Hockey

High On The Hog: Dylan McLaughlin Doubles Down

By Jon Fromi 1160

The Rockford IceHogs had weekend plans with the Iowa Wild. They still do…kinda.

The AHL, in response to COVID-related issues in the Wild organization, pushed back what would have been Friday and Saturday games at the BMO Harris Bank Center. Instead, the two games are now scheduled for Sunday, March 21, and Tuesday, March 23.

Rockford’s schedule has been altered several times this season. Each time, the issues have been in the opponent’s camp. Right now, it still appears that the IceHogs, who have won two straight games, will have a chance to extend that streak against a struggling Iowa team that has dropped its last five contests.

 

McLaughlin Strikes Twice

Forward Dylan McLaughin is one of many AHL contracts signed by the Hogs that has capitalized on an increased role on the team this season. McLaughlin split his rookie season between Rockford and Indy; he had two goals and five helpers in 28 games with the IceHogs and 13 goals and 11 assists in 20 games with the Fuel.

McLaughlin spent most of 2019-20 as a fourth-line skater and penalty killer. Lately, he has seen a lot of top-six minutes and also has a spot on a power-play unit. As a result, McLaughlin is having his most noticeable stretch in his short IceHogs career.

Rockford got game-winning overtime goals from McLaughlin in consecutive victories over Grand Rapids on Saturday and Tuesday. He also assisted on the two goals that tied each game for the IceHogs.

McLaughlin, who spent four seasons at Canisius College before starting his pro career, is now second on the team in scoring with seven points (2 G, 5 A) in ten games for Rockford. So far this season, he’s made the most of the chances afforded to him.

 

Roster News

On Tuesday, it was announced that the Blackhawks had signed forward Josiah Slavin to a two-year entry contract that begins this fall. The IceHogs inked Slavin, whose season at Colorado College ended recently, to an amateur tryout, which should run through the rest of the AHL season.

Wednesday, Rockford assigned G Tom Aubrun to the Indy Fuel of the ECHL. The Blackhawks sent F Brandon Pirri from the taxi squad to the IceHogs. Pirri had two goals and an assist in two games with Rockford earlier this month.

D Anton Lindholm got into his first game action of the season for Rockford Tuesday after suffering a broken thumb in training camp. Also returning to action Tuesday was forward Michal Teply.

 

Tuesday, March 16-Rockford 2, Grand Rapids 1 (OT)

Rockford won its second-straight game in Grand Rapids, prevailing in nearly the exact manner of Saturday’s overtime victory. This time, Matt Tomkins made 46 saves, allowing Dylan McLaughlin to pot another game-winner for the Hogs.

The Griffins took advantage of an ill-advised pass attempt by Hogs rookie defenseman Alec Regula to take a 1-0 advantage midway through the first period. Regula was in the corner of his own zone and tried to send a no-look backhand pass to Dylan McLaughlin.

The pass did not connect; instead, the puck found the stick of Givani Smith. A quick pass to Chase Pearson at the left post was knocked past Tomkins at the 10:26 mark. The Hogs were out shot 16-9 in the opening twenty and went to the locker room down a goal.

Rockford capitalized on a Griffins turnover to tie the game early in the second stanza. Grand Rapids captain Brian Lashoff was unable to gather in a bouncing puck in the corner of the Griffins zone. McLauglin swooped in to take control and sent the puck out to Cody Franson at the right point.

Franson’s shot was stopped by Grand Rapids goalie Calvin Pickard, but McLaughlin gathered in the rebound and sent it to the blue paint. Gabriel Gagne slid the biscuit across the goal line 1:15 into the second to make it a 1-1 game.

The Griffins kept Rockford on its heels for most of the remainder of the second period. Tomkins, as he had in Saturday’s Hogs victory, kept his team in the game with many point-blank stops. Grand Rapids out shot the piglets 16-3 in the third period. Tomkins sent them away time and again, including two power plays in the final twenty minutes.

The ending was short, sweet, and nearly a carbon copy of Saturday’s triumph. The Griffins won the opening faceoff in Gus Macker Time and got set to bring it up the ice. A long stretch pass knocked the stick out of Tim Soderlund’s hands, effectively making it a 3-on-2 Grand Rapids advantage. No matter.

