CALGARY, Alberta – The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Calgary Flames to win their Western Conference quarterfinal series four games to two in Game 6 by a score of 4-1. It was an amazing display of defense and offense for the Blackhawks as they scored their goals on only 16 shots. What was equally incredible was that the defense, led by goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, held the Flames to only one goal on 44 shots. This was the first game that the home team did not win in this series.
This loss made way to Calgary’s fourth straight first round elimination in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. One thing that hurt was that defenseman Dion Phaneuf was sidelined after sustaining a tough hit from Chicago forward Troy Brouwer that took him out in Game 5. The last time the Blackhawks won a playoff series was back in the 1996 playoffs against these same Flames.
Everyone kept busy in the first period where the Calgary Flames fired a huge 16 shot flurry on Khabibulin where Chicago could only manage five. But forty percent of those five shots went in as the Blackhawks got off to a fast 2-0 lead.
Early in the period, Todd Bertuzzi, who hit the s corecard on one assist so far, was sent to the penalty box for an elbowing call. The Flames tried to clear the puck but Cam Barker kept the puck just within the blueline. The Blackhawk defenseman passed the puck diagonally across the ice to Kris Versteeg who fired it on goal only to have the puck first deflect away from Miika Kiprusoff then bounce off Dustin Byfuglien to Patrick Kane who fired a slap shot in the empty side of the net 2:20 into the game.
Halfway through the period, Byfuglien took the puck in as his mates were in transition. He circled behind the net with a Flame behind him in close quarters, and as he came around he found a charging Adam Burish with a quick pass who took the puck in for an easy goal.
The second period again was dominated by the Flames as the seemed to get their legs under them but Khabibulin was again strong in net where he faced more shots that he did in the first with 17. But Calgary still couldn’t get one in on the Chicago defense and netminder.
The Blackhawks continued on their high percentage scoring as the Flames again were called for a bad penalty as there were too many men on the ice. At the 14:57 mark of the period, defenseman Brian Campbell was able to find the net on a shot fired from the center slot after Kane popped20a shot in from the near boards to give the team a twenty percent shooting average for the period. This was Campbell’s first goal of the playoffs.
In the third there was a desperate Calgary team trying to stay alive. They needed to do something to get them and their fans in the Saddledome back into the game and it was Bertuzzi who got it going. He skated quickly down the near lane and fired a sharp angle shot that found the inside of the net to bring the Flames within two goals 54 seconds into the period. But they couldn’t get any closer as Byfuglien got the empty-net goal to complement the two assists for the night.
Byfuglien played extremely well on both ends as he back-checked well and caused issues in front of the net to allow his teammates to take the shots that were able to get into the net. Defensemen Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook again had the most ice time as they matched up well against Jarome Iginla and Olli Jokinen. Only five penalties were called in the game where Chicago converted on both of their power play opportunities.
The Blackhawks will most likely not fly back to Chicago but will stay in Canada and go to Vancouver for the second round which was decided after the Anaheim Ducks defeated the first seeded San Jose Sharks tonight by a score of 4-1 .
Contact the author at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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