'Tis a gift to be simple...

'Tis a gift to be free...

"Over the course of the game," Chicago captain Jonathan Toews sighed after Vancouver pulled away for a 4-1 win Sunday night and to within 3-2 in the series, "they deserved to win that one."

These are two teams that genuinely don't like each other, though most of the blows they've exchanged so far have been in the newspaper instead of on the ice. The Hawks staked themselves to an early lead in the insult derby, and were able to take advantage of a raft of dumb penalties by a frustrated Canucks team to steal both games in Vancouver. But they've now surrendered two of the three games at home.

Chicago coach Joel Quenneville had no explanation for both teams' failures to consistently hold serve, but said of his own club, "I think we're looking for pretty plays instead of simplicity."