Issak Phillips retrieved the loose puck and skated into the offensive zone. With all three Griffins defenders surrounding him at the right dot, Phillips dropped a pass to McLaughlin. The resulting shot to the far corner caught twine and earned Rockford the win 19 seconds into the extra session.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Andrei Altybarmakyan-MacKenzie Entwistle-D.J. Busdeker

Matej Chalupa-Evan Barratt-Michal Teply

Tim Soderlund-Dylan McLaughlin-Gabriel Gagne

Riley McKay-Garrett Mitchell (C)-Mitchell Fossier

Alec Regula-Cody Franson (A)

Anton Lindholm-Michael Krutil

Issak Phillips-Dimitry Osipov

Matt Tomkins

Cale Morris

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for game updates, news, and thoughts on the IceHogs throughout the season.

 

 

Hockey

Everything’s Going South – Hawks @ Lightning, Games 30-31

By Andy Jonathan 1025

 VS

 

Records: Hawks 14-11-5 (33) Lightning 20-6-2 (42)

Puck Drops: Thursday 6:00 / Saturday 3:00

TV/Radio: NBCSN and WGN 720

Tom Brady’s Minions: Raw Charge

 

Hoo boy, here we go again.

The last time these teams met up over a week ago, things went fairly positively for the Hawks with them going 1-1-1 in the 3 game series. The last game on the 7th, however, saw the Hawks cough up a 3 goal lead en route to losing 6-3. Since the middle of February, coughing up leads has become a shitty new trend for them as they once again jumped out to a 3-1 lead against the Panthers last game and proceeded to implode defensively again en route to yet another 6-3 loss. As Summer pointed out in her recap, the Hawks since the beginning of February have been unable to hold multi-goal leads in 7 of 9 games where they’ve had them. That, as the kids like to say, is “not good.”

The clown show that March has been is unlikely to get any better over the next week, as not a whole lot has changed with the Lightning since the Hawks last faced them. They dropped a game each against the dregs of the division in the Red Wings and Predators. The common thread in both those losses is that Andrei Vasilevskiy was not in the cage for either of them. In fact, Vasilevskiy hasn’t lost a game in almost a month, as his last L came on February 20th against the Canes. His backup, however, has not fared nearly as well. Curtis McElhinney has managed to go 2-3 in the same time frame, averaging more than 1.5 more goals against than Vasilevskiy does, with a considerably worse save percentage.

Despite the difference in netminder quality, Tampa head coach and professional hedonist John Cooper continues to split playing time between the two at about a 60-40% rate. Mostly because Cooper is smart enough to know that the talent level on his squad is more than enough to make up for any deficiencies in net, and it’s far more important to keep Vasilevskiy rested and healthy as they inevitably roll towards the playoffs.

Offensively, the Lightning don’t have many weak spots up and down their lineup, either from the forwards or their defensive corps. As McClure mentioned in his preview recently, the Bolts are tops in the league in goal differential which when paired with a nails penalty kill and a top 3rd power play usually results in some easy wins. Some of those stats have dipped a bit in recent weeks, but there’s no reason to think that it’s anything more than a blip on the radar as they haven’t lost anyone to injury, and Vasilevskiy is still the bees knees.

As for our Men of the Four Feathers, March has gone pretty much the way we assumed it would points-wise. I just didn’t think it would come with such spectacular meltdowns. A huge issue with the Hawks being unable to hold leads has been the fact that the special teams well has completely dried up. If you take away the 2 power play goals scored in the win at Dallas, the Hawks have gone 0 for 13 on the man advantage and managed to give up two shorthanded goals. On the other side of that coin is the penalty kill has been completely exposed in March. Much of that is the fact that they’re playing teams that have competent power plays, but the stupid penalties like the one Duncan Keith took in the last game against Florida are particularly back breaking.

Another major concern for the Hawks is Kevin Lankinen has come crashing back to earth in net. Over his last 5 starts he’s given up an average of almost 4 goals per game (19 total), and his save percentage over those games is below .900. Rebound control has become an issue, especially since the Hawks D is unwilling or unable to clear bodies away in front of him. Malcom Subban hasn’t fared any better, and with these next stretch of games becoming uber critical points-wise I wouldn’t expect to see him until the Preds series.

Offensively, the Hawks continue to get waxed night in and night out with possession metrics. They haven’t won the CORSI battle since their overtime win against the Lightning, and continue to average around a 42% share each game. When Lankinen and the power play were humming along in February and early March, the Hawks were able to paper over their inability to score at even strength. Now, however, with all of their flaws laid bare it’s becoming apparent that they’re just a tier below the Canes, Bolts and Panthers.

The majority of the Hawks even strength scoring has come on odd man rushes and not as the result of extensive offensive zone time. More often than not, their forays into the opposing team’s zone ends up being a one and done affair. Until the Hawks are able to set up shop in the opponent’s end for extended periods of time, they’re not going to be able to rack up any offense unless they start shooting at a 50% clip.

