Blackhawks Show No Mercy Against Flames

Written by: EricC on 20th November 2009

The last time the Chicago Blackhawks and the Calgary Flames matched up this season, the Flames were winning 5-1 by the end of the first period. Luckily, the Blackhawks had an amazing rally and ended up defeating the Flames 6-5, in Over Time. Thursday night’s game against the Flames turned out a little differently, with the Blackhawks ahead by a goal at the end of the first period, and then leading 6-1 by the end of the second period. Kris Versteeg put in two goals, making him the first Blackhawk to have multiple goals in a game, this season.

In the past, the Blackhawks have had trouble getting goals during Power Plays, but this was not an issue during this game; four of the Hawks seven goals came off Power Plays.

About half way through the first period, Troy Brouwer put in a Power Play goal, amidst a battle of sticks in front of the net. However, only 14 seconds into the second period, Calgary tied the game up off a Power Play goal of their own; little did anyone know, that would be the last goal the Flames would score all night.

Less than two minutes later, Versteeg took advantage of the Power Play to give the Hawks the lead again. Dustin Byfuglien got his seventh goal of the season after assisting Patrick Sharp in stealing the puck away from Calgary. A few minutes later, Andrew Ladd had a beautiful goal, unchallenged by the Flames, who were still trying to get back from the other end of the ice; credit is definitely owed to Duncan Keith who saw Ladd down the ice, by himself, and sent the puck to him.

In the final two minutes of the second period, the Birthday Boy, Mr. Patrick Kane, put in his fourth consecutive game goal during another Power Play. With less than a minute, Versteeg had his second goal of the game off a beautiful pass from Kane. The third period proved to be no better for the Flames, and with less than five minutes left in the game, Ben Eager had his first goal of the season.

Calgary actually outshot Chicago in this game, but obviously could not make much of that. Cristobal Huet, who got pulled from the net during the last game with the Flames, made 27 saves. Huet is now third place for wins amongst NHL goalies, and has a 90.7% save percentage.

The Blackhawks will continue their circus trip on Saturday, November 21 when they battle Nikolai Khabibulin and the Edmonton Oilers. The Oilers are now 9-10-3, falling on the lower end of the Northwest Division.