When the Blackhawks’ season-in-review video is put together, Sunday’s game will tell the story.
Nothing has come easy, but somehow they manage to survive.
Chris Chelios was knocked to the canvas twice Sunday afternoon, but the Hawks’ heavyweight defenseman landed the knockout blow in a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames.
His third-period goal, which he flipped toward the net from just inside the blue line, put the Hawks (32-34-13) four points up on the Flames (32-38-9) in the fight for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with three games left.
And if they get in, they can thank Jeff Hackett. He stopped 19 shots in the first period, then stoned Dave Gagner point blank with 1 minute 1 second remaining.
“Hack was unbelievable,” said coach Craig Hartsburg.
“I don’t think it would have been 2-1 without Jeff Hackett,” added Chelios.
Hackett made it interesting at the end, getting a delay-of-game penalty with 1:21 left by accidentally flipping the puck into the crowd. Twenty seconds later, he made the game-saving play.
“I owed it to the team for taking a bad penalty,” he said.
The Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the first period just seconds after Yves Racine crushed Chelios with an open-ice hit. Chelios picked himself up and fired a shot from just inside the blue line. It sailed wide of Calgary goaltender Trevor Kidd, but when the puck came off the boards, Ethan Moreau fired a shot that trickled through Kidd at 13:06.
Calgary tied it at 10:38 of the second, 15 seconds after Chelios again was drilled, this time in the back by Glen Featherstone. German Titov took a lap shot, and Marty McInnis skated in front of Hackett and deflected the puck into the net.
