I haven’t actually bothered to look up the stats… but if memory serves me right, the Hawks tend to actually be pretty damn great when it comes to the second leg of back-to-backs. Like we saw on recent circus trip, when the Hawks should have been on their last breath, they actually ended up playing one of their most complete games.
So coming on the second game in as many days, I almost expected them to come out with their hair on fire and get close to a DLR. It’s just what happens. Only this time, not so much. We’ve seen some sloppy games but this might have been one of the worst we’ve seen for the year. The fact that it came from two of the top teams in the West, and therefore the top of the league, makes it that much more disappointing. If the Hawks shit the bed against the Oilers, we don’t get too upset. They aren’t really going to be a threat. The Ducks though, they could be a problem. As we wrote in the preview, we expected a back and forth exciting game. We didn’t get it. Both teams were garbage and the Ducks won in the silliest part of the game. Moving on…
I know we may be a skipping record when it comes to the criticsm on this site, so I’m not going to mention TOI for forwards great and small. We won’t talk about line combos. Let’s find new things to complain about, shall we?
- I did get the pleasure of yelling “Dammit Steeger” for the first time since 2010. That was probably my highlight of the game. Sorry to the child sitting in front of me but “dammit” is the least offensive thing I could probably say.
- Raanta getting the start wasn’t too surprising as the Hawks seem to realize they need to rest Craw but the Finn certainly didn’t do much to endear himself to the UC crowd. He wasn’t horrible and made a few nice saves but at the same time looked completely lost at certain moments. Woof.
- Hiller looked pretty great once again. I wish he still rocked that black matte mask though.
- Why the fuck do they start the clock again during the shootout? I know a lot of NFL players don’t realize they can tie a game after OT does the same thing happen if the shootout goes a full 20 minutes? Maybe then we get the tie Fels has been calling for.
- Speaking of Fels, if he was writing this, this is where he’d talk about the USA’s world cup group. I don’t really know anything about that though. So feel free to talk amongst yourself about that.
- Things aren’t going to get easier for the Hawks anytime soon. While the competition might not be at this level, they’re still going to be playing a hell of a lot of hockey before the new year. If they looked gassed in this game, I really don’t want to see how things look when they have 10 games in 3 weeks. Things could get a bit ugly if they can’t get it up.
- There aren’t many teams that make me nervous when it comes to the playoffs. The Ducks might be one. I don’t think they’re better than the Hawks but things seem to always tilt Anaheim’s way.
- Seabrook – not great sir. The Hawks likely should have lost in OT directly but the zebras saw goalie interference when everyone else just saw a desperation crosscheck. Woof again.
- I know everyone dislikes Corey Perry, right? But I really really dislike him. Even his face upsets me. His ears are stupid. This is kind of criticism you get at 3AM.
- I think both teams combined for about $8,000 in broken sticks tonight. Even Raanta broke one. The rarely seen broken goalie stick. I’m just going to guess those sticks cost $800.
