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  • Game #22 You Will Find a Fortune, Though it Will Not Be the Fortune You Seek – Hawks 4, Panthers 1

    Game #22 You Will Find a Fortune, Though it Will Not Be the Fortune You Seek – Hawks 4, Panthers 1

    Box Score

    Natural Stat Trick

    Corsica

    The Hawks were absolutely dominant in the first, not so much in the second and third, but no harm was done. To the bullets:

    – So we can all feel a little better about the top line. Saad and Toews scored, and even though Toews’ was a total fluke of him batting at a flying puck that then trickled through a classically hapless Luongo, it’s still better than nothing. Saad’s goal in the first was the result of him being in the right place at the proverbial right time, and basically capitalizing on a high-danger chance in the exact way you want to see it done. Saad had seven shots in the first (unfortunately only one after that but still…), and it was simply a relief to see some production and the drought ended. Don’t get me wrong, there were still plenty of bad passes, shots with no finish, and missed opportunities by this line, but they were good enough, which is all we really needed them to be. Hopefully this augers well for the near future.

    – Kane’s goal midway in the second period was crucial. Even though it only made the score 3-1, it took the momentum right out of Florida, who had been kicking the shit out of the Hawks for the entirety of the second up to that point. It was looking like we were heading for yet another hot start where the Hawks then promptly shit the bed, but Kane’s patience with the shot showed his give-a-shit meter was at about a 7.5, and once they had a two-goal lead again the win started to feel like a foregone conclusion.

    – Which brings me to my next point: why the fuck can’t these guys maintain the pressure and momentum beyond the first period? Is it age for some guys? Inexperience for others? I don’t have the answers, but this whole awesome-first-then-blow-a-lead thing is fucking old already. They can get away with it against teams like the Panthers (especially since in this case they didn’t blow a lead but only tried to), but as we saw on Wednesday against the Lightning, when they’re playing a good team this shit just doesn’t work. If this is how it’s going to go, the Hawks need to at least score 5+ goals in every first period, and then try to just not take dumb penalties.

    – The fourth line was serviceable tonight. Bouma, Wingels, and Hayden all had a CF% over 60 at evens, and Hayden and Wingels even got some PK minutes. Hayden scored too, so that obviously helps things. Granted, they had plenty of stupid shit like Bouma whiffing on passes, but overall they were…acceptable.

    – Who’s this MacKenzie Weegar asshole? His name sounds like that of a mean-spirited character in a Roald Dahl book. He pissed me off in the second period, but luckily it amounted to nothing.

    – Speaking of amounting to nothing, the power play remained terrible. They only had one, and they did absolutely nothing with it, despite the fact that Florida is dead-last in PK percentage. I know the Hawks have had some success on the power play as of late, but they couldn’t even get a zone entry against the worst PK in the league so…that should tell you something.

    – The defense was iffy tonight, in my opinion. The Panthers got 38 shots, and while there were 11 blocks and two successful penalty kills, there were enough shaky moments to keep me on edge. For example, Crawford totally bailed out Franson on a Trocheck shot late in the second, Forsling and Rutta on the PK were scrambling, and of course Seabrook fell down a few times for good measure. Yes it worked out, and I know these are the pairings we’re stuck with for now, but it wasn’t exactly a confidence-inspiring performance.

    – However, Crawford is god. He finished the night with a .974 SV%. Yes, he let in one goal that he probably should have had, but come on, even gods make mistakes occasionally, right? I mean, look at the state of Alabama.

    OK, in all seriousness the Hawks’ possession numbers were worrisome in a way that has become a shitty trend: 83 CF% in the first, 44.7% in the second, and 43% in the third. It’s definitely not what you want to see, and again it won’t result in two points against good teams. But, they needed this win just like they need every win right now, so even though it wasn’t always pretty, it was what had to get done and they managed to pull it off. Onward and upward.

  • Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – November 25th

    Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – November 25th

    First Screen Viewing

    Capitals vs. Maple Leafs – 6pm

    Thanks to the Lightning, the Leafs have yet to ascent to the top of the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference, saving us some of the torture of listening to the Toronto-sphere either declare this the greatest team ever or already preparing the ground for their mass-self flagellation when they declare this team the greatest choke/disappointment/crash in the history of sports, as they assuredly will when the Leafs don’t win the Cup. However, since putting up a touchdown on the Canadiens, the ultimate spiking of a football, the Leafs contrived to lose to the Coyotes at home and biff a shootout to the thoroughly middling Panthers before barely squeaking by the Hurricanes. The Caps have won three of four to get to the top of the wildcard picture, tough they’ve played more games than anyone. Still, with the Isles and Devils directly above them, they’ll fancy a climb up. Two fast teams, enough scoring on hand to make it interesting.

    Second Screen Viewing

    Ducks vs. Kings – 9:30

    If you’re playing it conservative tonight after a rough holiday period, this is you entertainment. The Ducks are brining a MASH unit up the I-5, and yet the conference hasn’t really put them away as they’re two points out of both the last automatic spot in the Pacific and the last wild card. If they linger until they get healthy, could be a problem. The Kings are having a good recovery season, and yet must keep staring up at Vegas and wonder, “The fuck?” They’re a little more fun to watch now that Sam The Eagle isn’t behind the bench. If you can stand all the dumbass noise coming through your screen that Staples Center is intent on providing, these two usually put on a show.

    Other Games

    Sabres vs. Canadiens – 6pm

    Islanders vs. Senators – 6pm

    Devils vs. Red Wings – 6pm

    Lightning vs. Penguins – 6pm

    Knights vs. Coyotes – 7pm

    Wild vs. Blues – 7pm

    Jets vs. Sharks – 9pm

    Flames vs. Avalanche – 9pm

     

  • Game #22 – Hawks vs. Panthers Preview, Furniture Construction – No One Can Be Trusted, Everyone Is A Suspect

     at 

    Game Time: 6:00PM CST
    TV/Radio: NBC Sports Chicago, WGN-AM 720
    Wade County: Litter Box Cats

    As if Florida in and of itself isn’t fucking weird enough, this is the first year in nearly anyone’s memory that the Hawks are out east over the Thanksgiving weekend thanks to the long overdue demise of the animal rights violation spectacle that was the Ringling Brothers circus. So it’s a little odd that the Hawks are in Sunrise tonight to take on the Panthers (who are also weird) rather than catching the ass end of a back to back in LA after a Friday afternoon in Orange County, but again, Florida is inherently weird to begin with.

    (more…)

  • Game #22 – Hawks vs. Panthers: Spotlight – Maybe Dale Tallon Was Born On Third, Too

    Game #22 – Hawks vs. Panthers: Spotlight – Maybe Dale Tallon Was Born On Third, Too

    Because we’re angry and contrarian, we have sometimes been the lone voice–and certainly the loudest–in pointing out that the Hawks top brass were “born on third.” I.e. they inherited an already-made Cup contender and basically rode the wave by doing the very normal and customary to turn the Hawks what they have become. So while McDonough can go around and do all the puff pieces he likes, and boy does he like them, upon the 10th anniversary of his hiring, most of the hard work was already done for him.

    We love to credit Dale Tallon for handing Stan Bowman most of his Cup-winning core–Stan added a piece here or there in ’13 and ’15 of course. And yet it feels like Tallon is doing his best in Florida to also prove he was just the drunk at the craps table who had one night where he kept rolling sevens. Especially this season.

    For the past two seasons, Tallon had been kicked upstairs when owner Vincent Viola wanted to hand the reigns over more to a team of more analytic-based guys. That’s when Viola wasn’t reenacting the Battle Of The Bulge on his office floor with thousands of toy soldiers he assuredly has. And that didn’t go particularly well, though the Cats did end up with their second playoff appearance in 17 years in 2016, and their second-ever division title. Didn’t last long as they were bounced by the Islanders. Last year was sunk by injuries and Roberto Luongo’s aging, and in the frustration on not being able to build off of the momentum of the previous season, VIola went a little nuclear and reinstalled Tallon as GM and kicked most of the analytic guys to the curb. Or stripped them of their lapels or whatever it is he would do.

