I ripped your heart out from your chest; Replaced it with a grenade blast
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Game Time: 7:30PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, NHLN (US), WGN-AM 720
Dawn of the Dead: Anaheim Calling, Battle of California
Since the last time these two teams met, both teams have managed to go a combined 1-5 with Anaheim carrying a four game losing streak into the United Center. The Ducks lost both back-to-back sets with the Red Wings and Sharks, respectively, looking pretty awful in the process.
One of the pleasures of a 29 game point streak was the lack of hockey cliches used to describe the Hawks poor play. Flat, lifeless, fatigued, blah, blah, blah. Well no more. After a Edmonton 4 goal first period, all the cliches are back in full force. Luckily, you won’t find that here. Rather, let’s break down the first 4 goals to help show why the Hawks were down four after 20 minutes.
Stop me if you heard this before: The Blackhawks and Red Wings played a Sunday matinee at Joe Louis Arena that ended in a shootout.
In the last four seasons, it seems like the two teams have engaged in roughly 33 games that followed the script from today. One team controls the tempo, then the other team. By the end of regulation, one of the teams scores a late goal to send the game to overtime and in the overtime, both teams have opportunities for the winner.
In other words, today’s game was no different than any of the previous years between the Hawks and Wings. Except for that whole winning streak the Hawks have going. So let’s get to it.
Sometimes it’s difficult to find beauty after 18 games of not losing in regulation. Against a Columbus team that is still struggling to figure out how to score more goals than the opposition, the Hawks scored the minimum amount required to net two points. If there was a silver lining in tonight’s playbook, it was that the Hawks got a performance from their goalie that we’ve been begging for for a couple years.
No, Corey Crawford didn’t stand on his head or make a plethora of highlight reel saves. All he did was make the saves that should be expected of him. The Blue Jackets had a couple of good chances to find twine but they didn’t and Crawford didn’t give them any breaks by giving up any soft goals. It wasn’t a goalie win. It was a team win. Take it and move on.
–For a team playing its third game in four nights, the Blue Jackets played a pretty solid game. They had a strong compete level and looked way more engaged than they have the last couple seasons. The combination of a new young wave of high draft picks combined with a new coach and the loss of Rick Nash gives the Jackets a new dynamic. If it keeps going this way, it’s only a matter of time until they start winning games like tonight.
The one guy who impresses me the most is Cam Atkinson. For whatever reason, I’ve watched more Blue Jackets hockey than ever before and each game Atkinson has impressed me more and more. That little bastard is a handful.
–Another impressive performance out of Niklas Hjalmarsson. He had as much to do with preserving the shutout as Corey Crawford did. Late in the first, Hjalmarsson saved a sure goal by sacrificing his body in front. In the second, he cleared a loose puck with Crawford swimming in his crease during a scramble in front. He has been the Hawks most consistent defensemen this year. It’s almost humorous to recall his performances from the past couple seasons at this point; like he had some alien pod infesting his body during that time because the difference in his play is that drastic.
–As a fourth line player and top penalty killer, Michael Frolik is a lot of fun to watch. When you forget about the fact that he’s the Hawks 6th highest paid forward and was originally thought to be a key contributor to their secondary scoring, it makes it a lot easier to stomach.
–Maybe it’s the lack of sleep but I think I like Dan Carcillo on that fourth line. Certainly better than him on either of the top two lines.
–Did we really need a spear to the nuts to be reminded that James Wisniewski is a dirty player? This is the same guy who sent one of his groomsmen to the 12th century with a vicious forearm to the mouth. And if you think that Andrew Shaw is going to forgive and forget, you would be sorely mistaken.
–Michael Rozsival is a prototypical 3rd pair defensemen. That doesn’t mean he should be excused for letting not one, but two guys slip behind him for breakaways. Crawford bailed him out one time and the post the second time. Both times, Rozsival was caught napping and let guys slip behind him. Yeah, one guy came off the bench on a change but Rozsival was on the other side of the red line during a penalty kill. That probably shouldn’t happen.
You watched the game. You saw what happened. Let’s get to it.
–The theme of this win comes down to the Hawks fourth line so that seems as good of a place to start.
Marcus Kruger is continuing to impress. Kruger has definitely added lower body strength this season. While he was getting pushed off the puck in the corners and along the wall his first couple seasons, it’s just not happening as much this season. And the result is added time for him to make his patented nifty passes to open linemates.
Soooooo, yeah. That was fun. The Blackhawks withstood a barrage from the Calgary Flames that basically started from the halfway point of the second period. Ray Emery was amazing, Patrick Kane once again carried the offense, yadda yadda, you saw the game. Now to the bullets.
