Havlat's quick goal gives Chicago OT win

It was loud, it was intense and it was tight.

Playoff hockey, NHL style, returned to Chicago on Thursday night, and the Blackhawks didn't disappoint.

Martin Havlat scored 2 goals, including the winner 12 seconds into overtime, to give the Hawks a heart-pounding, come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames in Game 1 of their Western Conference quarterfinal series.

It was also Havlat who sent the game into OT when he scored the tying goal on his own rebound with 5:33 left in regulation.

"He's been doing it all year," said Hawks defenseman Cam Barker, who scored the first goal and set up Havlat's tying score.

The ice wasn't even frozen from the between-period-Zamboni flood when Havlat scored to win it. He took a pass from Dave Bolland between the circles and snapped a shot past goalie Miikka Kiprusoff with Andrew Ladd causing havoc in front.

"I was shooting to score a goal," Havlat said. "I knew there was a screen in front. We just battled hard to the end."

The Flames felt Ladd should have been penalized for goaltender interference.

"I believe it was Ladd who did not try to stop his movement to the net, and that's goaltender interference," Calgary coach Mike Keenan said. "However, the officials either didn't see it or didn't make the call."

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville saw it differently.

"He got hit into the goalie," Quenneville said.

Maybe the Hawks needed to get a period of playoff hockey under their belt because they were a lot better in the second and third periods than the first.

"I would say it was nervous energy," Quenneville said. "I thought we picked up our pace as we progressed and got better."

The Flames were aggressive and outshot the Hawks 10-5 in the opening period and took a 1-0 lead on a goal by David Moss off a scramble at 8:38. Hawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin had trouble locating the puck in the crease and Moss beat defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson to it.

"We had a good strong start and they gained some momentum in the third period," Keenan said. "They rode the enthusiasm of the crowd and capitalized and came back twice after we had the lead.

"We established a pretty good road game to start with but we couldn't sustain it in the third period."

The Hawks reached the midpoint of the second period buzzing and got the tying goal from Barker at 13:17.

Barker had a shot from the left point blocked, but he chased the puck to the far left circle and put a wrist shot through traffic and past Kiprusoff.

It was physical, as promised, with the Hawks matching the Flames bodycheck for bodycheck. In fact, the Hawks outhit the Flames 38-24.

"I think a lot of teams might think that maybe that's one way to get to us," Quenneville said. "Everybody can handicap it a different way, but I don't think it discourages us from going into any areas around the rink. And I think that our presence in the puck areas, we can hold our own."

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Photo Galleries</h2> <ul class="gallery"> <li><a href="/story/?id=287199">Images from Blackhawks playoff Game 1 </a></li> </ul> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=287200"><b>BARRY ROZNER:</b> Havlat, Khabibulin are both money<span class="date"> [4/16/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=287164">Hawks enjoying their very own Age of Enlightenment<span class="date"> [4/16/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=287162">Pahlsson's advice: Just play and do your thing<span class="date"> [4/16/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=287178">Cheers all around<span class="date"> [4/16/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=287192">Barker not a forgotten man among his mates<span class="date"> [4/16/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>