    Tallon seems to be basking in “getting one over” on guys who had a different way of looking at the game and building a team. After all, their division-winning outfit of 2016 was still mostly his team. But his intent on destroying what they had has bordered on lunacy. Both Jesse Marchessault and Reilly Smith, who combined for 45 goals last year and were making nothing unreasonable were lost in the expansion draft and never replaced. Useful second/third pairing d-man Jason Demers was shipped out for useful-at-nothing Jamie McGinn. You’ll be stunned to learn that the Panthers are a middling goals-for team. They didn’t have 45 goals to lose. His solution was Radim Vrbata?

    Tallon’s drafting record in Florida is spotty. Gudbranson, Bjugstad, Huberdeau, Trocheck, Matheson, Barkov, Ekblad, are all NHL-level contributors, and Huberdeau, Trocheck, Barkov, and Ekblad are almost certainly plus-NHL contributors at least. But over a six-draft period, that’s also a lot of misses. And maybe only Ekblad is a genuine top line/pairing talent? Barkov and Huberdeau are awfully good, but if they were real, NHL top-line talent would the Panthers struggle this much?

    But Tallon’s drafting record in Chicago isn’t all that great either. Yes, Toews and Kane were acquired with top three picks, and you can laugh at that all you want but plenty of GMs get those wrong. Keith, Seabrook, Bolland, Bickell, Brouwer, Crawford, Byfuglien were all in the system before Tallon got the top job. He was in the front office as an assistant of course when these picks were made, and maybe had some influence, but the buck stops with the guy cashing the checks that have “G.M.” on it.  Tallon’s first draft was the Skille-over-Kopitar one, which is…less than glowing. Though that draft saw Niklas Hjalmarsson landed.

    But past those two, top-three picks, it gets pretty ugly. And with first rounders. Kyle Beach, anyone? Shawn Lalonde, Akim Aliu, Dylan Olsen, Brandon Pirri (who at least fashioned an NHL career). Marcus Kruger was a late-round find, but as far as players that mattered to the Hawks…eeeep. It’s not Tallon’s fault of course that Kevin Hayes wouldn’t sign or Stephen Johns had to be used as the fluffer to get someone to take Patrick Sharp’s contract. So yeah, spotty.

    And one wonders how much longer the Panthers can continue to get things wrong before that market is poisoned beyond rescue. They’re middling again this year, with nothing really to suggest they’re going to be much else. Based on this, is Tallon really the one going to have the Panthers break through to a higher level? It’s not a Florida problem, as the Lightning and Steve Yzerman are proving. In fact, their lack of a state income tax should be an advantage. Why wouldn’t players want to play there? But they’re not going there if they don’t think they can win anything. Hard to see how Tallon is the one to convince them he’s the one who can bring them that feature.

    Game #22 Preview

    Preview

    Spotlight

    Q&A

    Douchebag Du Jour

    I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    Lineups

     

  • Game #22 – Hawks vs. Panthers: Q&A With Frank Rekas

    Game #22 – Hawks vs. Panthers: Q&A With Frank Rekas

    Frank Rekas is the editor of PantherParkway.com. Follow him on Twitter @FrankRekas.

    Let’s start with just what “the plan” is in Florida. They fired all the guys they hired to take the team in a more modern and analytic direction after about 12 minutes, and brought back Dale Tallon. But the team doesn’t appear to be any better and in fact there have been a couple bewildering decisions. What’s going on here?

