So here’s the experiment. Every once in a while I have the idea that a “rally shot” will really help the fortunes of the Blackhawks. At the start of the period where the Hawks are down, usually the third, I will order a shot and not drink it until the Hawks score a goal. As soon as they do, I take the shot and order another. Repeat as necessary until the Hawks win the game (which means another shot) or if the lose, I pass it along to someone else. Very rarely does that seem to happen.
What this really means is that during the last 20 minutes of hockey, I consumed 4 shots along with a few beers. If this recap begins to make less and less sense and becomes riddled with more typos than usual… well, you can blame Fels. He was originally supposed to write this but might be in worst shape than I am right now.
Oh right, there was a Blackhawks game tonight, wasn’t there? I guess we should talk about that. It started off fair enough with the Hawks seemingly dominating play and taking it to Scum… at least for the first 10 minutes. On the first power play, the Hawks were able to find a good scramble in front of the net before Hossa found a way to put it across the line a split second before the net really came off the moorings. While things seemed tilted the Hawks way, it wouldn’t last. The Hawks became loose in their own end and it was only a matter of time before it felt like the Wings would score. And they did. With about a minute left in the first.
The second remained all Scum. It felt like the air was being let out of all our tires right in front of us and we were unable to stop it. Sure enough, Joakim Andersson scores about half way through the period on perhaps the softest goal we’ve seen in quite a while. Sure, the puck was on edge… but there’s no reason to stab at it unless you’re sure you can get it. It seemed all hope was lost. But yet… they were coming
The Third Period got underway and in less than 9 minutes the Blackhawks found themselves up two goals. As has been the case, it wasn’t top level talent scoring but instead we saw goals from Handzus, Bickell (OK, maybe he’s expected at this point) and Frolik. With a late goal from Brunner, it would be Frolik with the winner. Well deserved given his effort, perhaps less so given the actual penalty. Either way, we’re heading to Game 7 on Wednesday and I’m not sure I can handle it.
BULLETS:
- While Crawford did come up with some huge saves, he once again seemed to have a problem finding his net at times or just simply misread the puck. I know the puck was on edge on Scum’s second goal but that’s still a shot from so far out that you simply have to block it. I’m not expecting a catch every time but at least knock it away. That could have been the Hawks season right there if not for some Third Period heroics.
- I don’t know if I’d call this encouraging or not, but the Hawks seemed to win despite quite a few gawdawful CORSI numbers from pretty key players. Hammer in particular really seemed quite off for most the game, including a few egregious turnovers that luckily did not find the net for Scum. If the Hawks can find a way to win a game like this where they’re drastically outplayed for long stretches, it boosts our confidence a bit considering they’ve been so good at home. Though we’d have to hold hope that it continues.
- Seabrook looked alright though. That’s something, ain’t it?
- Toews once again found himself taking a stupid penalty in the second but luckily it didn’t end up costing the team as dearly as it did the last time where he took an easy stroll to the box. Finding himself out of his goal-scoring drought, we saw 19 rack up 2 points with a couple of assists. Not ideal, but we’re getting there.
- It’s encouraging to see all these Bottom-6 goals, yes?
- That certainly wasn’t fun (at least until halfway through the third) and it wasn’t the prettiest. We’ve still got one more game to go before we could move on to the game against whichever Cali team wins… Oh god, Wednesday is going to just be awful.
