Game 6 victory no sure thing for Blackhawks
A Blackhawks victory over the St. Louis Blues at the United Center on Saturday is a sure thing.
Right?
Fait accompli.
Right?
The Hawks will ride the momentum from Patrick Kane's amazing heroics in their 4-3 double-overtime Game 5 victory, watch it build into a tidal wave of emotion from the 22,000-plus in the crowd and completely overwhelm St. Louis in Game 6 to force a winner-take-all Game 7.
It's a no brainer.
Right?
Not so fast, thought, according to Kane.
"Sometimes you look at playing at home and you feel you have the advantage," he said. "You feel like - I don't want to say it's a guaranteed win - but you're in a good position to win a game. I don't think that's the thought process we can have.
"We have to almost play like we're on the road. Play a simpler game."
The Hawks still trail 3-2 in this series, but extended it because of Kane's goal minutes into the second OT. After taking a pass from Richard Panik, Kane went around a flailing Troy Brouwer, split a pair of Blues and fired a hard shot at Brian Elliott from 15 feet away.
Because four of the six St. Louis skaters had just been de-pantsed by perhaps the league's best player, no one was around to stop Kane from swooping around the net and poking in the rebound.
Just like that, the game was over.
Bedlam ensued from the Hawks bench. Utter disbelief and astonishment hit every Blues player and fan in that stadium, one that was ringing with earsplitting roars throughout much of the first overtime.
"He sees the ice in a different way than a lot of players (do)," Hawks defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson said of Kane. "He pretty much never has to look on his stick, or on the puck, because he always knows where it is. … Just look at the moves he did before he scored the goal last night.
"It's been fun to watch him grow as a player and be a part of the same team as him. It's always a big confidence boost for us going into big games (knowing) you have a player like that on our side."
The Hawks looked overwhelmed at times Thursday, especially in the first period and almost all of the first overtime. Yet, they also looked reborn at other times, especially Marian Hossa. The 37-year-old winger, skating on the third line with Andrew Ladd and Marcus Kruger, scored a short-handed goal in the second period, took 7 shots on net and recorded 3 hits and 3 take-aways.
"He played great," Duncan Keith said of Hossa. "Obviously he scored a huge goal to start us off there. He's had some chances, and he's at his best when he's skating hard. He's tough to play against when he's skating hard both ways."
Artem Anisimov also stepped up and emerged from a three-month hibernation. Not only did the center score a second-period goal, but he also may have saved the season with a diving poke check in overtime that cleared the puck out of harm's way just as Paul Stastny appeared ready to fire a one-timer at Corey Crawford in overtime.
So, those are the good signs.
Still, there are enough glaring holes to make Hawks fans shudder.
There's just no way to hide how thin the Hawks are on defense, with Trevor van Riemsdyk, Erik Gustafsson, Michal Rozisval and David Runblad being taken to school by the Blues each and every period. There have also been ugly turnovers in every game, including Thursday's, when Keith had 4.
And the minutes are really starting to pile up for the Hawks. Keith played 42, Brent Seabrook 39:48, Hjalmarsson 32:58, Kane 31:16 and Jonathan Toews 28:43.
"I feel like we're putting a lot of pressure on their top guys to play a lot of minutes," said winger Scottie Upshall. "And in a series like this where it's been physical and games have gone to overtime, it wears on them.
"We as a group feel great. We feel fresh. We feel like Game 6 is a fresh slate and we get to go in and put (in) 60 minutes to close out a series."
If they don't, this series will head back to St. Louis with the Hawks possessing all the momentum. And with the Blues one loss from a fourth straight first-round exit.
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