    The Florida Panthers are good at one thing: Being consistently inconsistent.  When Dale Tallon came to town in 2010 he had his “Blueprint” which was going to steer the Panthers in a winning direction.  Within two years the Panthers won the Atlantic Division and went to the playoffs for the first time in 10 years.  It’s been said they they may have peaked too early, or that a lot of players had career seasons that year and it was just luck.  Regardless, that was as fun of a season as South Florida had seen in years.  But good things in South Florida don’t last forever and that season was followed by the lockout year, and then the wheels fell off in 2013-2014 and Kevin Dineen was fired because, why not?  It must have been his fault.  It was a roster that was put together with duct tape and staples.  Nothing went right other than re-acquiring Roberto Luongo at the trade deadline.  With new ownership in place, changes were going to be made and they were, starting with a new head coach Gerard Gallant.  The team improved by 25 points in Gallants’ first season behind the bench, followed by another division championship and playoff birth in 2015-2016. THAT’S when the demolition began.  The executives lead by what some of us call the Army Math Team and Pentagon Trading LLC decided that even though the team had it’s best season ever, they needed to make changes cause of analytics.  I’m personally not a fan of Corsi and Fenwick, but I do know that it’s a part of hockey.  They don’t measure however things like character, hockey sense and leadership.  After that season, the Panthers traded fan favorite and an up and coming leader in defenceman Erik Gudbranson.  This pissed off Gallant to no end, but he dealt with it. Until he was fired.  Replaced by then General Manager Tom Rowe, who is about as qualified for either of those positions as any one of us is.  We could likely have done better.  The 2016-2017 season was a dumpster fire.  Now to the present, where Dale Tallon is back in as the General Manager left to fix the mess that Rowe left behind.  The Tom Rowe experience in my mind has set the organization back at least two to three years.  The defense is young and inexperienced, except for Keith Yandle who doesn’t play much defense.  If you can stop the top line from scoring, you pretty much have the game won, and they aren’t tough to play against.  Beyond all this, things are great.  We’ve been told to be patient, which I responded with this,
    On the plus side, Vincent Trocheck is over a point-per-game and on his way to a career year. Any difference in his game for this or riding the percentages a bit?
    Trocheck is one of those special players.  He’s not big by NHL standards, but he plays like he is.  Never takes a shift off and is probably the real heart and soul of the team.  As one of my favorite former NHL coaches would have said, he’s gone through the “maturation process” and he’s producing like he should.  He’s on pace for a career year at a point per game clip so far, and if he had any decent wingers to play with, who knows how much he’d produce.  But he needs help.  This pace that he’s on can’t last with the linemates that he’s been given.  Hopefully that changes cause Vinny is a good kid that deserves better.  It’s been fun watching him progress and develop into the player he is today.  He has a very bright future, but will that future be here?
    We tend to separate NHL coaches and GMs on a binary scale, either Idiot or Not An Idiot and that’s it. What is Bob Boughner?  
    Well I’m not fond of his attire, something I joke about on Twitter and have offered to take him shopping.  That being said, it’s 21 games into the season, and he doesn’t really have much to work with.  While it’s too early to say he’s one or the other, he’s made some questionable moves for sure, and insists on keeping Keith Yandle and Aaron Ekblad together as the number one defensive pair.  Do you remember when the Hawks had Doug Smolek and Brad Brown on defense?  Dirk Graham was the coach for the Hawks that year and we know what happened to him. For a coach that played defense during his career, Boughner hasn’t been much of an influence.  He needs a better roster, and there are a few players that need to look in the mirror.  Otherwise Boughner is trying to get blood out of a rock.  There are some nights he looks like he’s in over his head.  Learning on the job isn’t fun, especially in South Florida.
    Jared McCann has some pretty impressive underlying numbers so far. Did the Cats steal this kid from the Canucks?
    I think it’s too early to tell on this one.  Last season he clearly wasn’t ready, and this year, up until his recent injury he looked much better.  He’s been back for a couple games, but he’s also suffering from a mixed bag of linemates.  To be honest, I’d like to reverse the trade.  Gudbranson brings more to the table, despite his poor analytics, than McCann.  The Panthers need Gudbranson’s heart, soul, and toughness.  Let’s see a full season of McCann before we pass judgement on his value.
    What’s it going to take for the Panthers not to just spasm a playoff berth every so often, but to be a consistent playoff team to build a platform to something more?
    They need to stop with all the changes and decide on a direction, other than a consistent swirl down a drain, only to come up for air once every few seasons.  It’s hard to attract players and coaches to an organization when there’s so much change and a history of turmoil.  Yes, it’s sunny South Florida where there’s no state income tax, but honestly, why do you think so many over 35 year old free agents like it here?  No media attention, South Beach, perfect weather during the season, and a great place to retire. Which some players have done while still under contract.  But there’s no pressure to win.  Mediocrity and complacency are being touted as patience.  With the deal the team has with the arena, they aren’t going anywhere, yet with attendance down again, and the team unable to string together three consecutive wins, it’s depressing.  The owners haven’t been afraid to spend money, that’s not the issue.  It’s how they’ve spent it that’s the concern.  That unfortunately is a much longer discussion. The other issue is that the cupboard is thin.  No one in the minors appears to be ready to step in and contribute.  After having been touted as having a plentiful minor league system just a few seasons ago, there’s nothing.  The fan base deserves and wants more.  Patience is thin.  What’s it going to take?  It’s going to take an attitude that losing isn’t acceptable for starters.  Players will need to be held accountable no matter how much money they’re making.  And it’s going to take a change in culture.  The team has no chemistry and it shows.  They were on the way to respectability just two seasons ago.  But ownership apparently isn’t aware of one of the most common phrases:  “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.  Unfortunately they thought things needed to be fixed and they were wrong.
  • Game #22 – Hawks vs. Panthers: Douchebag Du Jour – Radim Vrbata, Master Of The Goal That Doesn’t Matter

