>
				<pubDate>Wed, 06 May 2009 22:07:56 GMT</pubDate>
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