While this all seems very grim for the Hawks (and it pretty much is), they’ve shown that they can hang with teams like Tampa before. The 1st period in their last game against them where they jumped out to a 3-1 lead is proof that when things are clicking for the power play, the Hawks can play with anyone. We’ve seen flashes of what some of these kids can do, now it just needs to become more consistent. You have to figure Cooper will probably give McElhinney a start, so the Hawks pretty much have to at least get to OT in that one. Points have been hard to come by this month, and with the Preds being the only shitty team they’ll face the rest of March they absolutely have to secure every one possible. Get it done.

 

Let’s Go Hawks

Hockey

Same Old Song and Dance – Panthers vs. Hawks Series Review: Hawks Lose Series 4-2/6-3

By Summer Corson 1286

Box Score: Game 29 / Game 30
Game Logs: Game 29 / Game 30
Natural Stat Trick: Game 29 / Game 30

The Blackhawks blew another lead? Again? This team? Are you sure? Is this déjà vu?

It’s not déjà vu, friends. The Blackhawks have blown 7 of 9 total multi-goal leads since the beginning of February, which is a staggering, incomprehensible statistic. I’m trying to be positive down here because there are still some individual efforts by players to like. Alex DeBrincat’s third-year renaissance is relieving and exciting to watch. Kane is still scoring goals, or at least being an integral part of setting up the goals. Lankinen is making highlight-reel saves (and let’s be honest, he can’t save all of them). The young kids are simultaneously fun-yet-terrifying to watch. But there’s also obviously some not great going on here that you can’t just ignore. Let’s take a look at the bullets, shall we?

  • Everyone’s adopted son Brandon Hagel showed up to this series, getting a goal in both games. Tonight’s goal kind of fell into his lap, but he was positioned well in front of the net to give the Hawks the 3-1 lead-that-once-was. Hagel is finally seeing production come out of his offensive flashes, and that should be good for his development. Screw it, keep throwing him out there.
  • Speaking of development, one day Boqvist will be a defenseman who will be crushing it every night. But right now we have to take the good with the bad. He had one of the Hawks’ two goals on Saturday and did a great job breaking up a 2-on-1 Verhaeghe chance in the 1st on Saturday. He was also not looking good during the first Panthers goal on Saturday and had some dicey plays tonight, so he definitely has room for improvement. Overall, I like watching him and I know he will continue in that positive trajectory.
  • The Hawks were able to be the first ones on the board on Saturday night with a beautiful Hagel/Kubalik passing play, where both were able to out-speed the speedy Panthers. However, the fun didn’t last long as the Panthers were able to score three goals in that same period. The first goal went off a Lankinen rebound, the second goal was a one-timer from beyond the circles, and the third was shot right in front of the net because Nikita Zadorov didn’t feel like playing defense, I guess. A valiant effort, everyone!
  • Penaltypalooza Night Two happened tonight with a ridiculous 9 penalties all game. Once again, just like the last Tampa game, the opponents were able to capitalize on these powerplay opportunities (and one shorthanded opportunity) and the Hawks were not. Taking irredeemably stupid penalties over and over again and not being able to kill them is not a winning formula. It’s costing us games and points. Every time I mention the penalties I say, “please end it, thank you.” And they never do. So I give up here.
  • The revolving door of centers for Kane and the Cat continued tonight, as it seems like every active center on this team now has tried out with them this series and nobody has really stuck. It shows our lack of depth at center with Toews and Dach still out. Hopefully Dach will be back soon and will be able to slot back in there for a dynamite line, if our playoff hopes are still alive by then.

The Blackhawks’ hellacious schedule doesn’t let up, as we are back to face the Tampa Bay Lightning through the weekend. Last series was incredibly entertaining, the definition of FUN hockey. Hopefully the Hawks’ confidence isn’t shot after this series and they will come in ready to play, and more of that FUN will ensue. Onward.

Hockey

High On The Hog: Tomkins Delivers In Return To The Crease

By Jon Fromi 990

The Rockford IceHogs currently have four goalies on the roster. Matt Tomkins was tabbed the primary starter before the start of the 2020-21 season. Fresh off of a stint on the Blackhawks taxi squad, Tomkins has shown why he earned that role.

Tomkins has a tough job as the last line of defense for a Rockford squad that is short on experience and lacks the talent depth of other teams in the AHL. That said, the 26-year-old goalie put together solid performances in his last two starts against the Grand Rapids Griffins.