    Game #22 – Hawks vs. Panthers: Douchebag Du Jour – Radim Vrbata, Master Of The Goal That Doesn’t Matter

    Did you know Radim Vrbata has played over 1,000 games in the NHL? We bet you didn’t. He’s been around now for 15 seasons, if you can believe it. And that comes straight, there was never a year where Vrbata bounced between the AHL and NHL. He was called up, and he’s been here ever since.

    He’s piled up 282 goals in his NHL career, and how many of them mattered? Well, he has eight career playoff goals in four tries in the postseason. Only once has Vrbata been past the first round, that 2011 Coyotes run you remember so fondly. And even with 16 playoff games that year, Vrbata managed two goals. That three-year run in Glendale comprises almost all of Vrbata’s playoff experience, with a brief glimpse in ’15 with the Canucks when they somehow goofed a playoff spot before getting impaled by the Flames, who themselves weren’t really any good either.

    Vrbata has spent a lifetime in the shadows, scoring enough goals for teams that don’t really matter to mark himself out for that team or another team needing somewhat cheap scoring. He’s hockey’s version of Brian Roberts or late-career Adam Dunn or Jhoulys Chacin. He’s hockey’s running back, eminently disposable but effective enough to find work, like Darren Sproles or Marion Barber. If this were the NBA he’d be the shoosty swingman off the bench, a hockey Joe Johnson. He just keeps popping up and doing just enough to be forgotten.

    But hey, he had that streak of shootout goals against the Hawks, and all were a deke and a backhand. You, like most of the Hawks fans you know, were screaming at your TV because you knew what was coming. Chances are Corey Crawford did, too. And it didn’t matter. You already knew what it looked like, and yet you sat there watching it unfold again. And then it faded.

    Pretty much encapsulates Vrbata’s career.

    Game #22 Preview

    Preview

    Spotlight

    Q&A

    Douchebag Du Jour

    I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    Lineups

     

  • Game #22 – Hawks vs. Panthers: I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    Game #22 – Hawks vs. Panthers: I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    All at even-strength except where noted.

