The Blackhawks kept a stiff upper lip and tried to say all the right things Friday night after falling behind Colorado 2-0 in their first-round, best-of-seven Stanley Cup playoff series. But the fact is, they barely have an ankle (Alex Zhamnov’s) or leg (Brent Sutter’s) to stand on.
And poor Murray Craven couldn’t even talk about the Hawks’ chances in Game 3 Sunday afternoon at the United Center. Craven broke his jaw in the third period of Friday’s 3-1 loss in Denver when he was struck by an Eric Weinrich slap shot.
Like Sutter, who aggravated his sprained left knee in Game 2, Craven won’t play Sunday–he’s expected to undergo surgery. Zhamnov won’t play because of a sprained ankle, and coach Craig Hartsburg doesn’t expect him to return in the series.
The Hawks recalled Steve Dubinsky from Indianapolis, where he scored three goals in the Ice’s playoff victory Friday over Cleveland.
“We can’t be discouraged at this point,” Hartsburg said, though he had every reason to be after losing three centers and watching his team score one goal in two games. “We have to win a hockey game. The third game is important in any series. We win that game and all of a sudden we’re back in it.”
If only it could be that easy.
These are the defending Stanley Cup champions the Hawks trail, not the Boston Bruins. This is Patrick Roy they have to try to score on. Roy could become the winningest goaltender in NHL playoff history with a victory Sunday.
And the Hawks are 4-29 in playoff series after losing the first two games.
“Of course it’s frustrating,” center James Black said. “But we’re going home and we’ve got to be positive. We’ll see what happens.”
If the Hawks are to have any chance, they can’t let the Avalanche get an early lead. They also need the power play to start producing–it’s 0 for 10 in the series. And Tony Amonte, who has been hounded in this series, needs to get on track. In the last eight games, the 41-goal scorer has just one goal.
“They’re a good team, a great team,” defenseman Chris Chelios said of Colorado. “They capitalize on our mistakes. We had a few giveaways in the neutral zone (Friday) and they come back at us with speed and counter.
“Somehow, whether it takes bounces or Patrick letting in a soft one or them making some mistakes, we have to find a way to win. It’s going to take a great game to win, and we have to throw them off their game, make them feel the pressure, make them take some bad penalties.”
A playoff-tested team such as Colorado isn’t likely to fall into that trap, and the Avalanche certainly doesn’t plan on letting up.
“(The Hawks) have a lot of pride,” said Avalanche right wing Claude Lemieux, who has a goal in each game. Colorado is 11-0 this season when he scores. “Their players have a lot of grit and character and they’re going to play hard. So we have to stick to our game plan and come out playing hard.”
That’s the Hawks’ plan, too.
“This series is far from over,” Hawks left wing Bob Probert said, “but we definitely could use a little luck.”
And that’s good luck. The Hawks have had enough of the bad stuff.
“We can’t feel sorry for ourselves,” Hartsburg said.
But those who show up at the United Center on Sunday might be feeling a little sorry for Hartsburg, who will go into battle with Jeff Shantz, Denis Savard, Kevin Miller and Dubinsky at center against the likes of Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, Mike Ricci and Stephane Yelle.
“We can’t worry about what it looks like on paper,” Hartsburg said. “We have to play the best game of our lives.”
Anything less won’t get it done.