The highlight was a 42-save outing in Rockford’s 2-1 overtime victory Saturday night. The IceHogs were dominated everywhere but on the scoreboard at Van Andel Arena by a Griffins club that had stifled the piglets in three previous meetings.

Tomkins made point-blank stops on several crucial power play opportunities for Grand Rapids and kept the Hogs in contention all evening. All this in just his second game back since being called up to the taxi squad on February 26.

Before starting Thurday’s game with the Griffins, Tomkins had last seen game action February 22. In that game, he was blitzed for six goals by Cleveland, giving way to backup Cale Morris.

Tomkins was recalled in order to provide a conditioning assignment for Collin Delia. He did his best to use the time in Chicago to kick his game up a notch.

“It was a good change of pace, a good experience,  Tomkins said while in a media availability March 9, the day after he was returned to the IceHogs. “It was good to be around those guys, good to be around the group, coaches. Get different feedback, different eyes. It was a positive experience.
I tried to take as much out of it as I could, and it went really well.”

Delia was down with Rockford to get some game action and to build some confidence. Tomkins, in turn, got a chance to work with Jimmy Waite, Chicago’s goal tending coach. The added mentoring fit in quite well with developmental goalie coach Peter Aubry, according to Tomkins.

“There was nothing really glaring, in my opinion, coming in there that I wanted to work on,” Tomkins explained. “It’s good to just kind of see the things that he (Waite) thinks are important. I think there’s a lot of overlap with what Pete teaches here as well. It’s good to see his (Waite’s) perspective on specific scenarios, how he likes his guys to play them.”

“Just a lot of communication,” Tomkins continued, “that was the biggest thing, just talking through scenarios, talking through how to play different situations and, yeah, just a lot of goalie talk, which was good.”

When the 16-day gap between game action was pointed out to Tomkins, he was unfazed. “I’ve gone through this experience a lot before, especially last year. I had long stretches between games. Nothing I haven’t seen before.”

Tomkins was the third goalie behind Delia and Kevin Lankinen last season. With the former playing below expectations and the latter battling injury, Tomkins played well in nine starts throughout the first four months. He earned his first NHL contract January 23, a two-year deal that is up following this season.

After signing, Tomkins was used sparingly. The organization chose to give most of the workload to Delia after Lankinen underwent shoulder surgery. From his signing until the season was halted, Tomkins got just four starts. He was in net for Rockford’s final game last spring, a 3-2 overtime loss to Chicago March 8.

The Blackhawks drafted Tomkins in the seventh round of the 2012 NHL Draft. After a final year in the Alberta Junior Hockey League, he spent four seasons at Ohio State. After a 12-5-3 record with the Buckeyes in his senior season to go along with a 2.48 GAA and a .909 save percentage, he signed an AHL contract with Rockford.

Tomkins appeared in eight games with the IceHogs in his rookie season of 2017-18, but spent most of those first two years with the Indy Fuel of the ECHL. In 2018-19, he made 54 appearances for the Fuel, nabbing an ECHL Player Of The Week Award on three different occasions.

Tomkins spent all of last season with the IceHogs, save for the time he spent on Team Canada’s winning Spengler Cup squad. He picked up a win for Team Canada against HC Davos, making 22 saves in a 5-1 victory.

For the first time in his four-year professional career, Tomkins is getting starters minutes for the IceHogs. As the only NHL contract in Rockford at the moment, it makes sense to give him the opportunity to show off his game. He has certainly earned it.

Cale Morris had solid night in his first AHL start back on February 23. The Hogs also have Tom Aubrun on the roster. While Tomkins was with Chicago, Rockford signed KHL goaltender Ivan Nalimov to an AHL contract for this season. How does having three goalies behind him looking for playing time affect his mindset?

“I’ve certainly learned something over my career that giving that stuff attention and thinking about these things doesn’t serve you any good,” Tomkins said. “I just try to focus on myself. It certainly is something that’s very much out of my control.”

 

The Talent Gap Is Wide

I’ve been crowing about how much more experience and physical play Grand Rapids brings to these match-ups with the piglets. Maybe I’m overstating the fact.

Then again, maybe I’m not.

Grand Rapids AHL experience on its roster: 3442 games.

Rockford AHL experience on its roster: 1993 games. (Much of those by Garrett Mitchell and Cody Franson)

NHL contracts in the Griffins lineup Saturday: 14

NHL contracts in the IceHogs lineup Saturday: 5

The IceHogs are by far the least experienced team in the Central Division. Every other team Rockford will play the rest of this season will be have these advantages over the Hogs.

