CALGARY , ALBERTA –Patrick Kane was able to return from illness for game four and maybe he needs to be sick more often. Chicago got off to a great start as Patrick Sharp skated in hard through the neutral zone and deep into the Calgary zone. Sharp then passed the puck back to Kane for the one-timer which passed Miikka Kiprusoff to give the Blackhawks the first goal in consecutive games just four minutes and 40 seconds into the game. But seconds later Chicago captain Jonathan Toews was called for tripping. Mike Cammalleri skated with the puck towards the far corner and spotted Flames captain Jarome Iginla in front of the net skating back. Cammalleri backhanded the shot to Iginla who found a spot open on Nikolai Khbibulin to tie up the score with the power play goal.
A big mistake in the Chicago zone led to a Calgary goal to start the second period as defenseman Cam Barker whiffed on a cross ice pass that was intercepted by Olli Jokinen for the easy point-blank shot into the net for his first ever goal in the post s eason fifty seconds into the period. The Flames took a two goal lead as another former Blackhawks player came back to hurt the former mates. Defenseman Adrian Acoin from 55 feet out fired a wrist shot in on a screened Khabibulin. Things started to fall apart at Jokinen skated in and backhanded a shot that was deflected by a Chicago defenseman.
But then the Chicago Blackhawks made an incredible comeback in the second. Calder Trophy candidate Kris Versteeg scored his first goal of the playoffs on the power play off a rebound of a shot fired from defenseman Brian Campbell to cut the lead in half. Barker then made up for his earlier miscue as he slashed in an on-net pass from Sammy Pahlsson. Then late in the period on the power play again due to a Jokinen slash, it was again Pahlsson with a pass going towards the net with Dustin Byfuglien creating traffic front of the net setting the goal in to tie the game at four goals a piece. Chicago outshot Calgary 13-5 in the period. Versteeg was by far the best playmaker in the period as he scored or setup all of Chicago’s goals in the period, using his forechecking to key the plays.
But yet again the momentum shifted back to Calgary in the period where it counts. Eric Nystron went to the net and was able to get the puck in between the pads of Khabibulin after a wicked rebound fired by Cory Sa rich at 13:04 into the final period. Chicago tried to tie it back up but Iginla was able to get the empty net goal to send the series back to Chicago for game five with a 6-4 victory.
Chicago outshot Calgary 34 to 27 and also converted on two of the four power plays as the Flames scored on their only man advantage. Defensemen Brent Seabrook and Duncan Keith had their worst night in the series as they both were a minus four for the game for the Blackhawks while Toews and Martin Havlat were kept off the score sheet. In every game so far in this series, the team that scored first has lost.
The stars of the game were third star Pahlsson with a goal and an assist the second star, with the game-winner, was Nystron and the first star with his first two playoff goals was Olli Jokinen.
Notes There was a question whether the chippiness and physical play would continue in the fourth game of the series. Because it was getting out of hand both teams were talked to by league officials before the start of tonight’s game and were directed to play between the whistles and to watch the extra-curriculars. Andre Roy replaced former Blackhawks winger Rene Bourque in the Flames lineup after Bourque did not feel fit in pre-game skate after playing hard and physical in game three. 0D
Before the game, Blackhawks forward Kris Versteeg was named a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy given to the best first year player in the National Hockey League. Versteeg for the year had 22 goals with 31 assist and a +15 rating. Other nominees were Columbus goaltender Steve Mason who compiled a 33-20-7 record, 2.29 goals against average and a .916 save percentage. Anaheim’s Bobby Ryan was the final selection who compiled 31 goals and 26 assists for a +13 rating.
Contact the author at matt.chin@prohockeynews.com
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