Desperation and urgency are Hawks' key words

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Team believes it must play with those traits to beat Flyers


Buried in the rubble of a difficult Game 4 loss to the Flyers in the Stanley Cup finals was the Blackhawks' play in the third period that was arguably their best of the series.

After sifting through the damage, the Hawks have grasped the importance of the sense of desperation, style and pace of the period and want to maintain it for a full 60 minutes when the best-of-seven series resumes tied with Game 5 Sunday night at the United Center.

Trailing 4-1 early in the third Friday night at the Wachovia Center, the Hawks found the formula that served them well during the regular season and their run to the finals as they nearly erased two periods of ragged play to pull out a victory before falling 5-3.

"We had to look at why we got to that point and the things that we were doing to make us successful in the third period," defenseman Brent Sopel said Saturday. "We figured that out. We have to apply that starting with the drop of the puck (Sunday night).


"We can't turn the puck over. We have to get pucks behind their D-men, battle them and come up with loose pucks. We have to move our feet and take pucks and bodies to the net."

The Hawks did that during the final 20 minutes of Game 4, drawing two penalties and keeping the Flyers on their heels before Jeff Carter's empty-net scored sealed the deal.

"We sent a lot of pucks on net, we won a lot more battles," forward Patrick Sharp said. "That sense of urgency has been building throughout the season and especially in the playoffs. Right now it never has been higher. We have to start that first shift (Sunday) like we finished the third period."

They believe they must play with a sense of desperation to capture the franchise's first Stanley Cup championship since 1961.

"That's how we need to play, keep the pace high and just work them down low," winger Tomas Kopecky said. "We were skating much better (and) we were protecting the puck much better. That's our game.

"We just have to go out and execute. Everything starts with the little 50-50 battles we have to win."

Part of the Hawks' high pace was their taking chances with defensemen coming in deep to create opportunities. That can be disastrous and create odd-man rushes going the other way so the Hawks realize they need to keep a balance between recklessness and playing smart.

"We had the 'Ds' pinching and got a lot of chances," winger Patrick Kane said. "? To come from behind you're going to have to put that pressure on. Hopefully, we don't have to play like that all the time and can sustain that pressure we had in the third period."

--Chicago Tribune

 

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Hawks hope home ice comes into play

They have advantage over Flyers that could be decisive

Twenty games into the postseason ? including four hard-fought ones in the Stanley Cup finals ? the regular season seems like a distant memory.

Maybe it's a good time to remember that their efforts then produced their potentially decisive home-ice advantage now against the Flyers.

With the series tied 2-2, it's now a best-of-three matchup with two games at the United Center, if necessary. Thus far in the finals, the home team has been triumphant and the Hawks hope that holds true Sunday night in Game 5.

"Now it's our turn to go home and come out with our best effort yet," Hawks winger Andrew Ladd said. "We know it's not going to be easy (but) this team has done well in tough situations. We're confident we can play the right way to get back to where we want to be."


The Hawks finished second in the Western Conference with 112 points ? one behind the Sharks ? and third in the NHL as the Capitals won the Presidents' Trophy with 121. When those teams were eliminated in the playoffs it left the Hawks with home-ice advantage facing the 88-point seventh seed in the Eastern Conference.

"That's what you work for during the regular season and it definitely comes in handy during the playoffs," said Ladd, who experienced that when he won the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes on home ice in 2006 against the Oilers. "I know first-hand ? especially in Game 7 (a 3-1 victory). We're looking forward to ? having the crowd on our side and giving a good effort."

Early in these Stanley Cup playoffs, the Hawks struggled at home while they rolled on the road. They split their first six games at the United Center against the Predators and Canucks but since have won four consecutive games to dispatch the Sharks and take an early finals lead against the Flyers with victories in Games 1 and 2 last week.

"It would have been nice to get at least a split (in Philadelphia) but ? we tried hard all year to get home ice and now let's use that to our advantage," Hawks defenseman Duncan Keith said.

Despite falling in the first two games at the United Center, the Flyers were in both contests and believed they could have come out with at least a split after losing one-goal decisions. Along with their 5-6 playoff record away from home, that gives them confidence heading into Game 5.

"We don't want to change anything up from what we did in the first two games," Flyers captain Mike Richards said. "In the second game we had a lot of chances (but) we were just a little bit off with the execution. We've played well on the road all year so we don't want to change too much."