Frustrating is the first word that comes to mind. A lot of the others can`t be printed.
That`s how the Black Hawks felt Friday night after they played three solid periods against the Philadelphia Flyers, the best team in the league, and wound up with a 4-3 loss on a fluke goal in the third period.
Murray Bannerman had trouble handling a rebound, and Lindsay Carson knocked the puck into the net with his body as he raced into the crease with 2 minutes 14 seconds left in the game.
If this had been a pick-up game among a bunch of kids on a pond or in somebody`s back yard, someone would have shouted, ”No goal. You can`t score like that.”
But the game was played in the National Hockey League. Goals like that count.
”I tried to clear it with my stick, but it hit his skate, I guess,”
Bannerman said quietly. ”We worked hard, kept coming back. We should at least get a point out of it.”
The Hawks fell behind 3-2 after having a 2-1 lead in the second period, but Ed Olczyk`s eighth goal of the season reminded Philadelphia that the Hawks` purpose here at the Spectrum wasn`t to pad the Flyers` lead in the Patrick Division.
”I thought we played very well,” said coach Bob Pulford, whose team spent most of the day on a plane because of bad weather on the East Coast.
”Certainly at even strength, they didn`t have many chances at our net.”
The Flyers` first two goals were scored on the power play.
Although this makes two good games the Hawks have played against Philadelphia in three days, they have only one more point in the standings.
”It is frustrating, but we played two good games against the best team in the league,” said Steve Larmer, who scored twice Friday, his 18th and 19th goals of the season.
The Hawks are winless in five games as prepare for Saturday night`s game in Montreal. They meet the Canadiens again Monday at the Stadium.
Philadelphia`s Tim Kerr also scored twice Friday, giving him 38 goals. He was held scoreless in Wednesday`s 5-5 tie at the Stadium, but he had four goals in the 5-1 victory over the Hawks Nov. 20 at the Spectrum.
Kerr put the Flyers ahead 3-2 Friday after he took a pass from Don Nachbaur in the slot and lifted a shot high into the net at 7:01 of the third period.
The score was still 2-2 when rookie goaltender Ron Hextall stopped Hawk right wing Wayne Presley on a clear breakaway five minutes into the third period.
”He outguessed me,” said Presley, who tried to score on a move to his right. ”It could have gone either way. It went his way.”
Bannerman had a strong game in his second straight start. The last time he had two consecutive starts was a four-game stretch from Dec. 6-14.
For a change, the Hawks played well in the second period. Larmer`s second goal of the game gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead in the middle period, but Scott Mellanby tied it 2-2 going into the third.
Larmer`s first goal was the Hawks` first during a power play in three games. They went into the game with a 2-for-43 power-play streak in their last 10 games, including 0-for-4 Wednesday against the Flyers and 0-for-5 last Sunday against Quebec.
”I`m not pleased. I`m not happy,” said Pulford. ”We lost. We played basically sound hockey. We have the last two games. If we can keep that kind of play up, we`ll start to win.”
