The conference finals continue with a barn burner last night in Chicago.

The Blackhawks really showed their stuff, coming out fast, surviving a rally, and winning in OT with a gut check performance that could be a series changer. Patrick Sharp’s goal just less than two minutes into overtime made sure there was no repeat of Game 3.

This series continues to play out like the pre-lockout series between Detroit and Nashville. Close games with the home team holding serve.

This was a gut check for these young ‘Hawks, surviving two injuries to key players. Niklas Kronwall delivered a hit on Martin Havlat in the first period that Red Wing apologists would call “controversial.” Sorry gang… when you leave your feet like that, it’s dirty. Call it poetic justice for all the complaining that happened in the Wings/Ducks series when Jiri Hudler took a dirty hit from Mike Brown. Both coaches are doing their best to work the officials, but Detroit’s Mike Babcock may have gone over the line when he stated that referees are “not allowed to have bad games” in his post game presser.

Havlat is a critical player for Chicago, the ubiquitous “Lower Body Injury” to Nikolai Khabibulin could be another major concern for the Blackhawks. Little time for recovery as game 4 is Sunday afternoon.

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Heading out on vacation today with the family, I’ll be blogging some but plan on spending more time on the beach than online…

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