The Blackhawks had no time to lick their wounds after losing the previous night in NY. They rushed home and too kthe ice Sunday night for a tilt with the Calgary Flames. The not only had the chaos of a weekend back-to-back, but it was announced Sunday morning that the Blackhawks had traded Jeremy Morin to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Tim Erixon.
There were a few decent scoring chances in the first period but, overall, I felt like I was watching the Winnipeg game a few weeks back. Calgary out shot the Blackhawks 9-7, for the period. If you missed it, you didn't miss it.
The second period was slightly more eventful than the first. Each team had a goal, and the Blackhawks out shot the Flames 11-10. The Blackhawks also had a few very high quality scoring chances, only to be beaten by the Flames goaler.
The third period was all Blackhawks as they out shot the Flames 10-5 and scored the game winning goal late. Even when the Hawks aren't at the top of their game, they were able to squeak out a tough win. Two points are two points.
- About 5 minutes after the Flames goal, El Capitan drew a penalty deep in the Flames zone. Just nine seconds after the call, a quick Kane to Toews to Sharp bang-bang play resulted in a nice goal.
- With just under 7 minutes left in the game, Hjalmarsson stopped Johnny Hockey at the Hawks Blue line and fed El Capitan, who had snuck in behind the Flames defense. Toews led the rush with Brandon Saad, who had also gotten in behind the Flames defense. As soon as Saad cleared the Blue line, Toews hit him on the tape and he snapped a shot up and over Hiller's glove for a 2-1 Blackhawks lead.
- The Hawks were STELLAR at the faceoff dots at 61%
- Tim Erixon really didn't show much. He had just over 10 minutes in his debut. That's all they really need out of him.
- Five minutes into the second period, the Blackhawks got mesmerized by Johnny Gaudreau, and let former Red Wing Jiri Hudler slide into a kushy soft spot high in the slot area. Gaudreau fed Hulder, who snapped a half clapper past Raanta. Raanta didn't push over into position real strongly, but the shot was a lazer.
- Thank god, we didn't have to deal with the Brandon Bollig show.
- Not much more to complain about which is just fine by me.
Saad-Toews-Hossa
Kane-Richards-Versteeg
Sharp-Shaw-Bickell
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