–Maybe it was the copious amounts of alcohol consumed in the last week but Ray Emery certainly looked quicker moving post to post than he did last year. Not that he could’ve gotten much slower but Emery actually demonstrated a little quickness moving side to side. One of the many cases in point from tonight: his shoot out save against Alex Tanguay. Emery was clearly beaten but demonstrated enough reflexes to get his right leg out in time. I feel like that was an easy goal last year.
–Speaking of, I’m sure there will be plenty of people “disappointed” with the win, in that the Hawks were fortunate to win, really had no business winning, etc. etc. And that certainly is a justifiable opinion. However, I will simply point to the last few visits the Hawks have made to Calgary where they were clearly outplayed and were pounded to the tune of scores like 7-2. So I’ll simply ask, do you feel better now than you did then?
–Hey, Curtis Glencross just missed an empty net.
–When was the last time the Hawks were outplayed this bad and had two points to show for it? I’d venture to guess there was a game or two in ’09-10, otherwise it was definitely ’08-09. The last two seasons has most certainly seen the Hawks be outplayed to this degree but the results were thrashings by the opponent. No need to relive any of the Alberta Grapings.
–Very encouraged by the defensive ice times tonight. Niklas Hjalmarsson and Johnny Oduya were the ice team leaders with about 26 minutes played each. Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook both barely cracked 23. I don’t need to ask; I know that has never happened in Joel Quenneville’s tenure. And the ice times were absolutely warranted. Seabrook spent the majority of the game questioning the 2nd Amendment while pucks were eluding his stick. Duncan Keith, while not making any glaring errors, just really didn’t do much creating at all.
What made Keith so special for those two seasons was his ability to push the play, create offense, and his ever present active stick. The difference was more evident tonight as it was hard to even notice Keith played. I’m struggling to remember anything really of significance, other than his questionable delay of game penalty. I’m not complaining of course because it’s better than the alternative of not creating offense and being badly outplayed on the defensive end; merely stating.
Is Joel Quenneville actually coaching with a plan this year? Too soon to tell.
–Patrick Kane is playing with bundles of confidence right now. While he was certainly at fault for Calgary’s second goal by getting a little too cute at the blue line, his cross-ice pass to Johnny Oduya to set up the game-tying goal was pretty incredible. Kane navigated the pass through about four sticks en route to hitting Oduya’s right on the tape. Oduya threw the puck towards the front of the net; Saad tied up his man and Hossa found a loose puck. Boom.
None of that happens though without Kane’s vision.
But let’s also not forget the efforts of Marian Hossa or Jonathan Toews in that sequence. Hossa did an amazing job of keeping that puck in the zone when it looked like Calgary was going to clear it and Toews totally manhandled a defenseman in the corner to get the puck to Kane to initiate the tying goal.
–Patrick Sharp, on the other hand, seems quite agitated these days. The normally reserved Sharp was as aggressive as he’s been since the Hawks acquired him from the Flyers. He had a couple of huge hits and had no problem getting into a pissing contest with Matt Stajan at the end of the second period. The beginning of the season hasn’t been too kind to Sharp as he’s looked a bit out of sorts, so this is probably his way of battling out of this ‘slump’.
–Yup, Glencross missed the net again.
–Jiri Hudler, still a giant rectum.
–What was the deal with Mikka Kiprusoff’s pants? Did anyone else notice that it looked like his fly was open after Jonathan Toews’ shootout attempt? Not sure if that was an optical illusion or what.
We are utterly delighted to announce that The Fifth Feather is joining our team. As you probably already know, The Feather has been maybe the smartest Hawks blog going for a while now, and we’re lucky that that level of hockey intellect and snark will be part of our dysfunctional family. Don’t worry, he won’t be making our twitter feed any more schizo, as he will still be found @fifthfeather. And for all you other Hawks blogs, if you’re worried that we will systematically add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own to make an all-powerful species, we will. Resistance if futile. -Fels
So this is what the other side smells like. I can see why I’ve been away for so long. Anyways, let’s get to it. You’ve all waited long enough.
–Patrick Kane is looking more and more like a basketball player in hockey equipment after every game this season. What I mean by that is his ability to slow down the play, handle the puck, and maneuver his way around the ice is very point guard-esque. His assist on Hossa’s OT winner in Dallas should’ve been on an Ahmad Rashad-narrated highlight reel. (Is Ahmad Rashad still alive? Is he still roaming NBA sidelines? These are questions I need to know answers to. Also, let’s put “Inside Stuff” back on the air while we’re at it. That show was great.)