 

Saturday, March 13-Rockford 2, Grand Rapids 1 (OT)

Matt Tomkins stood on his head to pick up a big road win for the piglets. Tomkins was the game’s First Star with a 42-save performance.

The Griffins took control of the action from the opening drop of the puck, camping out in the Rockford zone and heaping vulcanized rubber upon Tomkins. Through 40 minutes, he was up to the challenge. Tomkins had 30 saves in the first and second periods. Rockford, on the other hand, found the going rough in the offensive end, getting just ten shots to Griffins goalie Kevin Boyle.

Grand Rapids broke the scoreless tie early in the third. Taro Hirose picked off a clearing attempt along the left half boards and sent a puck toward the crease. Kyle Criscuolo was on hand to redirect past the blocker of Tomkins at 2:27 of the final period.

The Hogs responded with a power play goal by Matej Chalupa at the 7:25 mark. The Hogs capitalized on an abbreviated man advantage when Chalupa converted on a long rebound of an Evan Barratt shot that came all the way out to the right circle.

From there, Tomkins hung on like grim death, ending regulation with 39 stops. He made three more in Gus Macker Time, the last of which set up the game winner.

Tomkins made a shoulder save of a Givani Smith attempt. The rebound went out to Dylan McLaughlin at the top of the Hogs zone. McLaughlin headed up an odd-man rush into Griffins territory, ending the game with a snap shot from the left dot 2:14 into overtime.

McLaughin’s first goal of the season earned him Second Star honors. Criscuolo was named the game’s Third Star.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Dylan McLaughlin-MacKenzie Entwistle-D.J. Busdeker

Matej Chalupa-Evan Barratt-Chris Wilkie

Riley McKay-Garrett Mitchell (C)-Tim Soderlund

Mitchell Fossier-Chad Yetman-Gabriel Gagne

Alec Regula-Cody Franson (A)

Issak Phillips-Michael Krutil

Cliff Watson-Dimitry Osipov

Matt Tomkins

Cale Morris

 

Coming Up

Rockford heads back to Grand Rapids for a Tuesday night affair. The IceHogs then host Iowa Friday and Saturday.

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for thoughts on the IceHogs all season long.

 

 

Hockey

Miami Vice – Hawks @ Panthers, Games 29 & 30

By Andy Jonathan 1362

VS

 

Records: Hawks 14-9-5 / Panthers 17-5-4

Puck Drops: Saturday and Monday 6:00 PM

TV/Radio: NBCSN and WGN 720

Swamp People: Litter Box Cats

 

OLD FRIEND ALERT: The Hawks travel to the tip of America’s Penis to take on the Joel Quennville-led Florida Panthers over the weekend. The last time the Hawks ventured this far south during the season opening road trip the Panthers dong whipped them up and down the ice, dropping 10 goals on them in the two games they played. Since that time, the Swamp Cats have been one of the more consistent teams in the league despite getting lower than average goaltending out of their high priced free agent, Sergei Bobrovski.

While Bob has played much better of late, winning his last four starts has only brought his save percentage up to a cool .903 to prop up his 3+ GAA. He’s also been splitting way more starts than the front office of the Panthers probably would’ve liked, only starting 2 more games than his “backup” Chris Driedger (.920 sv/2.44 GAA).

This blip in Bob’s goaltending stats hasn’t prevented the Cats from racking up the points, however. The Panthers as a team average the most shots per game in the entire NHL, and as a whole are shooting an even 10%. They also have a fairly deadly power play unit (though not currently as deadly as the Hawks), scoring just over 26% of the time, which does not bode well for our men of the four feathers.

The majority of the Panthers offense flows through Jonathan Huberdeau, who leads the team with 32 points (which puts him 7th in the league, 4 spots behind Kane’s 40). Huberdeau is a monster at controlling the puck at both even strength and the power play, averaging a 56% CORSI for this season while keeping the ice tilted in the Panthers favor. He also racks up the points on the power play, and kills penalties. So he’s…kinda good.

After Huberdeau comes another possession beast the Hawks D will have to worry about in Aleksander Barkov. Drafted 2nd overall by the Cats in 2013, Barkov has lived up to the hype despite playing on some absolutely dogshit teams the past 8 years. A big boy at 6-3″ 220, Barkov has the legs and wingspan to create space in the opposing zone, as well as the finesse to finish off his shots. Much like Jonathan Toews, he was expected to do everything at the beginning of his career. From running the power play, to killing penalties and taking defensive zone draws. Now that the Panthers have a more well rounded forward corps, he’s been used more appropriately as a purely offensive weapon. The switch paid off handsomely, as in 2019 he topped his previous career high in points by almost 20 with 96. He’s found a quality running mate on his line with Carter Verhaeghe, who’s potted 9 thus far with Barkov centering him.

