Flames beat Blackhawks to even series

CALGARY, Alberta - The Blackhawks worked all season to get home-ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, and now it looks as if they're going to need it.

It's a best-of-three series after the Calgary Flames beat the Hawks 6-4 Wednesday night at the Saddledome to even the Western Conference quarterfinal series at two games apiece.

"You take your medicine and move on," Hawks defenseman Brian Campbell said. "No one said it was going to be a four-game sweep. They're a good team."

After some shoddy defense put the Hawks down 4-1, a stirring, second-period rally made it 4-4 going to the third period, but that's where the comeback ended.

The Flames were the aggressors in the final 20 minutes with push after push up the ice, and they finally got what proved to be the winning goal from Eric Nystrom on a rebound with 6:56 left that the Hawks complained came after a hand pass.

Jarome Iginla added an empty-net goal in the final minute.

"It was a good comeback, for sure," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "But not finishing it off was a tough ending. We get to go home and get some momentum back in our game and be excited about getting back to the United Center."

Game 5 of the series is Saturday night at the UC.

It appeared the Hawks were toast midway through the second period after Olli Jokinen scored his second goal of the night to give the Flames a 3-goal lead.

But the Hawks haven't quit all season, and they weren't about to this time. They stormed back with 3 straight goals to make it 4-4.

Two of the goals came on power plays, the first by Kris Versteeg at 12:13.

Cam Barker made it a 1-goal game at 16:44, briefly atoning for the bad mistake he made 50 seconds into the period when his turnover resulted in Jokinen's first goal.

The Hawks got another power play late in the second period when Jokinen was called for slashing and Sammy Pahlsson scored from in the slot through a Dustin Byfuglien screen.

It was 1-1 going to the second period, but Barker fanned on a cross-ice pass attempt to partner Matt Walker in the first minute. Jokinen picked it off alone in front and beat goalie Nikolai Khabibulin.

"It just bounced up at the last second and I couldn't really recover," Barker said. "It was just a bad turnover. It turned the momentum for them."

The Flames rode that momentum and followed with goals Adrian Aucoin and Jokinen again to go ahead 4-1.

For the second game in a row, the Hawks took an early 1-0 lead, but for the second straight game they couldn't build on it.

In fact, just 58 seconds after Patrick Kane scored at 4:40 of the first period in his return to the lineup, Jonathan Toews took a poor penalty for tripping. The Flames immediately made the Hawks pay when Iginla took a pass from Mike Cammalleri and beat Khabibulin with a rocket.

Kane was a welcome addition to the Hawks' lineup after he missed Game 3 with the flu. The Flames played without Rene Bourque, who said he tweaked his ankle Monday in a collision with Brent Seabrook.

Tim Sassone's game tracker

Three stars

1. Olli Jokinen

Flames center had 2 goals and was a physical presence.

2. Eric Nystrom

Flames winger scored the game winner with 6:56 to play and dished out 2 assists.

3. Sammy Pahlsson

Scored a goal and had an assist for Hawks.

Key stat

Martin Havlat and Dave Bolland both were minus-4 for the Hawks. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook each were minus-3.

Big hit

David Moss creamed Niklas Hjalmarsson behind the net in the second period, one of many by the Flames.

The quote

"I hope I'm not hurting anyone's feelings over there because my mom wouldn't be too happy." - Hawks winger Adam Burish

Looking ahead

Game 5 is Saturday at the United Center in a best-of-seven series that could see the home team win every game.

<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=288607">Images from Blackhawks-Flames Game 4</a></li> </ul> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=288563">Flames' Iginla knows playoffs are different <span class="date"> [4/23/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=288564">Burnish relishing his role as villain<span class="date"> [4/23/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=288561">How dare Hawks pick on Saint Jarome<span class="date"> [4/23/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=288418">Versteeg's season recognized as Calder finalist<span class="date"> [4/22/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>