Hated Canucks Come to Town Sunday Preview

The hated Vancouver Canucks come to town on Sunday night.  Vancouver comes in with a 6-7-1 record and has stumbled out of the gate.  Favorite Hawks whipping boy Roberto Luongo has a GAA of 3.19 and an eye opening save percentage of .884.  Defenseman Kevin Bieska is a -8 on the season.  Vancouver lost 3-2 to the Blues in St. Louis on Friday night and come to town with a 3-5-0 road record.  The Hawks lost in OT to the Lightning 5-4 on Friday night.  The Hawks come in 5-0-2 on United Center ice and have not lost in regulation at home.  This is the first meeting of the year for the bitter rivals who have met three years in a row in the Stanley Cup playoffs.  Chicago got the best of Vancouver two years running before falling in game 7 in the first round last year.  The Hawks were 2-2-0 against Vancouver in the regular season and split a pair of games on home ice.  First year Hawk Dan Carcillo has referenced the rivalry on his Twitter account multiple times and has even called out certain Canuck players.  We could see some fireworks on Sunday night out of the guy nicknamed “Car Bomb.”  The Hawks come in with the 5^th rank penalty killing unit which will match up with the Canucks and their 8^th ranked power play unit.  The Hawks power play unit comes in ranked 28^th in the league and finally tallied on the power play Friday night against Tampa Bay after an 0-18 skid with the man advantage.  The Canucks have the 8^th ranked penalty killing unit and have allowed 7 power play goals on the year.  Patrick Kane leads the way for the Hawks in scoring with 15 points.  Marian Hossa leads in goal scoring with 7.  For the Canucks its Daniel Sedin with 15 points and Chris Higgins with 6 goals.  Expect a Corey Crawford vs. Roberto Luongo matchup in goal.  Crawford comes in with a 6-2-2 record, 2.33 GAA, and .919 save percentage.  This is the first big test of the season for the Western Conference leading Chicago Blackhawks.  It is also a chance to put some distance in the standings between the Hawks and last season’s President Trophy winning Canucks.  Through Friday night the Hawks are also tied for the league lead in points.