Hawks take care of business vs. Calgary

CALGARY, Alberta - The Blackhawks didn't want to hear about the Calgary Flames' problems.

While the Flames were coming off a humiliating 9-1 loss at San Jose on Monday, the Hawks weren't happy with their last week - 8 goals allowed in wins over Columbus and Detroit and a 4-1 loss to Ottawa.

The response by the Hawks was exactly what coach Joel Quenneville wanted as they overcame a top-end performance by Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff to beat the Flames 3-1 at the Saddledome.

"They wanted to prove something after that big loss against San Jose, but we were kind of in the same situation where we didn't play well against Ottawa," Hawks winger Patrick Kane said. "I thought we had a good performance tonight."

Kiprusoff didn't make it easy on the Hawks. In fact, Ben Eager's goal that snapped a 1-1 tie at 5:52 of the third period went in off the winger's skate.

"It was nice to see that one go in," Eager said. "I was just going to the net and I felt the shot (by Tomas Kopecky) hit my skate. I'll take it."

Duncan Keith, who was dominating on defense for the Hawks with Brent Seabrook, added an empty-net goal in the last minute.

Hawks goalie Antti Niemi needed to make only 19 saves, but he was sharp on every one to run his record to 13-3-1.

It sure sounded after the game as if Quenneville planned to ride Niemi's hot hand Saturday at Vancouver.

"We'll talk about that, but we liked what we saw today," Quenneville said. "He's playing well so it's tough to take that away."

Flames coach Brent Sutter, who watched his team lose its sixth straight, said before the game he has been impressed with Niemi all season.

"He's a real battler," Sutter said. "He battles every night. He's a good size goalie, but there's a high level of compete there. He certainly has played well for them."

The Hawks had a good start but couldn't get anything past Kiprusoff in a scoreless first period.

Kiprusoff made 11 saves, including a stop on Kane's penalty shot 7:39 into the game. He was even better in the second period with saves against John Madden and Marian Hossa, robbing them of goals.

"I thought it was good on our part to stick with it and not get frustrated," Keith said.

Kane made up for his failed penalty shot by opening the scoring on a power play at 9:14 of the second period. Kane beat Kiprusoff from inside the right circle after Toews stole the puck from defenseman Cory Sarich.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=352951">GM confident Hawks can with Stanley Cup with Huet and Niemi in net<span class="date"> [1/21/10]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=352956">Iginla lauds Keith, Seabrook<span class="date"> [1/21/10]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>