CBC-Sports

Injured Flames on the mend

April 25, 2009 03:11 PM | Posted by   CBC Sports Staff  

Three bodies are better than one.

Craig Conroy, Daymond Langkow and Rene Bourque all took part in an optional skate this morning and are expected to suit up for Game 5 against the Chicago Blackhawks.

The three Flames forwards were all questionable after Game 4, with Conroy absorbing a couple of big hits in the first period of that game, Langkow taking a puck in the hand in the third, and Bourque sitting out with a suspected ankle injury suffered in Game 3.

"I think we're ready to roll. I know I am," said Conroy. " I know Langks is ready, and I think Bourque is ready to go, too. It'll be (head coach) Mike (Keenan's) decision, but I think we're all feeling fine."

Keenan seems to have his mind already made up.

"I would suspect that they are (going to play)," Keenan said.

"They'll be game-time decisions, but I suspect they are."

Meanwhile, the Blackhawks' only injury concern was Dustin Byfuglien, who still hasn't skated since Game 4.

He said he was enjoying a little extra time off the ice but would be ready to get back into the physical series.

Khabibulin gets shot at redemption

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin will be back between the pipes tonight.

As head coach Joel Quenneville suggested yesterday, the Bulin Wall gets another opportunity to prove he owns the Flames.

The Russian netminder is looking forward to rebounding.

"I've had average games in the past. You just have to bounce back." said the 36-year-old Stanley Cup winner.

His experience should help him overcome the mental hurdles involved when things go wrong in goal.

"I think, definitely, experience should help a lot. Sometimes when things aren't going the way you want them to, you kind of look back at what you experienced before," said Khabibulin.

"Hopefully it'll help."

More help from his teammates would be nice, too.

"We've got to tighten up defensively. We're giving Khabibulin too hard of a job in there where he's got to stop point-blank shots from (Jarome) Iginla, (Olli) Jokinen," said Hawks centre Patrick Kane.

"Those guys aren't going to miss too often."

Suspension a surprise to Hawk, too

Aaron Johnson didn't see a suspension coming.

"I was kind of surprised like everyone else," said the Blackhawks defenceman who took a tap from Flames forward Andre Roy in pre-game warmup this week that earned Roy a one-game punishment.

The incident took place near centre ice, where Roy and Patrick Sharp were talking trash.

"I kind of saw him standing there, and he was talking to Sharpie," said Johnson. "I just went over to kind of get in the middle of it.

"It was a cross-check. To be honest, I didn't even remember the whole situation, and then I saw the suspension."

The series has been rough, and verbal warnings had been passed from the league to the general managers and trickled down to the players.

There are no officials on the ice during pre-game warmup, so the NHL came to a conclusion on its own to sit Roy for a night.

"I guess they must have been watching a little more closer than we thought," said Johnson.

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