I didn't think the Flames were playing particularly well for the first two periods. That's very telling as I also thought that they were pushing the majority of play in those periods. Losing Keith right away definitely made it more difficult for Chicago, but they just don't 'have it' any longer. At least not this game.
I thought the Flames were playing half-assed for periods of time and were guilty of really sloppy play. Bunch of missed passes, bobbled pucks, and the team looked fairly slow. I still thought Chicago was lucky to be ahead of the Flames. Are the Flames that good now? Are the Hawks that poor? Maybe a bit of both.
There is always a bit of score-effects happening when a team is behind and trying to tie it up, but that third period was another brutally dominant period. Hawks couldn't match the skating and intensity that the Flames brought. Not even close.
If the Flames started strong, this might have been a blowout. I felt that the Flames didn't take enough advantage of the Hawks being down one defencemen, but it didn't matter.
It is nice to really out-class the Hawks after their 3 cups, after having them beat the Flames in the first round of the playoffs to start what would be a fairly long play drought, and also that embarrassing comeback win years ago...
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