BY MARK SPECTOR
sportsnet.ca

CHICAGO -- The fact that these teams engaged in a heated series a year ago had everyone believing they would pick up right where they left off in Game 1 Saturday.

As it turns out, it was just another chance for a sports writer to look dumb. We've seen more animosity at a spelling bee than what these two clubs showed in Game 1.

Where did it all go?

"Your guess is as good as mine," said Canucks winger Mason Raymond, who had his best game of the post-season in Game 1. "Not to say it's not going to come out. We've had some good rivalries with these guys and it could come out at any time. For us, we're looking to do most of our damage between the whistles."

But seriously, why would the Canucks have changed the direction of Game 1? The last thing they wanted to do was wake up a Chicago team that looked mildly interested in competing Saturday night.

"There's been a lot of talk about how tough this series is going to be, and it's gonna be physical," said Daniel Sedin. "But we learned from last year, we can't really do anything stupid out there. We have to play within the rules and play whistle to whistle and I think they feel the same way.

"It's too important of a game to take those dumb penalties."

------------

The obvious edge heading into this series was in goal, where the rookie Antti Niemi matched up against the far more experienced Roberto Luongo.

Luongo, everyone agreed, set the table for Vancouver's runaway win in Game 1, when he stopped Patrick Kane on a breakaway in the first period. He would stop 36 shots on the night, beaten only on a 5-on-3 rebound goal.

"He gives us a chance to win, that's all we can ask for," Daniel said. "Especially on the road, he has to come up big for us, that's the bottom line. We know they're going to get scoring chances and it's a skilled team. He was good (Saturday) night and hopefully he'll bring the same effort (Monday) because it means we're going to have a chance to win. We can relax out there and then it usually means you can create more offensively."

The best quote came post-game from Kevin Bieksa, who perfectly summed up what Luongo means to the Canucks.

"We're a good team," Bieksa said. "When our goaltender plays like that, we're a very good team."

------------

Alain Vigneault is grabbing a lesson or two from his old club, the Montreal Canadiens. He opened his Sunday press briefing with an unprompted ode to the Habs, as an example of how his team is going to have to play to get past Chicago.

"Well, the first playoff series, you had a great example of team commitment with Montreal in that seventh game against Washington," Vigneault said. "(Washington) totally dominated, but Montreal was able to get a great goaltending performance and their players blocked 41 shots. If you want to have success in the playoffs, you've got to pay a price, and that's part of the price you have to pay."

Meanwhile, Joel Quenneville left no doubt that he's going back to Niemi, opening his presser with the statement: ``Antti's playing, no doubt."

"He's played very well for us down the stretch," Quenneville reasoned. "We like the way he played consecutive games … played a very good series against Nashville and he was fine (Saturday) night. I think it was easy to make a change going into the third period to get him rested and get him excited."

The fact is, Quenneville has no choice. He moved on from backup Cristobal Huet long ago. The Hawks will sink or swim with their rookie Finn, who has a habit of posting a shutout in games after he lets a few past him.

The 26-year-old had seven shutouts in 35 starts this season. By comparison, Luongo had four shutouts in 67 starts.