On the back end Keith Yandle is still here. He’s had a minor resurgence this season offensively with 17 points to his credit, but has been less than stellar on the defensive end. This is probably why Coach Q has him start almost 70% of his shifts in the offensive zone. In addition to Yandle’s points, the Panth have been getting excellent production out of Aaron Ekblad thus far this season, and that’s with him picking up the slack of Yandle’s offensive zone starts. In addition (just because you knew Coach Q had to have THAT ELEMENT on the team), professional asshat Radko Gudas is here, taking runs at people and generally being a boil on the taint of hockey.

For our Men of the Four Feathers, they come off a split series against the Stars that saw them get completely owned on every spot on the stat sheet except the one that counted in the 2nd game. Managing to score 4 goals of 8 shots in 2 periods isn’t something that you want to depend on going forward. The powerplay seems to have come back to earth a little bit, though they were able to notch a goal in the second game against Dallas with a nifty shot by Top Cat combined with a quality screen by Carl Soderberg.

Not much in the way of lineup changes in this series, though I would most likely expect Kevin Lankinen to get both the starts as Malcom Subban looked urpy again in his last game. The Hawks still haven’t found a way to get consistent pressure on the opposing team during 5 on 5 hockey, so they’re going to have to rely on their transition game more than any team probably should. Good thing Domanik Kubalik (who’s very very good at this) only gets about 12 minutes a night. If the Hawks can get any traffic in front of Bobrovsky they’ll have a decent chance at putting a few past him. He’s been playing better, but not THAT better. Overall, they need to stay out of the box since the penalty kill has melted from a mountain of ice down to the dirty ass snow puddles left in the gutters.

If the Hawks want to keep their grip on the #4 playoff seed strong, they’re going to need a point or two out of this series. The Panthers are good, but I still think they’re a shade below the Lightning and Hurricanes. The goals are there if the Hawks can get enough pressure. 2 is nice, but 4 is preferable.

Let’s Go Hawks

Hockey

Suture Up Your Future – Hawks Split Series With Stars 6-1/4-2

By Andy Jonathan 1183

Box Scores

Game 1 / Game 2

Natural Stat Trick

Game 1 / Game 2

 

This series was a perfect microcosm of the Blackhawks season thus far, showing exactly what happens when the team:

A) Does or does not get excellent goaltending and

B) Is or is not able to create offense via the power play

Game one showed us very clearly what happens when the Hawks get mediocre or below goaltending (much like the last Detroit series) and is not able to cash in on powerplay chances, and game 2 was the exact inverse of it. Watching game 1, it was pretty clear the Hawks “Give A Shit” level was next to zero, as they were dominated by Dallas almost as soon as they stepped out of the team hotel. While in a 82 game season you’re always going to get games like that (especially in February and March), the wonkiness of this year doesn’t provide much cover for stinkers like those. It’s magnified by the fact that the Hawks are attempting to put as much distance between themselves and the Stars as Dallas attempts to climb out of it’s own grave.

Game 2 continued the season long trend of the Hawks thumbing their noses at advanced stats, getting dongwhipped in CORSI up and down the scoresheet. Yet as he has done most of the season Kevin Lankinen stood tall and kept the Stars off the board until the 3rd period, allowing the Hawks offense to build up an almost insurmountable 4 goal lead (not that they didn’t try and allow the Stars back in the game, more on that later). While not in the area of a “Must Win Game” for the Hawks just yet, it might have been for Dallas. Keeping the Stars exactly where they were before the series started was the bare minimum for our Men of the Four Feathers, so in this aspect game 2 (and the series, I suppose) was a success.

TO THE BULLETS!

NUMBERS DON’T LIE

 

-I really might need to come up with a new subtitle and image there, as the Hawks have changed their season motto from “One Goal” to “Advanced Stats Can Eat Shit.” More often than not the Hawks are getting nuked in the possession metrics, yet rolling on to victory. Game 2 was the penultimate example of this, as in the first two periods Dallas had an even strength CORSI of 75% and 70%, and a shot advantage of 22 to 8 and yet the Hawks led 4-0.  Anton Khudobin had a cool .500 save percentage before he got yanked in favor of Jake Oettinger, which I’m being told is not very good for a goalie to have, but great for a team to have shooting percentage wise.