    Expected Goals: Goals team “should” have scored and given up based on amount and types of chances created and surrendered, given neutral goaltending. 

    Time On Ice Percentage: Share of team’s even-strength time player skates

    Off. Zone Start Percentage: Ratio of shifts for player that start in offensive zone

    TOI% of Competition: Time On Ice Percentage of competition player skates against

    Game #22 Preview

    Preview

    Spotlight

    Q&A

    Douchebag Du Jour

    I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    Lineups

  • Game #22 – Hawks vs. Panthers: Lineups

    Game #22 – Hawks vs. Panthers: Lineups

    All analytic stats at even-strength.

    Game #22 Preview

    Preview

    Spotlight

    Q&A

    Douchebag Du Jour

    I Make A Lot Of Graphs

    Lineups

  • Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – November 24th

    Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight – November 24th

    Lots of afternoon stuff today, so we’ll get this out early to get you ready for your viewing as you avoid going anywhere that might have any retail shops anywhere near it.

    First Screen Viewing

    Predators vs. Blues – 7pm

    Those who would be king against those who simply won’t vacate the throne at the moment. This would be a good time for a “St. Louis and throne-as-toilet” joke, but I’m still coming down from tryptophan and scotch. So you’re going to have to deal with me at less than full speed today. The Blues are head and shoulders above the Central and West as a whole, and if any team is going to haul them in in the division it’s probably Nashville (and maybe Calgary in the conference overall). The Preds have only lost once since Kyle Turris showed up, and they’ve piled up 23 goals in those six games. Pretty tidy. The Blues can’t seem to lose either, and it’s kind of a wonder there isn’t more play about how Mike Yeo is a better coach than Ken Hitchcock right now as he’s doing this with a worse and more injured roster than the one Hitch got himself fired from last year. Food for thought. With all apologies to the Jets (meaning none), these are the two best teams in the Central right now and if the Preds are going to make a charge, they probably need this one as a seven-point-gap even only a quarter of the way through a season is more than miniscule.

    Second Screen Viewing

    Oilers vs. Sabres – 6pm

    First off, it’s funny because both these teams blow when their entitled fanbases thought they could actually be something this year. But really, this is just another chance to bitch about how the NHL markets itself. Here you have a day that the NHL is actively trying to mark out some territory in, as they’ve surrendered Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day to the NFL and NBA, and when the former encroaches on New Years Day the NHL is all too happy to move it’s signature, regular-season event, too. But Black Friday seems to be something where they see an opportunity. And every year, it’s some combination of Rangers, Flyers, Bruins, Penguins. That’s it. Because they’re all in the East and can be shoehorned into the noon time-slot because the NHL is too chicken-shit to try and put it at a real time and NBC also just has to show… looks up…Ellen’s show? And hey, I love Ellen to an irrational degree but come on here.

    So here’s a game between two of the game’s biggest young stars, including the best player in the league right now. What would be more interesting? McDavid and Eichel (with the latter playing for a rabid and large fanbase which is the only thing the NHL cares about when scheduling this) or another game between two teams the hockey world has already gotten bored of? I’ll hang up and listen for my answer.

    Other Games

    Penguins vs. Bruins – noon

    Jets vs. Ducks – 3pm (Ha, the Hawks were replaced by the Jets for this traditional game)

    Avalanche vs. Wild – 3pm

    Islanders vs. Flyers – 3pm

    Lightning vs. Capitals – 4pm

    Sharks vs. Knights – 5pm

    Canucks vs. Devils – 6pm

    Red Wings vs. Rangers – 6pm

    Senators vs. Blue Jackets – 6pm

    Maple Leafs vs. Hurricanes – 6:30

    Kings vs. Coyotes – 8pm

    Flames vs. Stars – 8pm

     

  • Game #21 – My Way, Your Way, Anything Goes Tonight – Hawks 2, Ning 2 (Lightning Win Three-Legged Race)

    Game #21 – My Way, Your Way, Anything Goes Tonight – Hawks 2, Ning 2 (Lightning Win Three-Legged Race)

    Box Score

    Hockey Stats

    Natural Stat Trick

    After an electric 1st period, the Hawks saw why the Lightning are the best team in the NHL. To the bullets.

