In this theater town, the Hawks are a difficult act to follow
The Blackhawks continue to be the best theater in town.
Just when you thought they couldn't top themselves following Saturday's shootout win over Colorado that lasted a club-record nine rounds, the Hawks went one better Monday night.
Their 6-5 overtime win over Calgary, in which they rallied from a 5-0 deficit, was one of those special moments we have come to expect from the Hawks over the last two seasons.
It was the biggest comeback win in the 83-year history of the franchise and tied the NHL record.
"It was a pretty amazing game," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said. "From the worst to as good as you can get."
The Hawks were beyond bad in the first 12 minutes. Starting goalie Cristobal Huet was pulled at 7:07 after allowing 3 goals on 5 shots in a span of 53 seconds.
Backup Antti Niemi came on and was beaten on 2 of the first 3 shots he faced - both bad goals.
After John Madden made it 5-1 by scoring with 2:18 to play in the period, the Hawks used the first intermission to regroup. Quenneville and several players talked about playing with pride the rest of the way and trying to salvage something from the game.
"It was pretty quiet for a bit," said defenseman Brent Seabrook, whose goal 34 seconds into OT capped the wild night and sent the United Center crowd into a frenzy.
"Everybody was sort of sitting around, maybe in shock, I don't know what it was," Seabrook said. "Then we had a few guys stand up and say a few things and try to get the belief back in the room that we could score and that we could win. We just knew we could do it, that we had the guys in the room that could come back and score some goals. We had lots of time to come back.
"I've scored a few overtime goals, but to be down 5-0 and coming back and scoring that winner in overtime was pretty special. It's something I'll remember forever. It was pretty cool to be a part of that game."
Patrick Kane ignited the 3-goal second period rally that brought the Hawks within 5-4. Kane scored at 7:37, then set up goals by Dustin Byfuglien and Dave Bolland.
The relentless Hawks had the reeling Flames on the run and the comeback continued in the third period when Patrick Sharp tied it at 4:32 on a tip-in.
The Hawks outshot the Flames 23-10 in the final two periods and overtime.
"It was just winning battles," Madden said. "It's all about the personal battles you have out there. That hit home with some guys, and we started playing better hockey.
"The system we play allows us to create a lot of opportunities. Even when we were down 5-0, we had some good opportunities to score. We just have to clean up our own zone a little bit better. To be honest, we can't come back from 5-0 every time. It's fun that we did, but we have to look at that and start playing better in our own zone."
Quenneville said he could barely watch how the game started.
"I don't think anybody was satisfied," Quenneville said. "That wasn't anywhere near good enough, and I liked the response. Everybody did a little bit more and did some good things with the puck, which is something we didn't do at the start."
<p class="factboxheadblack">Blackhawks game day</p> <p class="News">Blackhawks vs. Edmonton Oilers at the United Center, 7:30 p.m.</p> <p class="News"><b>TV:</b> Comcast SportsNet</p> <p class="News"><b>Radio:</b> WGN 720-AM</p> <p class="News"><b>What to watch:</b> The Hawks are expecting to face former teammate Nikolai Khabibulin for the first time since he left as a free agent. Khabibulin is 2-1-1 with a 3.13 goals-against average and .890 save percentage. The Oilers, 3-0-1 in their last four games under new coach Pat Quinn, will be without defenseman Sheldon Souray (concussion).</p> <p class="News"><b>Last season:</b> The Hawks went 3-0-1 against Edmonton, outscoring the Oilers 19-8. </p> <p class="News"><b>Next:</b> Nashville Predators at the Sommet Center, 7 p.m. Thursday.</p> <div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=328732"> Huet or Niemi, that's the question <span class="date"> [10/14/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>