Canucks try to take three games to one lead

Vancouver Canucks goaltender Roberto Luongo makes a save during second period NHL action against the Chicago Blackhawks in game 2 of the western conference semi-final at GM Place in Vancouver, Saturday, May 2, 2009. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward)

The Vancouver Canucks will try to take a three games to one lead in the Western Conference semifinals tonight when they visit the Chicago Blackhawks for Game 4 at United Center.

The fourth-seeded Blackhawks were able to earn a split on the road in the opening two games of the best-of-seven set, but failed to win Tuesday night in their first home test. Instead, Vancouver rode goaltender Roberto Luongo to a 3-1 victory and a 2-1 edge in the series.

Chicago, which was 24-9-8 at home during the regular season, is 3-1 as the host in the playoffs. The Blackhawks will try to salvage a split in this home portion before heading to Vancouver for Saturday's Game 5 matchup. However, the Canucks are 3-0 on the road in the playoffs and have won seven of their last eight as the visitor dating back to the regular season.

Vancouver, this year's Northwest Division champion and the West's third seed, had blown leads in each of the first two games against Chicago but the club jumped out to an early edge in Game 3 and never looked back.

Luongo stopped 23 shots to rebound after surrendering five goals in Chicago's Game 2 victory. The Canucks captain has been excellent in the postseason, going 6-1 with a 1.92 goals against average and .935 save percentage.

Mason Raymond, Steve Bernier and Henrik Sedin each had a goal for the Canucks, while Alex Edler chipped in two assists.

Vancouver won despite playing without top defenseman Sami Salo, who has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury. Salo and forward Pavol Demitra, who sat out Game 3 with an undisclosed injury, will not play this evening. Demitra is expected to be out of action until his condition is reevaluated next week.

However, Canucks winger Taylor Pyatt was back on the ice in Game 3, returning from a month-long absence following the death of his fiance Carly Bragnalo in a car accident. Pyatt, who last played on April 2, registered four shots in 12 minutes, 38 seconds of ice time.

Brian Campbell scored the lone goal for Chicago, while Nikolai Khabibulin was charged with three goals on 21 shots for the Blackhawks.

The Canucks and Blackhawks met four times during the regular season and split the series with two wins apiece.

The clubs have met just twice in the postseason and each team has won a round. They last met in 1995, when Chicago swept Vancouver in four games during the conference semifinals.

Neither the Blackhawks nor the Canucks have made it to the conference finals since the mid-1990s, but that will change for one club with the outcome of this series. Chicago made it to the West finals last in 1995, where it lost to Detroit in five games. The Canucks were last participants in the conference finals in 1994, when they made it to the franchise's second Stanley Cup Finals before falling in seven games to the New York Rangers.