Are the Blackhawks going to get swept?

If you've listend to DenverMoney and my NHL podcast that we do daily, you've probably gotten the idea that both of us think the Vancouver Canucks are the best team in hockey. It'd be hard to argue against that, considering they finished with the most wins, 54, and the most points, 117, in the league this season. Talent wise, they're the best.

The old adage in sports is "In order to be the best, you have to beat the best." Well, tonight the Vancouver Canucks have a chance to knock out the best team from the previous NHL season — the Chicago Blackhawks. I, hovewer, don't think the Blackhawks are going to get beat tonight. Call me crazy, but I think this is a situation where Chicago is in a MUST WIN situation and it actually will prevail as the winner tonight. Chicago has a great goaltender in Corey Crawford, and DM and I talked AT LENGTH about him playing too many games, but they need a SUPREME effort tonight in order to win.

Jesse Rogers, who covers the Blackhawks for ESPN, doesn't think Chicago is in a good position.

I know losing Brent Seabrook tonight is a BIG loss for the Blackhawks, but I like their chances tonight, especially at a plus-money situation.

Here's the deal. Chicago has outshot Vancouver all series, totaling 35 per contest. They also haven't really played with the lead in any of the three games, let alone the series. The only exception to that was in Game 3 when they had the lead for about 24 minutes. That has to change tonight in order for this team to stay alive. Here's a list of three things that MUST HAPPEN in order for Chicago to continue playing in the NHL Playoffs.

1. Score on the power play

• The Blackhawks scored their only two power play tallies of the series in Game 3. They're 2-for-12 with the extra man advantage and that's not going to win in the playoffs. Chicago has a great group of goal-scorers and they ALL play on the power play. Taking advantage when they are presented an opportunity will be very important tonight.

2. Stay out of the box

• Seems like this one goes hand-in-hand with the previous one, but this is very important as well. Vancouver has only scored two power play goals in the series, but they've done so on only six opportunities. Going 1-for-3 on average with a man advantage isn't bad. Chicago has struggled with this all season, however. They were the sixth worst team in the league at allowing power play goals, stopping just 79.2 percent. Yuck. Gotta get better at that or they'll be done tonight.

3. Their superstars have to show up

• Again, seems like a pretty easy thing to say. I get that. However, their big four have absolutely been DOMINATED by Vancouver in this series. Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp have combined for these number through three games: 1 goal, 4 assists, 32 shots on goal and a -8 plus/minus rating. All four of these guys are superstars but those combined stats sure as hell don't make them look like it. These guys have to carry the Hawks tonight.