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Fugue State – Wild 2, Hawks 2 (Wild Win Scattergories)

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Box Score
Game Summary
War On Ice

It’s Trevor Van Riemsdyk’s world, we’re all just living in it.

The hour is getting late for a team that clearly cannot see its own home and road splits. And lately even the UC hasn’t been particularly kind to the Hawks, having won just a single game against a Western conference opponent since the conclusion of the post-All-Star road swing.

As is foretold by numerous ancient prophecies, the Wild jumped out to a 2-0 early in the second period after a wholly catatonic first period on the backs of goals by Erik Haula and Nino Niederreiter. As Sam noted in print, if these two could play the Hawks 82 times a year, they’d be Sid and fucking Geno. Andrew Shaw tried his best to drag this team by the dick into being interested by scoring a goal of his own on a toe drag and then starting the play that led to Richard Panik’s wrap around. Yet another third period at home of the Hawks getting shelled in shots against begat an overtime that featured Zach Parise boning the most gaping of empty nets on a Hawks’ penalty kill, allowing the Wild to take things in the shootout after the Hawks failed to pierce Devan fucking Dubnyk.

Observations

    • Teflon Van Riemsdyk played 28:16 of a 65 minute game. Let that sink in. In a game that had both Ryan Suter and Duncan Keith, TVR was barely behind both in ice time. For a coach that has no patience for young, puck moving defensemen such as Nick Leddy and Erik Gustafsson, Joel Quennville has clearly made the slow, poor decision making, light in the ass Van Riemsdyk the one young blue liner he is going to develop in the middle of a divisional chase. What a strange hill to die on.
    • TVR’s ice time came at the expense of Gustafsson, who played 6:31, none of it after the second intermission.
    • There is zero suddenness to Andrew Ladd’s game anymore, and he, Toews, and Hossa aren’t working as a scoring line. They’re a glorified checking line at this point, merely absorbing other teams even at home. And even then they’re not doing that fantastic of a job with all three in the red 5v5 tonight.
    • Parise’s OT miss might be the most egregious boning of an empty net since Patrik Stefan. He had time to corral the pass, settle it down, light a smoke, scratch his nuts, check his Tweets, and still managed to shank the shot before Scott Darling ever even entered the frame on the reverse angle shot. And then topped it off by missing in the shootout. Bravo.
    • Keep your head up, Garbage Dick.
    • Artemi Panarin’s response is less than ideal, considering it’s an automatic penalty for accosting the deliverer of a legal hit, and he’s lucky he got a “Gentleman’s Instigator” of a roughing call instead of the bonus 10 minutes he deserved. And potentially daminging his hands is not a brilliant response either. But hey, Coach Meatball and the fans loved it, so all’s well that ends well.
  • The Tyler Seguin-less Stars come to the building on Monday, and two points in regulation are absolutely necessary if the Hawks still have any designs on the Central, which at this rate will be the #2 see and draw Nashville anyway.

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