How important is winning game 2?  Well, according to the statistics, it's more important than winning game 1.  After another shaky 1st period, the Hawks recovered and are now going to Calgary fully in control of this series.  I think the key was that at the beginning of the game, the Blackhawks came out with intention to hit the Flames without any regard for the rest of their game.  Instead of finishing their checks within the flow of the offense, the Hawks were simply flying around headhunting.  Once they settled in and got back to their game, they took over the game offensively.  Great job.

THE GOOD

Nikolai Khabibulin:  The Bulin Wall is back.  Make no mistake, while the Hawks played well, a lesser performance from Khabi makes this game a loss.  The playoffs are what earned Nik his big contract to begin with, and now that he's back on this stage, he seems to have rediscovered that form.

Jonathan Toews:  The Captain did his best Mark Messier impersonation, winning faceoffs, winning battles along the boards, finishing his checks, and scoring 2 goals, including the game winner in the final minute of the 2nd period.  It wasn't a highlight reel goal (like the one scored by Toews' linemate Patrick Sharp tonight) but simply a product of Toews hard work.  He drove the net against 2 defenders and put home the rebound of Dave Bolland's shot from the point.

Team Composure:  Other than the first 30 seconds or so, the Hawks collectively played about as good a 3rd period as a team with a 1 goal lead can.  In the face of a desperate Calgary forecheck, the Hawks methodically moved the puck out of their own zone with good, short passes, and kept the Flames on their heels by staying on the offensive.  As Fork would say, the best defense is keeping the puck 190 feet away from your own net.

Dustin Byfuglien:  Buff played an awesome third period.  He made some great individual effort plays in which he took on two or three Flames and won the puck.  If he keeps this up in the playoffs, and the first thing we think of when we hear Buff's name might not be "bad contract".

THE BAD

Matt Walker:  Matt played a good 3rd period, but his conduct during the first two periods was atrocious.  First of all, while Foley and friends like to tell us about all the toughness Walker brings to the table, two things have become clear: 1. the Chicago Blackhawks (like 99%) of all NHL players, are plenty tough, and 2. nobody on the Flames is afraid of Matt Walker.  Now, if Walker can play like he did in the third period, chipping the puck out of the zone when he gets the chance, or quickly getting the puck to a forward to move up, I'm fine with him getting limited minutes.  But if he's going to keep trying shit like cross-ice passes out of his own zone, or pinching in to the corners in the offensive zone, then somebody needs to Superglue his ass to the bench.

THE UGLY

There is something extremely unsettling to me about having Denis Savard, a guy who the Hawks fired as a head coach earlier this season, breaking down the players and strategies between periods.  It's just odd.  Like if the Detroit Lions hired Matt Millen as their color commentater (instead of those dopes at ESPN hiring him).

THE THING THAT MIKE KEENAN CAN BITCH ABOUT AFTER THIS GAME

Last time out, it was Andrew Ladd's "goaltender interference" on Havlat's game winner.  Tonight, the Flames seemingly should have been awarded an icing call with just over 1 second on the clock, but the refs ignored it (instead of waving it off), then met at center ice to discuss it, saw that the Flames had already went to the locker room themselves, and decided to call it a night.  It's pretty minor, but I'm sure Mike can work this into a league-wide conspiracy to boost ratings by getting Chicago into the next playoff round by any means possible.  And bully for him.

Next Game: Hawks go to Calgary for game 3 on Monday night at 8:30 CST.  As a result, Hockeenight's award winning PUCKCAST will appear a day earlier than usual, since there's no way we're going missing the game to record it.