Uh-oh.
These two little words describe this big upset and the way the Blackhawks feel this queasy morning.
The Norris Division champions opened the Stanley Cup playoffs Wednesday night in the Stadium and found a can of worms inside.
The Minnesota North Stars have the Hawks squirming on the hook after beating them 2-1 in the West Madison Street barn, dumbfounding a crowd of 17,427 that was prepared to howl at the moon and the Stars.
Another loss for the Hawks in Game 2 of the Norris Division semifinals Friday night in Chicago and the only place Minnesota might be moving for now is toward the next round.
This wasn`t quite the barnyard fight some expected between two clubs who have squawked and clawed at one another all season.
The difference this time was the Hawks` power play oinked like a pig and Stars goalie Jon Casey crowed and strutted like a rooster. Casey, now 5-1-1 against Chicago this season, made 30 saves.
The Hawks were 0 for 7 in the first two periods with the extra attacker and 1 for 9 in the game, while Minnesota grabbed the 1-0 edge with Brian Bellows` power-play score in the opening period.
Denis Savard finally scored on the Hawks` eighth power play, creating a 1-1 tie with 14 minutes 59 seconds left in the third period. Adam Creighton won the draw and sent the puck to defenseman Keith Brown, who served it up to Savard by the crease and he caught the upper right-hand corner with a knuckling shot.
However, Bellows struck again :53 after Savard`s goal. Neal Broten dropped a pass for Bellows as the Stars entered the Chicago zone. Bellows scored from the high slot as goalie Greg Millen couldn`t stop the puck with his right leg kick.
The Hawks received their ninth power play with 5:50 left when Casey was called for roughing. But again, futility ruled.
This was an important start for the Stars, a fourth-place finisher in the regular season. They are trying to knock off the team with the sixth best record in the National Hockey League this year.
The Hawks know it can be done, since they roared from fourth to upset Detroit in last year`s first round.
Casey doesn`t need the luck of the Irish. He might be the best goaltender in the Norris Division. He is definitely a thorn in the bleeding Hawks` side, having shut them out once in the regular season.
Casey made several critical stops in the second period, among them a Creighton rebound chance on which Casey showed good movement to block off the left corner of the net after his initial save and a Savard shot that came quickly at him from close range when Savard untangled himself from a Minnesota defender and unloaded.
After managing only seven first-period shots, the Hawks applied more pressure with 12 shots in the second period. But that still wasn`t enough considering they had four power plays during this segment.
Savard and Steve Larmer crashed the net with less than seven minutes left, the puck flirting with the goalmouth, but Casey stood up to the pressure.
First blood went to Minnesota with its power-play goal by Bellows just before the 10-minute mark of the opening period. Referee Terry Gregson should have gotten an assist.
Gregson accidentally stopped a clearing attempt by defenseman Dave Manson, who was trying to ring the puck down the side boards near the right corner.
Mike Modano quickly retrieved the puck that hit off Gregson and sent a pass to Bellows, set up on the left edge of the crease. He scored with Doug Wilson sitting in the penalty box for hooking.
Gregson`s call against Wilson was borderline. After Wilson`s shot from the left circle area was saved, the Stars got a quick breakout with a pass ahead to Stewart Gavin near mid-ice. Wilson caught up with Gavin and stuck his stick in his mid-section, appearing to make a good defensive recovery to stymie his shot. But Gregson saw it differently.
Chicago couldn`t take advantage of three power plays in the first period and that`s why the Stars led 1-0 into the first intermission. On the last of these power plays, the Hawks erased the man advantage with 44 seconds remaining when they were guilty of having too many men on the ice.
The Hawks received a power play in the first two minutes of the game, but they failed to get one shot on goal skating with the extra man. They began the power play dumping the puck into the zone rather than carrying it across the line, but that strategy didn`t work well.
A second power play midway through the period fared no better. They carried the puck into the zone and dumped it, but other than a Jeremy Roenick jam attempt off a sharp Steve Thomas pass, there was little for the fans to cheer.
