| Havlat and the Hawks Beat Anaheim Ducks in Overtime | ||||
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Martin Havlat put an end to the fear of losing four out of five games on Tuesday night.
Havlat picked the loose puck off an Anaheim missed pass just inside the Hawks’ blue line. He outskated and fought off three Ducks players to score the game-winning goal 1:40 into the overtime period, giving the Hawks a 3-2 victory over visiting Anaheim. On the eve of the trade deadline, Havlat’s goal could not have been better timed. Even though he is one of the better Blackhawks this season, his name has been floating around the rumor mill as a possible trade option. Now that he is performing up to expectations from when he was acquired following the 2005-2006 season, his future with the Hawks looks secure. Injuries and a lack of team cohesion have prevented Havlat from shining; with the proper pieces in place, and him healthy thus far, Hawks fans hope Havlat will stick around after his contract expires or the conclusion of this season. Another name floating around is Nikolai Khabibulin, who did dress yet again due to a chronic lower body injury. Khabibulin has been the stronger of the two Hawks’ goaltenders but with his contract ending, the Hawks are looking to ship him off for the playoff rush and to free up salary cap space. Cristobal Huet’s performance against the Ducks—in the eyes of many Blackhawks fans—lacked what it needs to carry the team toward the playoffs and Khabibulin’s presence is sorely missed. The Hawks went up early in the first period. Jonathan Toews won the face off just to the side of Anaheim goaltender Jean-Sébastien Giguère. Matt Walker received the puck and fired it at the net. Toews bobbled the rebound, but Troy Brouwer was there to slap it inside the net (1:03). Andrew Ladd put the Hawks up by two goals midway through the first. Havlat drove into the zone, then centered it to Dave Bolland who passed it back to Havlat. Havlat then passed it across the slot to Ladd on the other side of Giguère (11:26). The Ducks came out of their nest with fire in their second period play. Huet casually left the net to play the puck after the Ducks’ Corey Perry raced to beat icing. Huet failed to pass, allowing Perry to steal it, before centering it to Drew Miller for his first goal of the season (2:14). Two minutes later, Huet was fooled by a wraparound attempt by Andrew Ebbet. Huet overslid to post twice allowing Bobby Ryan to get the rebound and tie the game (4:27). The rest of the second played out rather uneventful. The ever-bipolar Blackhawks fans released the boo birds when the horn sounded. The Hawks have given the fans reasons to boo about in the past, but they are feeling a bit spoiled, now that the season is ending. A 2-2 game is nothing to boo about against a competitor like Anaheim, who is fighting to get into the playoffs. The Hawks needed encouragement at this point; not negative reinforcement. The third period played out with much of the excitement level of the second. Both goaltenders kept their teams in the game, and the Huet of the past few weeks showed up to make a huge save with 36 seconds left in the game, sending the game to overtime. After the game, Perry said of Havlat’s game-winning goal, “I was trying to get my stick around him. It was one of those plays where he maybe he did a great job of blocking me out. It was one of those goals where you just have to tip your hat to the other player.” Tuesday’s 3-2 win over the Ducks is the Hawks’ second win in a row, continuing what will hopefully become a successful March. The Hawks play the Bruins in Boston on Saturday afternoon and then the Colorado Avalanche at home on Sunday.
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