The Blackhawks can expect a different look from the Calgary Flames Friday night in Game 2 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff.
After the Hawks handled the Flames with surprising ease in Wednesday night’s opener behind Joe Murphy in a 4-1 victory, Calgary coach Pierre Page has switched to Rick Tabaracci in goal.
Tabaracci has alternated for much of the season with Trevor Kidd, who was in the nets Wednesday when Murphy scored twice and assisted on a third Hawks goal.
Murphy said that the change of goaltenders won’t change the Hawks’ game plan.
“Basically you just try to get the puck at the net and crash the net,” he said. “Unless you have a lot of time and can pick your spots.”
If that’s the case, the book on Tabaracci is that he overplays the puck and therefore it’s better to shoot directly at him than to try to pick out a corner. He’s also susceptible to deflections.
Last time they met, however, Tabaracci was susceptible to nothing, shutting out the Hawks 1-0. Tabaracci himself said he is a far different goaltender than Kidd.
“Trevor stays in the net a little more,” he said. “I like to handle the puck a fair amount.”
For that reason, Murphy said the Hawks will “try to shoot it hard around the net so he can’t handle it.”
The Hawks intend to rely again on their top checking line of Brent Sutter-Bob Probert-Jeff Shantz to shadow the Flames’ Theo Fleury, who was held to just one shot on goal Wednesday.
“That’s the matchup they want,” Fleury said Thursday. “I don’t think I played one of my best games last night. If I play half as good as I think I can play, I don’t think that’s a good matchup.
“I didn’t use my speed last night. I have to use my speed to get around people.”
Although the Flames once were among the most explosive teams in hockey, their speed now is concentrated in Fleury and the Hawks think they have an edge there.
“I’d say (Jeremy) Roenick and (Tony) Amonte and that’s about all,” Fleury countered.
Teammate Mike Sullivan added another Hawk to that list: “(Eric) Daze is deceptive because of his size. He can motor.”
“I think we’ve got a lot of guys with (deceptive) speed,” Murphy said. “Like Murray Craven. He doesn’t look fast because of his style, but he is. There are some guys who look fast and are fast. But there are some who don’t look fast but they are.”
“We do have guys who can put the pressure on guys with speed,” Hawks coach Craig Hartsburg said. “We want to take advantage of what we have. I’m not saying Calgary doesn’t have it, but we know what we have.”
And Fleury knows the race does not always go to the swift.
“If you give up four goals in a playoff game, you’re not going to win too many games,” he said. “We’ve been preaching all year that good defense creates offense. Last night we didn’t play well defensively and that’s why we didn’t have a lot of chances. We’ve got to force their defensemen to go back and get the puck under pressure and make good plays.”
