"Just give me 18 inches of daylight, that's all I need."

—Gale Sayers

What does this quote have to do with hockey?  Everything.  Vancouver once again got on the board first tonight, and then sat back and played such defense that it surely seemed that the lone goal would hold up.  The Canucks skaters were all over, in the passing lanes, blocking shots, clearing the puck and limiting the Hawks chances.  I didn't think the Blackhawks played poorly, it was just good defensive play by Vancouver, and Chicago couldn't generate much against it.  But finally, late in the 3rd period, Marty Havlat (who to this point had been invisible in the series) finally got some space in the offensive zone.  And if you give Marty 18 inches of daylight between the circles, he's going to make you pay.  Havlat beat Luongo to tie it up, and Andrew Ladd finished off the Canucks by deflecting in a Dave Bolland shot for the overtime winner.

THE GOOD

Overtime:  If you can't enjoy overtime hockey, then I feel sorry for you, my friend.

Patrick Sharp:  Sharpie didn't score, but he brought his A-game tonight.  He was hitting everything that moved, and he was one of the few Hawks who was successfully driving the net.

HavBolLadd:  Or whatever.  Joel Quenneville kept his lines together for most of tonight, and Chicago's favorite line responded by notching both goals in tonight's contest.

THE BAD

Honestly, I didn't see much bad out there.  The Hawks stayed out of the box for the most part, giving up only one power play, and the Canucks lone goal came on a good rush off a blocked shot.  The Hawks outshot the Canucks and won the majority of the faceoffs.  They also matched Vancouver's physical play without getting caught up in any nonsense after the whistle.  While the Hawks didn't dominate, they played a good game, and since I'm feeling good after two High Lifes and an overtime win, I formally declare that NOTHING BAD HAPPENED IN THIS GAME AT ALL.

Prove me wrong.

THE UGLY

I thought it was a pretty brutal no-call on Dave Bolland's late breakaway in the 3rd period, even if the ref's had put away the whistles at that point.  Otherwise, the officiating was pretty even both ways though.

And now a word about "momentum".  Let's get one thing straight, the Hawks did not gain momentum tonight.  They won a hard fought game that could have gone either way, but to think that this will carry over to the next game is ridiculous.  If anything, the boys learned that you can bring your A-game in the playoffs and you still might lose on a bad bounce.  The Hawks need to get out of the gate quick in Vancouver on Saturday.