Flyers hang tough loss on Huet, Hawks
As far as crushing losses go, this was worse than Minnesota.
The Blackhawks appeared poised to win a key game at the Wachovia Center on Saturday afternoon when they collapsed defensively and lost 3-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Hawks let the Flyers score twice in the final 2:04 of regulation, Chris Pronger's game-winner coming with just 2.1 seconds to play.
At least the Hawks got 1 point out of their 6-5 loss at Minnesota on Jan. 9, when they coughed up a 5-1 lead.
The Hawks were carrying most of the play late in the third period and had taken a 2-1 lead on Marian Hossa's goal with 7:09 to play when the roof caved in.
It was bad enough when Kimmo Timonen found Scott Hartnell with slap pass that traveled three quarters of the ice, with Hartnell beating Brent Sopel to the net and scoring on Cristobal Huet with 2:04 to play.
Hartnell beat Huet to his stick side - the short side - spoiling what had been a solid game by the Hawks' goalie.
Pronger's winner was stunning in how quickly it developed.
"It's something you have nightmares about," Huet said of how the game ended.
The Hawks put 41 shots on Flyers goalie Michael Leighton, who was excellent against the team that drafted him.
"The goaltending was great on both ends," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville told reporters. "That's why it was a tough ending. It's a frustrating loss, but we're excited about (today's) game (against Washington) and we'll move ahead."
Pronger's winning goal came after sloppy defensive coverage by the Hawks.
Forwards Jonathan Toews, Troy Brouwer and Patrick Kane got caught up the ice, giving the Flyers a 4-on-2. With time running out, Pronger figured he had nothing to lose at that point and skated hard to the net from his spot on defense.
Hawks defenseman Brent Seabrook never saw Pronger bursting to the net on the left side to take a pass from along the right boards by Claude Giroux to tap it past a sprawling Huet.
"We didn't want this to get to overtime or a shootout," Pronger said. "There wasn't much time left, so I just knew I needed to get up there somewhere, maybe look for a rebound or a great pass like I got."
It was a scoreless goalies game heading to the third period when Simon Gagner and Kris Versteeg traded early goals. Versteeg's came on a power play and gave him 3 in the last four games.
Hossa's 20th goal in just his 43rd game put the Hawks ahead at 12:51, a snap shot through Leighton from the top of the right circle off a feed from Brouwer.
Leighton finished with 39 saves to frustrate his former team.
"I know a few guys still and coaches so I definitely wanted to play well," Leighton said. "We showed we can play with one of the best teams in the league."
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Tim Sassone's game tracker</b></p>
<p class="factboxtext12col"><b>Flyers 3, Blackhawks 2<</b>/p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Three stars</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">1. Michael Leighton, Flyers: Big day for the former Hawks goalie with 39 saves and an assist.</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">2. Chris Pronger, Flyers: Logged 25 minutes on defense and got the winning goal with 2.1 seconds to play.</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">3. Scott Hartnell, Flyers: Scored the tying goal with 2:04 remaining.</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">By the numbers</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">The Hawks had 41 shots on goal and 26 more blocked by the Flyers.</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Crunching the captain</p>
<p class="factboxtext12col">Jonathan Toews was minus-2 and now is minus-5 in the last three games. A post-Olympics letdown?</p>