-Seriously, just look at the Gameflow chart from last night. If you had no idea of the score and saw that, you’d assume that the Hawks were the team down 4-0 and not the other way around. It boggles the mind. If the Hawks were a baseball team, they’d have a BABIP of about .654.

-As long as Kevin Lankinen continues to keep the Hawks in games like he did, the Hawks have enough weapons offensively to continue to get points. If that well dries up anytime soon, things are going to get itchy as far as the playoff race is concerned. Honestly, the Hawks entire postseason hopes rest on his shoulders because the team is a clown rodeo in it’s own end. On the first Stars goal last night there were not 1 but 3 different Hawks below the goal line. I don’t know if that happens due to a lack of communication, lack of defensive structure, or some other deadly combination but it cannot continue.

-Speaking of things that need to stop, Dominik Kubalik got a whopping 12:30 of ice time last night despite scoring a goal 2 minutes into the fucking game. What exactly does he need to do to get on the ice more? He’s 3rd on the team in both goals and points behind Kane and Top Cat, and yet he plays on average 40% less than those two. Meanwhile Kampf, Soderberg, Janmark and Carpenter all played at least 3 more minutes than Kubalik. Those four guys are nice players, but none of them can even come close to doing what Kubalik can do with the puck. THIS HAS TO STOP, but we all know it won’t.

-Adam Boqvist is going to be a world killer someday, but these last few games he’s shown just how unrefined he still is on the defensive end. His ill-timed jump into the play and subsequent confusion as to which man was his after Duncan Keith played the puck carrier lead directly to the Stars first goal in game 1. He was also one of the 3 Hawks defenders below the goal line leading to Roope Hintz (who’s name can be rearranged to spell Zither Poon) being all alone in front of Lankinen. Once he can fortify this part of his game he’s going to be pretty unstoppable, because his offensive abilities are otherworldy.

-Carl Soderberg might not be the second coming of Thomas Holmstrom, but as long as he continues to park his ass directly in the opposing goalie’s line of sight on the power play I’ll take it. His screen of Khudobin on DeBrincat’s power play goal in the 2nd was picture perfect, and it’s probably the most underrated part of his game.

-Game 1 was a mess, and the less said about it the better. Kane’s 1,000th game was only memorable for all of the video tributes shown throughout, highlighted by a message from The Captain himself, Jonathan Toews. I’m not going to speculate on what he’s fighting with, but I was very glad to see and hear from him again. The Hawks could definitely use his experience at the dot, as they got smoked at the faceoff circle 61-39 and 54-46 in the series. Get well, Cap.

-The split in the series puts the Hawks at 14-9-5 (33 points), putting them 7 up on Columbus after they farted away a 2 goal lead to the Panthers last night. They’re also 12 points up on Dallas, which burned through 2 of their games in hand.

-Next up for the Hawks in their stretch of difficult March games is Coach Q’s Panthers, the team 5 points ahead of the Hawks in the standings. If the Hawks can take half the possible points in each series for the rest of the month, it’ll be hard for anyone behind them in the rankings to catch up. Let’s hope Lankinen’s joints are up to the task. No pressure.

Let’s Go Hawks.

 

Hockey

High On The Hog: Trying To Hang With The Griffins

By Jon Fromi 888

In two games separated by eight days, the Rockford IceHogs were out scored 12-5 by the visiting Grand Rapids Griffins. Rockford (3-8-1 on the season) and Grand Rapids (6-3) now move to Van Andel Arena for their next two games. Can the IceHogs turn the tables on Grand Rapids on Saturday and Tuesday?

That will be a tall order for the piglets.

Thursday night, the Blackhawks AHL affiliate got solid goal tending from Matt Tomkins and kept the Griffins in check for most of the first two periods. The IceHogs didn’t get blown out on the scoreboard, as was the case in last week’s 9-4 loss. However, Rockford still wound up on the short end of a 3-1 decision at the BMO Harris Bank Center.

Rockford just doesn’t have the skill in the offensive zone to compete with most AHL teams. The Hogs are dependent on getting to the net and capitalizing on rebounds and loose pucks. Rockford just doesn’t generate open looks at close range. The Griffins have excelled at this in both of their last two games at the BMO.

Thursday night, Rockford was credited with a single shot originating from the front of the Griffins net. That shot was an attempt from the point that struck the skate of D.J. Busdeker and found the net late in the contest. By comparison, 16 of 32 Grand Rapids shots came from right in front of the crease.

If your opponent bangs away from the porch and you can’t manage to penetrate even to the faceoff dots, chances are you aren’t going to win a lot of games. In both quality and quantity of shots, the IceHogs have been overwhelmed on a regular basis.

