I will have to say that last nights contest was a character test for the young Hawks. They could have packed it in and called it a game after the 2nd period but they responded. In the 1st period the Hawks were held to only 1 shot. That has only happened 6 times in their history, but is the second time in the last month. The Hawks bounced back with 13 shots in the 2nd frame and finished with a respectable 30 shots on goal. The Flames had not given up a 3rd period lead all year until last night. The Hawks have come out uninspired on a few occasions, but there isn’t a lot of quit in this group. So as Denis Savard would say “good for them”, as they beat the Flames in a shootout 3-2.

The Hawks seem to match up well with the Flames, and they don’t scare them. That was evident early on as Seabrook took exception to a no call charge on Keith by Phaneuf. No need to take steps and leave your feet Dion, after all Keith is the smallest dman on the team. Keith being the agile guy that he is avoided most of the contact. Seabrook has been showing an edge of late, as he fought last night with a broken nose. Good for him too.

Maybe it was the emotion of the evening, maybe it was because Iginla isn’t really himself yet, but Calgary couldn’t score more than 2 goals. To let the folks from Alberta know this Hawk team has a Doctorate in playing games that are low scoring, their issue is still not scoring enough. The Hawks have 20 wins, 15 of those have come when their opponents score 3 or less goals. So last night’s game was very familiar to the Hawks, and the fans in Calgary were none to pleased with the outcome.

Havlat scored 2 goals last night, and was clearly a dominant force on the ice. Once again Khabibulin out duels Kiprusoff and the result was very determined road win. The Hawks dressed 7 dmen, as Savard said they may need all of them if Aucoin has groin problems and can’t finish the contest. That certainly wasn’t a ringing endorsement to a team thinking about taking chance on him.

Speaking of taking a chance, that leads me to Samsonov. Obviously he is either finished, or needs a change of scenery in a big way. In the old days claiming him would have been an easier process in my opinion. A wink and 3 puffs of smoke and the Hawks would have Samsonov on re-entry for 1/2 the price. Shortly around the same time the Kings would then acquire one of our backup goalies for playing nice. I don’t know if it will be that easy now, or if the Hawks will even reach for Samsonov if they have the chance. I would take the chance though; maybe a positive Savard is what he needs.

It is easy to get down this time of year, as the playoffs are not a hope any longer. A couple of positive additions this year have been Kukkonen, and Hamilton and we are lucky to have both. That shootout score by Hamilton was a goal scorers’ goal, that boy has good hands… good for him too.

We are now 2-1 vs. the Flames this season, but tonight’s game will be much more difficult. The Hawks don’t match up well vs. the Canucks, and have scored a total of 1 goal in 2 losses against them. Interestingly the Canucks have been a handful on occasion for the Flames this season also, as they have beaten them 2 times in Calgary. The Hawks will have to play with another top effort tonight, let’s see if they can bring it in back-to-back contests.

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