Hawks need to stop charity work during games

To say the Blackhawks gift-wrapped Philadelphia's Game 4 goals might be going a bit too far.

But would it be asking too much for the Flyers to send over a thank-you note before the teams take the ice for Game 5 tonight?

"I thought 'generous' would probably be a way of describing all 3 (first-period) goals," said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville. "You can say all 4 goals in the game against us (excluding the empty-net tally at the end) were uncharacteristic of the type of goals we gave up all year."

Between Niklas Hjalmarsson's pair of uncharacteristic turnovers near the net that led to the Flyers' first 2 goals - and Claude Giroux's absurd ability to skate undetected to Antti Niemi's doorstep when the Hawks had more players in the defensive zone - Quenneville had plenty of teachable moments during Saturday's video review at United Center.

"Obviously we looked at a lot of things today," said veteran defenseman Brent Sopel.

Hjalmarsson's things were self-explanatory as they happened in plain sight.

But what about Giroux's goal, which turned out to be a momentum-killer just 51 seconds after Patrick Sharp sliced the Flyers' first-period lead to 2-1?

Not only did nobody see Giroux circle behind the net and set up camp next to Niemi for the unchallenged goal, but no one picked up Kimmo Timonen near the blue line before he dished the puck to Giroux.

"I think it could have started in the offensive zone," Quenneville said.

The replay showed Ben Eager battling in the corner for possession, then throwing a puck at the net that the Flyers' Chris Pronger sent ahead to Scott Hartnell.

While the Hawks' Sopel and Patrick Kane defended Hartnell at the left-wing boards, Eager struggled to fight traffic created by the Flyers' three-man change.

Timonen, one of the fresh players on the ice, benefited from Eager's delayed return and Kane's choice to help against Hartnell.

"I think we have to do a better job handling things," Sopel said. "In the neutral zone, systematically we have to be a little bit better and a little bit smarter."

The fans in Philadelphia once saw Santa Claus on the sideline and booed. If the Hawks continue to hand over easy chances to the Flyers, might Chicago fans follow suit? Or will the booing start from the home bench?

"Probably the most disappointing thing is just giving them things in our own end and not making them work," said forward Andrew Ladd. "I think we had a good look at that this morning, re-evaluated how we needed to be in our own end and we'll be a lot better tomorrow."