Here Come the Hawks

Overtime seems to be almost guaranteed lately. Four of the seven games the Bulls played in went to at least one overtime and the Blackhawks won a game in Calgary in the extra period. Thursday night proved to be more of the same. After coming out strong and holding strong in the Vancouver zone, a turnover once again proved costly. At 8:32 into the second period Vancouver stole the puck, went on a break, and the puck wound up in the back of the net. It was a goal that never should have happened and it was a goal that sucked the life out of the 22,000+ fans at the United Center. All of the Blackhawks seemed to give up before the game was over. All but one. Martin Havlat started shooting the puck at Roberto Luongo early and didn't quit. While yelling at the screen I told my brother, "Havlat figured it out! You gotta shoot the puck to score!" Then with 2:44 left in the game, Havlat figured it out. On a shot from in between the circles the puck went right under Luongo's armpit and sailed into the goal. The United Center exploded and so did my brother, my father and I. Finally! The Hawks held off several late Vancouver rushes and sent the game into overtime. The extra period didn't last long. The Hawks quickly sent the puck deep and held it in there. Dave Bolland kept the puck in from along the boards and had Andrew Ladd in front of the net (right where he should always be). Bolland shot towards the net and Ladd redirected the puck right past Luongo. It was a thing of beauty. In a must win game, we won. Now we go back to Vancouver with a tied series and hopefully a bit of momentum.

We have already showed we can win in Vancouver and a victory there would be more than huge. To call this Game 5 a must win is a huge overstatement but I think its a must win. The Canucks are a very very good team. If we can steal just one more on the road, go up 3-2 in the series and have home ice for game 6, we might find ourselves watching the Anaheim-Detroit series a bit more closely to find out our next opponent.