We’ve been saying since the start of the season that if the Hawks were able to hold the opposition scoreless on the power play, they’d probably be looking at an easy victory. With the Kings coming off a night in St. Louis and (likely) victims of the Chicago flu, the Hawks coasted to a relatively stress-free 3-0 win by killing both of their penalties and capitalizing on the first power play of their own.
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If You Know The Name Of The King Being Assassinated: Kings at Hawks Preview/Trust Fall
vs. 
GAMETIME: 6pm
TV: CSN
NOBODY’S WALKIN’: The Royal Half
RECORDS: Kings 4-4-0 Hawks 4-3-1
Projected Lineups
SCORE ADJUSTED CF%: Kings – 56.0 (1st) Hawks – 51.4 (10th)
POWER PLAY: Kings – 17.5% (20th) Hawks – 22.6% (13th)
PENALTY KILL: Kings – 77.8% (21st) Hawks – Let’s not even
TRENDS: Kings have five players with a CF% of 60.0+… Zatkoff gave up five goals on 16 shots his last outing
It used to be this would raise everyone’s eyebrows when seen on the calendar. But these days, it only takes one first-round exit for both at the same time, the first West final to not feature either in five years, and suddenly it feels like we’re harkening back to something in the past to feel the rivalry between these two teams. Both getting off to somewhat wonky starts probably doesn’t help either.
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We’re Looking for you to Start Up a Fight – Blackhawks 3, Devils 2 (OT)
If there are two overarching themes to this early season, it is that the Hawks penalty kill will surrender at least one goal per game and the Hawks are a team that gets better as the game goes on.
Call Friday night in New Jersey a microcosm for the short season thus far.
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Over The River And Into The Muck: Hawks at Devils Preview/Peep Show
vs. 
GAMETIME: 6pm Central
TV: WGN
SPRINGSTEEN SUCKS: In Lou We Trust
RECORDS: Hawks 3-3-1 Devils 3-2-1
PROJECTED LINEUPS
SCORE-ADJUSTED CF%: Hawks – 51.3% (10th) Devils – 50.1% (13th)
POWER PLAY: Hawks – 19.2% (16th) Devils – 23.8% (9th)
PENALTY KILL – Hawks – Awful (Dead Ass Last) Devils – 90.0% (5th)
TRENDS: Hall has three goals and four points in the past two games, Kyle Quincey… still sucks
The Hawks will embark on a road game for only the third time this season and the last time this month. They’ll be looking for their first point on the road as well. They’ll have a pretty big chance against yet another non-descript Devils team. In fact, the Devils officially changed their name to “The Non-Descript New Jersey Devils.” You didn’t notice, because no one notices anything the Devils really do.
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Devils Spotlight: The Fantasies of Sinful Screens Of Taylor Hall
God these are getting way dated, aren’t they. Fuck I’m old. Anyway…
Let’s not bury the lede here. The Oilers are absolute fucking morons for trading Taylor Hall. Since he came into the league in 2010, here are the left wings that have outscored him: Sedin, Ovechkin (who has played right wing a lot of that time), Zetterberg (who played center for a lot of that time), Benn, Marleau, Vanek, and Sharp (who also played center for part of that period. So that’s four surefire Hall of Famers, Benn who might have a case when all is said and done, the Hall of Very Good for Sharp, and somehow Vanek got in here. These players just don’t grow on fucking trees.
In terms of analytic numbers, Hall has been far above his teammates for the last five seasons, save one. In the lockout shortened year he carried the water over 8% higher than his teammates. He’s been over 3% better than his teammates twice, and was +0.86% last year as the Oilers began to maybe sort of figure things out.
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What Am I Doing In New Jersey?: Devils Q&A With John Fischer
As we always do when the Hawks and the Devils meet up, we turn to InLouWeTrust.com maven John Fischer (@JKFischer) to find out what’s going on in the swamp. And yes, we know the Meadowlands was the swamp but we’re guessing Newark isn’t much better.
So, still laughing about the Taylor Hall trade?
I did exclaim, “I don’t miss you, Adam Larsson” after this goal by Hall. More seriously, I think it was a fantastic trade. Larsson has actually turned out to be someone that Edmonton needed and Hall is performing at a level that has been missed at forward for several years in New Jersey. More germane to your readers for this game, he’s hot right now with five goals out of 19 shots on net in the last four games. He’s essentially the Devils’ Patrick Kane. And like Kane, once he has space, he will do amazing things.
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High On The Hog: Weekend Trifecta
The Rockford IceHogs, AHL affiliate of the Chicago Blackhawks, rebounded from a rough start to the 2016-17 season this past weekend. With three games in three days, the Hogs bested Grand Rapids on the road before opening their home schedule with a pair of wins Saturday and Sunday.
Heading into the weekend, I wondered to myself where the offense was going to come from this season. Rockford’s six-point weekend may have provided an answer or two.
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Live From The Five Hole – Waiting
In the immediate moments preceding whatever Hawks/Flames was last night, Sam and Slak try to contain their Cubs Fever while all of us wonder when the PK will improve and when anything is going to begin to matter. Get a taste.
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Ides Of October: Flames 2 – Hawks 2 (Flames win Paper Football)
You live by the shootout, you die by it. Or you just take them to mean nothing because they don’t. While some will use this as an excuse to say everything’s fucked, it really isn’t. The Hawks, even as off their game as they were tonight, mauled the Flames at even-strength (which doesn’t say much for Glen Gulutzan Glen Ross). Once again, the penalty kill cost the Hawks a point this time, as it did in Nashville, and in Columbus, and would have against the Leafs if they didn’t get the two minute drill right.
