If the Chicago Blackhawks are going to keep from going down 2-0 in games, they are going to have to do it while undermanned up front.

Tomas Kopecky is out, replaced by Fernando Pisani. Dave Bolland is also out while Ryan Johnson will play, despite injuring his knee in a Game 1 collision. Hawks head coach Joel Quenneville challenged his team to be better "across the board."

If the Hawks are going to be more physical, they are going to need more from Troy Brouwer, Bryan Bickell and Jake Dowell.

"We need to finish our checks, but we don't want to run around and get out of position just to make a hit, but if the hit is there we will definitely finish it," Bickell said. "Getting in front of [Roberto] Luongo is the biggest thing."

Brouwer didn't register any hits in Game 1, his first game back from a shoulder injury.

The problem for the Hawks is that by being physical they risk penalty and the Canucks power play has been lethal all year, leading the league.

Pisani will be playing his first playoff game since his magical 2006 run with the Edmonton Oilers. He surprised everyone that postseason with 14 goals.

"Everybody tries to raise their game, you have to," Pisani said. "That's what I'm going to try to do as well."

Last year, after losing Game 1, the Hawks put both Adam Burish and Ben Eager into the lineup.

Always a first time

The Canucks have never won a Game 2 against Chicago, even though in each of the past two years, Vancouver had a 2-0 lead in the second game. Two years ago, Chicago scored five unanswered goals to come back. Last year, Chicago tallied four straight. The difference, however, is this season both teams think they can be better than they were in Game 1.

"We expect a little bit better game out of them, but at the same time we didn't play our best in Game 1," Canucks blue-liner Kevin Bieksa said. "We had a good start, but after that we were sloppy at times. Defensively, we can be better. It's not rocket science. You come out, you play physical and you push the pace."

The Canucks believe they are going to face the biggest push in the first 10 minutes, and they also believe Roberto Luongo will be targeted.

"They're the Stanley Cup champions. They're a great team, great players and they've been through this before," said Vigneault. "We expect a strong push on their part and we're going to have to be ready with our own response. Our response all year long has been playing hard and the right way and that's what we're going to do tonight."

By the numbers

Daniel Sedin has just one goal in his past six games against the Hawks. The Sedins weren't able to produce any points in Game 1 and were the Hawks No. 1 concern heading into the playoffs. Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault threw a bit of a curveball by limiting the Sedins' minutes. Both were below their time-on-ice average. Vigneault said he wants them play short shifts.

"Like 30, or 35 seconds," Vingeault said. "Go short, and go hard."

The Canucks are trying to roll four lines consistently rather than overplaying their top players.

"We didn't play our best game," Burrows said of Vancouver's top line. "We think we can play much better. It's just a matter of getting off to a good start.

"We had a few shots, a few scrambles early on and a couple scoring chances. We had a couple of 2-on-1's. It's just a matter of executing through the neutral zone."

Chicago lines

Sharp-Toews-Hossa
Smith-Frolik-Kane
Bickell-Dowell- Brouwer
Stalberg-Johnson-Pisani

Keith - Seabrook
Hjalmarsson - Campbell
Campoli - Leddy

goal: crawford

Vancouver Lines

Sedin-Sedin-Burrows
Higgins-Kesler-Samuelsson
Raymond-Hodgson-Hansen
Glass-Lapierre-Oreskovich

Edler-Erhoff
Hamhuis-Bieksa
Salo-Ballard

Goal: Luongo