Good omen: Hawks win despite poor play
One thing has been certain about these 2010 Chicago Blackhawks, even on the nights when so much is uncertain.
Regardless of how they good they are, or in the case of Saturday night, how bad they are, and with apologies to Al Davis, they just win, baby.
"That's the great thing about our team,'' said goaltender Antti Niemi. "This is a very tough team mentally and even when we don't play good, like tonight, we win the game.''
The Hawks did win Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals 6-5 at the UC, but to a man they were horrified with how they played.
And that can only be looked at as a positive going forward in this series.
"We found a way to win,'' said Duncan Keith. "We didn't play good, but I'd rather be on our side right now than their side.
"Giving up 5 goals is bad, but giving up 6 is worse.''
Yeah, they could have played with beach balls Saturday night instead of pucks for all the good it would have done the starting goalies accustomed to playing behind strong defensive teams that pride themselves on protecting their net.
Instead, it was Turn Back the Clock Night, with both teams channeling the optional defense of the mid-'80s, enough to make their coaches sick - enough to keep the assistants up all night with film, breaking down the breakdowns.
"Well, we didn't protect the puck. We didn't protect the front of the net. We didn't do a lot right in our end," said John Madden, who was as disgusted as he sounded. "We turned the puck over a lot. It was ugly."
On the other hand, with the score 5-5 entering the third, both teams finally tightened it up and the Hawks got the only goal of the final period when Tomas Kopecky patiently waited out relief goaltender Brian Boucher, and shoveled one past him for the winner.
"They did some things we hadn't seen before, but as we picked up on those things we adjusted," Madden said. "And we did some things I think they hadn't seen before and they adjusted."
The Hawks will take a track meet any time anywhere, so if the Flyers want to try this again Monday, they'll be down 2-0 going back to Philadelphia.
"You don't win in this league without playing defense," said Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger, whose scowl was piercing as he walked with iced knees to meet the media. "We allowed too many good chances from the slot and the crease.
"We'll show up in Game 2 with a better effort."
You have to think both teams will after hearing from their coaches following a shockingly bad and irresponsible defensive game, matched only by the incredibly bad ice.
"It's always bad here," Madden said. "But it's bad for both teams. It's no excuse. We have to be better."
Despite the Hawks' concerns, they have to be heartened by the fact that they scored 6 goals and won the game while Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Dustin Byfuglien combined for zero points and a minus-9.
"We have a lot of depth on this team and we're proud guys," said Troy Brouwer, who scored twice on one-timers off sweet feeds from Marian Hossa, and chased Flyers starter Mike Leighton with his second goal. "Sometimes the contribution isn't on the scoreboard, but we feel like our line's been playing well and we helped steal one tonight."
If the Flyers were going to steal one in Chicago it probably had to be in Game 1 when the Toews line was terrible and Philly got 4 points from Danny Briere, 3 from Scott Hartnell and 2 from Arron Asham, all of whom were superb.
They're not likely to keep up that pace against a Hawks defense that figures to tighten it up, while the Toews line figures to be a lot better.
In other words, if it were any other team, you'd think Philly was in deep trouble, but this Flyers team is not one you want to count out any time they've got a breath remaining.
"They could have won the game," Madden said. "That's a great team and this will be a great series. I think you can see that from one game.
"It was a weird game all the way to the end, and either team could have won. We just somehow found a way to win.''
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brozner@dailyherald.com