The recipe for success in Grand Rapids? Try like the devil to keep the Griffins away from the slot with the puck. Get monster performances from your goalie and make your offensive chances count. Like I said, grinding out a win at Van Andel is going to be tough for the young, inexperienced group currently toiling in ‘Bago County.

Roster News

The IceHogs announced that defenseman Chad Krys underwent shoulder surgery this week. He is expected to miss the next five to seven months. Rockford signed defenseman Cliff Watson to a PTO on Monday to compensate. Watson has spent this season as the captain of the Indy Fuel of the ECHL.

Monday afternoon, G Collin Delia, D Nicolas Beaudin, and F Reese Johnson were recalled to the Blackhawks. G Matt Tomkins and F Tim Soderlund were returned to the IceHogs. After being sent to Indy on Monday, Tom Aubrun was recalled to Rockford on Thursday after playing Tuesday night in the Fuel’s 6-0 loss to Wheeling.

Alec Regula returned to action for the first time since February 27 on Thursday. The Big Regu is currently the only NHL contract playing on Rockford’s blueline.

Cody Franson, Dmitry Osipov, and Michael Krutil are on AHL contracts. Watson and Cole Moberg are on PTOs, while Issak Phillips is on an amateur tryout until the OHL starts back up.

 

Thursday, March 11-Grand Rapids 3, Rockford 1

The IceHogs kept things close before Grand Rapids pulled ahead in the final period. However, Rockford just didn’t have enough going on in the offensive zone to keep up with the Griffins. Grand Rapids was more aggressive and moved the puck around the Hogs zone with ease.

After a scoreless first, the Griffins took advantage of a turnover in the Hogs zone by Dimitry Osipov early in the middle frame. Chase Pearson skated the puck into the high slot, dropping a pass to Riley Barber. Barber sent a high shot over the glove of Hogs goalie Matt Tomkins for a 1-0 Grand Rapids lead 2:04 into the second.

Tomkins was able to keep the IceHogs in the contest despite facing a slew of Griffins shots from close range through the first forty minutes of action. Rockford was outshot 22-11 in periods one and two; the Hogs had no shot on the Grand Rapids net as close as the faceoff dots in that time.

The dam broke in the third period. Grand Rapids put up a pair of goals in a three-minute span to take full control of the contest. The first came 6:04 into the third, when Osipov blocked an attempt by Gustav Lindstrom that bounced to the left post. Kyle Criscuola was on hand to knock the puck into the cage for a 2-0 Griffins lead.

Grand Rapids captain Brian Lashoff finished off a pretty bit of passing from Tyler Spezia. Lashoff sent his shot to the stick side of Tomkins at the 9:09 mark, making it 3-0 Griffins.

Rockford broke up Pat Nagle’s shutout bid with a goal late in the game. Michael Krutil’s long-distance offering caromed off the skate of D.J. Busdeker at 16:19 of the third, cutting the lead to 3-1. Despite pulling Tomkins (29 saves on 32 shots) for most of the final three minutes, the IceHogs could not close the gap.

Nagle had a relatively easy night in net for Grand Rapids, stopping 17 of the 18 shots the IceHogs could muster. Each team had just one attempt with a man advantage. Neither the Hogs or Griffins converted.

Lines (Starters in italics)

Rockford went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen due to the late scratch of John Quenneville.

Matej Chalupa-Evan Barratt-Andrei Altybarmakyan

Riley McKay-Garrett Mitchell (C)-Tim Soderlund

Brad Morrison-Chad Yetman-Chris Wilkie

MacKenzie Entwistle-D.J. Busdeker

Alec Regula-Cody Franson (A)

Michael Krutil-Dimitry Osipov

Issak Phillips-Cole Moberg

Cliff Watson

Matt Tomkins

Cale Morris

Follow me @JonFromi on twitter for updates on the IceHogs throughout the season.

Hockey

I Am An Elastic Firecracker – Hawks at Stars Games 27 & 28 Preview

By Matt McClure 1221

vs

Game Times: 7:30 PM
TV/Radio: NBCSN (3/9), SportsNet (3/9), NBC Sports Chicago, WGN-AM 720
Dammit Pantera, This Beer Is Warm: Defending Big D

 

As hard as it is to believe, this series in Dallas will mark the halfway point of this abbreviated campaign for the Hawks, as it’s both zipped right by and felt interminable somehow simultaneously. They’ll face a Stars team that itself is adrift and had better get things straightened out in a hurry given the onslaught of makeup games they now face after both covid and Texan disasters in the past two months.