Hawks two-step leads to sweet-sounding finish

Some country lyricist in Nashville likely will write a song about Saturday's Blackhawks-Predators game.

"Pants on the ground" is taken but "Puck in the pants" is more appropriate anyway.

To say nothing of "Throw Kane from the train" and "The ballad of outlaw Hoss Hossa."

First things first: The puck was lost in Hawks' goalie Antti Niemi's pants for about five minutes during the opening period.

That should have been the most interesting, quirky, exciting, funky, fascinating, zany occurrence of the afternoon.

Instead it was merely the prelude to as interesting, quirky, exciting, funky, fascinating, zany finish anyone would want to experience.

In other words, the puck proceeded to take countless wild and crazy bounces before the outcome was decided.

"A little too dramatic for me," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said of his team's 5-4 overtime victory over Nashville in the United Center.

The Hawks now lead the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal series 3-2. The teams return to Nashville for Monday night's Game 5 and it's convenient for the Hawks to think they'll finish off the Preds right there and then.

However, a couple complications loom: One, these pesky Predators are a tough out; two, the Hawks might be without one of their best players.

Marian Hossa applied a dangerous check to Nashville's Dan Hamhuis and was assessed a boarding penalty with 1:03 left in regulation.

Officials decided not to eject Hossa. Instead he served five minutes in the penalty box and emerged to score the winning goal.

Freakin' weird, right?

Now, though, the NHL will have to determine whether to suspend Hossa for at least one game and perhaps more.

In the NBA playoffs, Boston's Kevin Garnett was suspended for throwing an elbow. In the NHL - well, nothing ever is certain in this league.

The Hawks have to hope Hossa is pardoned and right now they have a lot of hope on their side after Game 5's improbable events.

Maybe every team that goes deep into the playoffs - and even wins the Stanley Cup - prevails in a game like this.

"Over the course of the playoffs there's usually a defining moment," Quenneville said.

If this game was the Hawks', a bunch of defining moments resided within the ultimate defining moment.

The biggest probably was Patrick Kane's goal to tie the score at 4-4 with Hossa in the penalty box and 13.6 seconds remaining in regulation.

"The sequence of events could have been a defining moment," Quenneville said. "You could make an argument for that."

The Hawks never should have been in such a precarious position. They yielded 3 straight Nashville goals to squander a 3-1 lead but then scored the game's final 2 goals in rat-a-tat fashion.

"What a relief," Hossa said after going from villain to victor in a matter of minutes. "We showed a lot of heart there."

Now Hossa and the Hawks can only hope the NHL gives him the opportunity to follow the oddly bouncing puck Monday night in Nashville.

Anything appears possible now in this goofy country and Western Conference playoff.

mimrem@dailyherald.com