Give Hawks credit for playing through poking, prodding

The Calgary Flames play hockey the way an elephant performs "Swan Lake" on ice skates.

In other words, very clumsily but just as dangerously.

That's what the Blackhawks had to overcome again Saturday night to record a 3-2 victory in Game 2 of their Western Conference quarterfinal playoff series.

The Flames - clearly slower and less skilled judging by being winless against the Hawks this season - decided to pulverize was to equalize.

Calgary was going to test the Hawks' manhood by greeting speed with a poke and skill with a push.

It's a strategy as old as nosebleeds, and frequently effective in sports.

The Raiders of Alzado and Tatum used it in the NFL. The Sixers of McFilthy and McNasty used it in the NBA.

A little push here after the whistle. A little poke behind the play. A little stare becoming a glare.

The baseball equivalent is a rag-arm pitcher throwing at hitters. In basketball it's a washed-up power forward resorting to hard fouls.

If the Hawks lost their poise, fought back mindlessly and took dumb penalties, well, all the better for Calgary.

"There's no reason to get caught up in that," Hawks captain Jonathan Toews said.

Anyway, what did the Flames have to lose? This is a young Hawks team. Most of them haven't played in the playoffs with the heat turned up and propriety turned down.

The Flames wanted to see whether the Toewses and Patrick Kanes and Duncan Keiths and all the rest could stand their icy ground while threatened with a mugging.

So Mad Mike Keenan, the former Hawks coach/current Flames coach, sent his team out to irritate and agitate, distract and disrupt.

It worked for a while, too. The Flames led 2-0 after the first period and were on their way to stealing a game in the United Center.

Then something funny happened on the way to the second period. The Hawks strapped it up, hunkered down and came out all grown up.

Toews scored on a power play 46 seconds into the second period. Kane made a brilliant pass to set up a goal by Patrick Sharp with 6:02 left in the period. And Toews gave the Hawks their first lead with 23.5 seconds left in the period.

The Hawks' youngest players took the Flames' licking and kept on clicking.

After that the Flames' pushes escalated into shoves - a little harder, with a little more purpose, inspired by a little more desperation.

Prevailing was a major triumph for the Hawks. As good as they might be during the regular season, NHL players must prove they can play in the playoffs when the elbows are flying.

"We did a very good job of staying disciplined," Hawks winger Dustin Byfuglien said.

Even prodigies like Toews and Kane, so promising during their two regular seasons, must demonstrate that they can produce during the postseason.

This victory - along with Game 1's - is a good start. They made big plays at big junctures of big games.

The test isn't over yet, however.

The series' next two games are in Calgary, where some very angry Canadians will be waiting on and off the ice.

mimrem@dailyherald.com