TORONTO While they were busy packing bags to check throughCanadian customs, the Blackhawks decided to carry the collective chipon their shoulder on the way to Maple Leaf Gardens for the first gameof the opening round of the NHL playoffs tonight against Toronto.
In a word, it was a "surly" group of Hawks practicing over theweekend. Fans can only hope the team's Stanley Cup run is longerthan many of the players' answers to the media before tonight's firstfaceoff (6:38 p.m., SportsChannel, 1000-AM) in what looks to be aphysical series.
"Every team, once the playoffs start, has to tighten up," coachDarryl Sutter said of team defense, although he just as easily couldhave been referring to game faces.
Obviously, one of the faces the Hawks will need to "keep an eyeon," as goalie Ed Belfour said, is Maple Leafs center Doug Gilmour,who finished the season fourth in the league scoring race with 111points (27 goals) and assisted on 34 of Dave Andreychuk's 53 goals.
"Gilmour's great," Belfour said. "He's such a great playmakerbecause he sees the ice so well. I can't say enough about him."
Even with Andreychuk's 53 goals, the Hawks had best keep theirother eye on Wendel Clark, whose two goals in Thursday night's seasonfinale with the Hawks gave the Leafs left winger 46 for the season.
"He's a force out there," Hawks winger Joe Murphy said. "Hetakes the puck to the net and can dominate a game physically. Weneed to keep his chances limited because he likes to shoot a lot."
Not taking shots, those of the cheap variety, is also a key forthe Hawks. The Leafs converted four of seven power-playopportunities Thursday night after Toronto was again successful atgoading the Hawks - the second-most penalized team in the league -into confrontations.
"You're just going to have to suck it up," Randy Cunneyworthsaid of Toronto's taunting. "Obviously the ref isn't going to beable to see everything. But there's lots of time for payback - andit can be done cleanly and hard. It's going to be as physical as anymeeting."
Strangely, the fact that the first two meetings of thisbest-of-seven series are being held in Toronto's building doesn'tbother the Hawks.
"Usually it's the other way around, but we seem to play a littlemore comfortably on the road," Belfour said. "And both teams arereal close in styles - real competitive, hard-forechecking. Plus,their ice surface is real similar in size (to the Stadium). It'sevenly matched and should be a real close series."
All the more reason to practice what Sutter has always preached:Most games are won in the first 10 minutes.
"Everything is more magnified in the playoffs - good starts, badstarts," Sutter said. "Especially on the road, you want to take thecrowd out of it and show you're prepared for the next challenge. Thefact remains more games are won in the first period than the thirdperiod."
Especially in the Hawks' case, as they had a 25-5-7 record thisseason when they led after the opening period and a 2-20-1 mark whenthey trailed. Moreover, the Hawks were 31-12-6 when they scoredfirst and 8-24-3 when their opponent did.
"The key is to get on the board and spot Eddie a goal or two,"Murphy said. "Just look at Thursday night (a 6-4 loss) when they gota couple goals up. They put a blanket on us and shut us down.
"Eddie can stop the first shot, and as long as we clear therebounds or he can cover up, he can take charge back there."
Which is almost a prerequisite if these surly (under)dogs wantto have their day.
"We know we're an underdog," Murphy said. "Especially afterlast year, when we were expected to do everything. But after thisup-and-down season, we don't have anything to lose."
No comments:
Post a Comment