For a time, it appeared the Blackhawks would return home after two games in Vancouver not only without a victory, but also without scoring a goal.
Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo had thwarted the Stanley Cup champions at every turn and the once-potent Hawks offense suddenly displayed the firepower of a squirt gun. Finally, after 94 minutes, 50 seconds of Western Conference quarterfinals series futility, rookie Ben Smith put the Hawks on the board Friday night late in the second period of Game 2 at Rogers Arena. A short time later, Viktor Stalberg beat Luongo and then Smith did it again. Suddenly, some gaps in Luongo's gold-medal-plated armor were exposed.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, those scores came in a 4-3 loss that put them in an 0-2 hole with the series resuming Sunday night at the United Center. Still, the fact they had solved Luongo three times in less than 1 1/2 periods has given the Hawks confidence they can do more of the same in front of the home folks.
"It was nice to have our guys score some goals," Hawks goalie Corey Crawford said. "That gives them a little bit of confidence and maybe have (Luongo) question himself a little bit."
That the scores were, shall we say, of the ugly variety wasn't lost on the Hawks.
"On my goal (Luongo) didn't really see the puck when it went through (Canucks defenseman Christian Ehrhoff's) legs," Stalberg said. "That's how we have to be. We can't let him see too many shots. He's one of the best goalies in the world and he's going to save those pucks. We have to find ways to get traffic."
Both goals for Smith, who became the first player in Hawks history to record a multi-goal game in the postseason after having played fewer than 25 regular-season games, came off rebounds.
"As we saw, if you put pucks to the net -- whether it's rebounds or screens -- they will go in eventually," veteran center Ryan Johnson said. "I don't know if there's anyone who sees the puck and makes the initial save better. But it's tough to do that the second and third opportunities when you have guys crashing and creating screens."
Luongo, who helped Canada capture the gold medal at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, wasn't surprised the Hawks finally exerted some offensive pressure.
"They're not the Stanley Cup champs for nothing," Luongo said. "We didn't expect them to keel over and roll over -- they were coming strong."
The Hawks will have to maintain that intensity Sunday if they don't want to fall for the third consecutive game and have their season pushed to the brink.
"There's definitely something we can take confidence from knowing that we can score goals and be rewarded for hard work," forward Patrick Sharp said. "(But) I don't think there's any set formula to score on Roberto Luongo. ... If there is, it's the same as any other goalie: Get as many pucks and bodies to the net and hopefully second and third chances can go in."
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