    – This game was a goaltending clinic. Between Crawford stoning the best power play in the league and Vasilevskiy making several unbelievable saves against Saad, Panik, and Kane in OT, there was no shortage of magic in the crease. Only injury will keep these two from being Vezina finalists.

    – The PK was brilliant yet again. Despite six straight minutes of shorthanded time in the 1st period, 42 seconds of which were of the 5-on-3 variety, the Hawks escaped unscathed. You can thank Crawford yet again for coming up large on the 5-on-3, stopping three shots, but the PK as a whole looked tight throughout.

    – What Patrick Kane giveth, Patrick Kane taketh away. He was a complete dynamo in the 1st, lifting a sharp wrister over Vasilevskiy’s glove and burying a horrible-angle shot on the Hawks’s 5-on-3 later in the period. But from the 2nd period on, Kane obviously began to think more about the night he will inevitably spend slicking copious amounts of gel through both his and Jon Cooper’s slimily coifed, over-fragranced hairdos as they hop from humid dive bar to humid dive bar. He had a sloppy drop pass on the PP in the 2nd that nearly led to the Ning’s second SH goal, and he continued to leave drop passes in bad spots throughout. And while Vasilevskiy is obviously the real deal, you still expect him to pot a breakaway opportunity in OT. Kane’s performance was reflective of the Hawks’s as a whole: incredible start, leftover-turkey fart to finish.

    – I’m getting really itchy about Brandon Saad’s inability to score lately. He had two excellent opportunities that he just couldn’t finish. The first was on a 3-on-1 on the PP. It looked like he wanted to bank the shot off Vasilevskiy’s pad for a rebound to Wide Dick, but with a 3-on-1, I was hoping for a centering pass. Maybe the angle was off for a pass, but the shot selection seemed a bit desperate and rushed. Of course, when that shot didn’t go in, the Ning turned around and scored (Kane’s spaciness on the far boards was also a factor), and continued to tilt the ice. Then in the 3rd, after a sweet feed from Toews, Saad couldn’t finish again. His shooting percentage is now at 5.4% when you discount the first two games, well off his career pace. I’m confident he’ll find it, but sooner would be better than later.

    – Saad wasn’t the only guy to biff prime chances tonight. Panik, Schmaltz, and Forsling all had near misses, with Forsling’s being the least egregious with a shot off the post in the 2nd. But Panik getting denied by Vasilevskiy in the 3rd after Saad’s denial was especially frustrating. Again, Vasilevskiy is excellent, but with a yawning net, it’s got to go in. It’s now been 12 games since his last goal. And Schmaltz’s wide shot after a prime feed from Anisimov on the doorstep on a 2-on-1 is inexcusable for a guy with hands that good.

    – This was one of Connor Murphy’s best games. His even-strength Corsi was an absurd 78.95%, and his positioning and physicality throughout the game were consistently outstanding and well-placed. I want to see him get more time on the ice, both in general and on the PK, but in nearly 14 minutes tonight (0:55 on the PK), he showed the defensive prowess that the Hawks brought him in for.

    – The Hawks CF%s at evens tonight by period: 59+, 26+, 46+. So you’ll take the pity point.

    – Three-on-three OT is still stupid, but it was fun watching Crow and Vasilevskiy trade amazing saves.

    If and when the stable of Toews, Panik, and Saad pull their shooting percentages out of their ass slings, the Hawks are going to crack off some sort of 20-points-in-10-games streak. You feel this team starting to jell, but time is of the essence.

    Safe holidays to everyone this week.

    Booze Du Jour: Woodford Reserve

    Line of the Night: Everything, because I didn’t have to listen to Mike Milbury at all.