(My Sportsbook) - The Calgary Flames will try to rebound from a heartbreaking loss in Game 1 when they continue the best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinals by visiting the fourth-seeded Chicago Blackhawks tonight at United Center.

The Blackhawks, who were playing their first playoff game in seven years on Wednesday, drew first blood in the series with an overtime victory in front of their home fans.

Chicago last made the postseason in 2002 when it was ousted in five games by St. Louis in the opening round. The Blackhawks haven't won a playoff series since beating the Flames in the 1996 conference quarterfinals -- Chicago's only win in three all-time playoff matchups against Calgary.

Martin Havlat scored the tying goal in the latter stages of the third period, then netted the game-winner only 12 seconds into OT to lift Chicago to a thrilling 3-2 win over the Flames.

The fifth-seeded Flames will now focus on trying to earn a split in the Windy City with a victory tonight. Calgary will host Games 3 and 4 of the series on Monday and Wednesday, respectively.

Cam Barker also scored for the Blackhawks, while captain Jonathan Toews was stellar in the win with an assist on Barker's goal, strong fore-checking and several key faceoff wins. Nikolai Khabibulin made 23 saves in the triumph.

David Moss and Mike Cammalleri scored for the Flames, who faded down the stretch of the regular season and dropped their playoff opener despite outplaying the Blackhawks for a majority of the contest.

Flames goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff allowed three goals on 28 shots.

After Havlat's goal with five-plus minutes remaining in regulation tied the score at 2-2, neither team found the back of the net throughout the rest of the third period and the teams headed to the locker room to prepare for overtime.

After the opening faceoff that started overtime, Dave Bolland stole a cross- ice pass in the neutral zone and skated over the blueline with a head of steam. Bolland then left a drop pass for Havlat, who corralled the puck in the high slot and fired a low wrist shot that appeared to deflect off of Calgary's Olli Jokinen before it made its way past Kiprusoff as the home crowd erupted after only 12 seconds had elapsed in the extra session. Andrew Ladd provided a helpful screen in the crease.

With the Game 1 victory, Chicago remained hot after notching a point in 12 of their final 14 games of the regular season (9-2-3) Calgary, meanwhile, will try to regain its confidence after dropping six of its final 10 games of the year.

The Blackhawks had a 24-9-8 record as the host during the regular season, while Calgary was 19-20-2 as the visitor.