Blackhawks-Flames: Chicago Wins a Streak-Buster, Downs Calgary, 5-2

The Chicago Blackhawks showed no ill effects to two consecutive losses to the mighty Red Wings in their 5-2 victory over the Calgary Flames Sunday night before an energized crowd at the United Center.

Martin Havlat, Patrick Sharp, and Andrew Ladd each had a goal and assist, and Nikolai Khabibulin made 34 saves to earn the victory.

“It was a big win for us. Khabby (Khabibulin) really kept us in there”, said head coach Joel Quenneville after the game.

“This was an important game, back in our building,” Duncan Keith told reporters. “We wanted to get a good feeling back in our room. It felt like coming back home after a while. Part of the reason for our success at home is because we have a full building.”

Andrew Ladd also chimed in on the home ice advantage: “We’ve been successful all year in this barn, and we wanted to keep that going tonight.”

The Hawks improved to 12-1-4 in their home building. The building, in fact, was 108 percent full according to ESPN.com at 22,146 people strong.

The team had a very solid attack throughout most of the game, even without their best scorer in Patrick Kane. Coach Quenneville said that he expected Kane to make the upcoming three-game road trip with the team, which starts Tuesday night in Phoenix.

Quenneville was also impressed with the way the team played in their first game since the Winter Classic. In what easily could have been a letdown game after the pomp and circumstance of the outdoor game, the Hawks looked like they were eager to show that the last two losses against Detroit were the exception, rather than the rule.

“It was a great opportunity for everybody to be part of the Classic. We move forward. I like the way we handled tonight. We played a team that’s playing very well, and it was a very important win for us.”

Calgary captain Jarome Iginla was pretty down after the game. “Anytime you’ve been winning—and we’ve been moving along pretty well—a loss is hard to swallow.”

In other notes, Adam Burish played for the first time in 16 games on Sunday night, and he’ll be looked toward to provide a spark for the club during a time that they will be playing a lot of hockey games.

Also, Martin Havlat has really picked it up offensively. He has five points in his last two games (including three in the Winter Classic). With Jonathan Toews struggling to score goals, the team will be looking to Havlat to provide some spark in the coming days.

The Hawks’ next game will be on Tuesday against the Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena. Puck will drop at 8:05 PM CST, and the game can be seen on Comcast SportsNet Plus. Check your local listings for which channel this is in your area.