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Byfuglien makes Luongo miserable, Chicago wins 5-2

Dustin Byfuglien, Roberto Luongo

Chicago Blackhawks’ Dustin Byfuglien, right, crashes into Vancouver Canucks’ Roberto Luongo during the second period of Game 2 of the Western Conference semi-final hockey game at GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia on Saturday, May 2, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darryl Dyck)

AP

He might not have the subtle goalie screening skills of Tomas Holmstrom, but Dustin Byfuglien had an enormous impact on Roberto Luongo in Chicago’s 5-2 win tonight. The large forward scored a hat trick and generally made life miserable for the Canucks goalie. Chicago Blackhawks 5, Vancouver Canucks 2

Blackhawks lead series 2-1

The final Blackhawks/Byfuglien goal was oddly symbolic. Patrick Kane put a backhand shot on net and followed the puck through. Byfuglien more or less pushed Luongo (and basically the puck as well) into the twine and got away with a clear goalie interference. The goal went to video review, but interference isn’t something that can be overturned that way.

I’m not going to go as far as to say that Byfuglien and the Blackhawks are “in Luongo’s head” but this game, at least, got under his skin. He made 30 out of 35 saves while Antti Niemi completed a great night in net going 31 for 33.

After dominating Los Angeles in the first round, the Sedin twins and Mikael Samuelsson are struggling to find space. Daniel only has one point while Henrik only managed a goal and an assist in the three games in this series so far. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook appear to be too much for the twins to handle right now. If the Canucks hope to make it to the Western Conference Finals, they’ll need more from those weird looking gingers.