Goalies should expect more crowding in Game 2

Calgary Flames coach Mike Keenan refused to divulge any details about how he wanted his team to attack the Blackhawks tonight in Game 2 of the Western Conference quarterfinals.

Keenan was asked specifically if the game plan would include sending more players to the net to distract Hawks goalie Nikolai Khabibulin, particularly after how Thursday's game ended in overtime with Andrew Ladd in the crease tangled with Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff as Martin Havlat scored.

"Did you ask me whether we were going to run the goalie or not?" Keenan said. "Basically that's what you asked. That's what I love about the English language. That's the former teacher in me coming out."

Whether that was a yes or no from Keenan, one thing is sure: Khabibulin can expect to see a lot of 6-foot-3, 230-pound Todd Bertuzzi's backside.

"I would expect that regardless of what happened. I'm sure they're going to the net as hard as last game or harder," Khabibulin said. "I'll just try to deal with it."

The Flames still believe Ladd never tried to stop after he was shoved into the crease by defenseman Jordan Leopold.

"The rule is intended to give the goaltender the ability to make a save, and in this instance Kipper was not able to make the save because he was interfered with by their player," Keenan said.

"I tried to stop in front, and I think it was Leopold who pushed me right into Kiprusoff," said Ladd. "It's playoff time and guys are going hard to the net. I'm sure they're expecting that, and we're expecting that. Last night it worked out in my favor."

Keenan, who has a history in the playoffs of saying things between games to try to influence the officials, thought the Hawks were taking too many liberties with Kiprusoff in Game 1.

"The one that should have been deliberated as a possible intent to injure Kiprusoff was when (Dustin) Byfuglien went behind the net and stuck his stick in the back of the knee and flipped him without a call," Keenan said. "And the official was 10 feet away. There was four minutes left in the game when that happened."

Colin Campbell, the NHL's chief of discipline, issued a statement Friday morning regarding the Ladd play, backing the judgment of referees Eric Furlatt and Wes McCauley.

"On Havlat's winning goal, things in hockey or in life never happen in slow motion or in replay, they happen live," Campbell wrote. "When the foot-in-the-crease rule was taken out of the game, it was one of the worse rules in hockey. It was taken out with a couple factors in mind.

"One was that there were two referee now and one is always around the net. He gets a good look at what's happening and he makes a quick judgment. He's there to protect the goalie in his blue paint, but also to let hockey happen, and he's got to understand if the guy was pushed by another player or went in there on his own.

"In this case he made a judgment call and if he had made it the other way you would have lots of arguments from the Chicago side. It's one of those plays where you're always going to get dissatisfaction one way or another."

The Hawks say their Game 2 plan is to go just as hard to the net as Ladd did.

"Kiprusoff is one of the best goalies in the league, and that's how we're going to have to beat him," Patrick Sharp said. "I took a one-timer from about 20 feet as hard as I could shoot and he made the save. So you've got to get guys in front of him, bump him legally, you know, crowd his area and just try to get in his face as much as we can.

"Havlat's goal in overtime wasn't the hardest shot, but obviously the traffic had something to do with it going in."

Tonight's faceoff

Blackhawks vs. Calgary Flames at the United Center, 8 p.m.

TV: Comcast SportsNet

Radio: WGN 720-AM

At a glance: With the Flames down 1-0 in the best-of-seven series, what adjustments does coach Mike Keenan make? One answer might be taking Jarome Iginla off the line with Game 1 no-show Olli Jokinen, and putting the all-star with Daymond Langkow and Mike Cammalleri. The Hawks would like to duplicate their Game 1 effort, minus the slow start.

Next: Calgary Flames in Game 3 of the Western Conference quarterfinals, 8:30 p.m. Monday.

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