For 5 years now I’ve contended that if the red light had gone and Flames had staged a celebration when Martin Gelinas scored in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup final in 2004 the frenzy among the “C” of Red in Saddledome would have seen the goal count.
Thursday evening, here in Chicago, the towel waving by the crowd of 22,458 may have had an impact on the OT winner by Martin Havlat.
The goal just 12 seconds into OT gave the Hawks a 3-2 win and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series.
The Flames contended that Havlat’s linemate, Andrew Ladd, interfered with Miikka Kiprusoff and that a goaltender interference penalty should have been called.
With the red light on and the celebration underway, calling the goal back would have created a gigantic scene.
Mike Keenan contended that Ladd did not try to stop his forward movement toward Kiprusoff.
Meanwhile, the NHL will review an elbow by Mike Cammalleri to the head of Havlat early in the 3rd period. Cammalleri received a 2-minute minor penalty. There could be an additional penalty depending on the league decision.
Keenan is considered the master of line juggling, but on Thursday Blackhawk coach Joel Quenneville took a page out of Keenan’s book and it paid off.
Havlat, who also scored the tying goal with 5:33 left in the 3rd period, scored both key goals away from his regular linemates. After playing half the game with youngster Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, Quenneville moved Havlat to RW on a line with Dave Bolland and Ladd. That’s when the Hawks’ regular-season scoring leader struck for the pivotal tallies.
The Flames led for most of the night but after Cammalleri gave the Flames a 2-1 lead early in the 3rd period, the Hawks poured it on forcing Kiprusoff to make a number of outstanding saves before Havlat broke through with his 2 goals.
The Flames took a number of positives from the game, which they hope will help produce a different result in Game 2 on Saturday. A negative again was the PP which was 0-for-3 including a 4-minute stretch after they’d taken the 1-0 lead. In that time just one Flame shot on goal.
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