Flames penalty ignites Hawks explosion

The thug hockey the Calgary Flames have been employing for much of the series backfired on them in the first period Saturday.

A cross-checking penalty on Flames defenseman Cory Sarich against Dave Bolland after a whistle at 7:50 of the first period opened the floodgates for the Hawks, who retaliated the best way possible by scoring a power-play goal.

Brent Seabrook got the goal on a rocket from between the circles on a feed from Martin Havlat.

Seabrook's goal was the first of 3 the Hawks scored in a span of 1:49.

Patrick Sharp made it 2-0 at 10:49 with Kris Versteeg tallying 19 seconds later.

The NHL warned both teams about activity after whistles following Game 3 in Calgary. The Flames were better behaved in Game 4, but Sarich put his team in a hole with the penalty he took Saturday.

Chipping in: It's not always the so-called big guns that win games in the playoffs.

David Moss and Eric Nystrom have been scoring key goals for the Flames, while in Game 5 the Hawks got goals from Andrew Ladd and Kris Versteeg.

"In Game 3 for them it was more their role guys," Patrick Kane said. "But our better players have been coming up big, too."

The Flames' Nystrom is the son of former Islanders clutch winger Bob Nystrom, who scored some of the biggest goals in New York's run to four Stanley Cups in the 1980s.

Feeling better: Patrick Kane still isn't 100 percent after a bout with the flu that kept him out of Game 3 in Calgary.

"Once you out there playing it's different," Kane said. "Things like practice, you don't feel as well, but once it's game time, it's playoffs and you get energized."

Nik vs. Kip: After 2 losses in Calgary, Nikolai Khabibulin responded like Hawks coach Joel Quenneville thought he would in Game 5, outplaying the Flames' Miikka Kiprusoff.

In fact, Kiprusoff never made it out of the second period, pulled by coach Mike Keenan at 6:14 after Andrew Ladd's goal made it 4-1. Kiprusoff, who allowed 4 goals in 18 shots, was replaced by seldom used Curtis McElhinney.

Tip-ins: Craig Conroy and Rene Bourque were in the Calgary lineup after coming into the game listed as questionable with injuries. ... The Hawks didn't take their first penalty until 8:02 of the second period when Patrick Kane went off for high-sticking.