Blackhawks Beat Flames, Advance

Just one win away from a series clinch, Chicago knew they needed a great effort from their goaltender to advance. It was the first chance for this young team to play in an elimination game, and they knew there would be a lot of heat on Nikolai Khabibulin. The homestanding Flames could be counted on to bring everything they had to try to force a Game 7.

For Khabibulin, it was a rather inauspicious start to a game day. Things ended well, however, as the Blackhawks advanced to the second round with a 4-1 win over Calgary.

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Khabibulin's day began with a cab ride.

Yeah, hockey players would normally ride together on a bus, but the Hawks' goalie must have lost track of time after the morning skate.

Monday night's starting goaltender, Nikolai Khabibulin, walked out the door to see the bus leaving without him. The veteran was forced to share a cab back to the team hotel with a couple of Chicago sportswriters ...

Sometimes, these kinds of things can be a bad sign. Not so much on Monday, however.

Chicago helped their goalie's cause by jumping to a 2-0 first-period lead thanks to goals by Patrick Kane and Adam Burish. They made it 3-0 in the second, and were almost totally focused on protecting Khabibulin and that lead in the third.

Let's not kid ourselves. Calgary threw everything they could throw. Shots were 29-11 after two periods, in the Flames' favor, yet they trailed 3-0. Chicago took care of their end, limiting quality rebound chances, and they counterattacked brilliantly.

Calgary simply couldn't generate quality offense in the last half of the third period, as the Blackhawks let Khabibulin see the puck, make the first save, and rarely see a second chance shot.

The Flames have to deal with the massive disappointment of out-shooting their opponent by nearly a three-to-one margin and still losing an elimination game at home. The Blackhawks move into the Western Conference semifinals, with their opponent still to be determined.