Big effort not enough vs. Ducks
When it comes to the Blackhawks' performance Friday night at the United Center against the defending Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks, give them an "A" for effort.
But as improved as the Hawks are, the Ducks showed them there is still some building to do. The champs are big, physical and skilled up and down the lineup, and it was all on display in a 5-3 victory that wasn't secured until the final minute.
A big crowd of 17,734 saw why the Ducks are the best team in the NHL despite their 14-12-4 record.
The fans also saw why the gritty Hawks are no fluke despite what is now a three-game losing streak and defeats in five of the last seven games.
"I like their grit, I like their desire, our will -- we have it, no question," Hawks coach Denis Savard said. "It's just we have to bring it every night like we did tonight, and when we do we're going to win lots of games.
"I know where we're at. We're very close. We're a good team."
The Hawks don't have the size to match Anaheim, but they went toe to toe with the Ducks until Chris Kunitz's empty-net goal with 29 seconds to play sealed the deal.
"I think we matched them with the effort and with the hitting, too, and playing physical," said Hawks winger Martin Havlat, who played most of the night on a line with rookies Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
Moments before Kunitz scored, the Hawks had just drawn to within 4-3 on Robert Lang's goal at 18:10 with goalie Nikolai Khabibulin pulled for a sixth attacker. And they were buzzing for the equalizer.
"We battled to the end, but it wasn't enough," Havlat said. "Everybody was working hard, which was different than the (Vancouver) game. They capitalized on our mistakes."
The Hawks outshot the Ducks 42-22, and that included an 18-6 edge in the third period. Both teams scored a power-play goal.
"You can see why they had so much success in the postseason, but we raised our game, and sometimes you just come up a bit short," Hawks center Jonathan Toews said. "I thought we did a good job. They've got size, but we've got guys with a lot of heart."
Both David Koci and Adam Burish tried to energize their teammates with fights.
The Hawks took a 1-0 lead on Toews' power-play goal 67 seconds into the first period, then went ahead 2-1 less than a minute into the second period on Patrick Sharp's team-leading 13th goal.
But Kunitz tied it with his first goal at 7:15 of the second period on a shot that went in off Khabibulin. Mathieu Schneider's goal at 11:47 put the Ducks ahead to stay.
The Ducks scored a big fourth goal at 4:31 of the third period when Ryan Getzlaf got behind defensemen Jim Vandermeer and James Wisniewski to take a pass from Francois Beauchemin and beat Khabibulin in alone.
"(Getzlaf) came off the bench on a change and we changed at the same time," Savard said. "But we were behind and were trying to get pressure on them. That's hockey, I guess."