I suppose a semi-letdown after the Stadium Series game should have been expected. I’m told that our favorite go-to terms “energy,” “intensity,” and “flat” were being thrown around the postgame show, which is what all the media run to when the Hawks lost a close game. Yeah, maybe the Hawks weren’t in the red but I don’t think they were totally listless either. In fact, I didn’t really have much of a problem with the effort or the way the Hawks played. They got Maple Leafs-ed tonight, as the Avs were ruthless on two big mistakes from the Hawks. One was Keith’s misplay of a pass, and then Oduya’s pretty stupid penalty. And of course, once again Semyon Varlamov is basically the difference.
Sure, when the Hawks are a combined 1- 3-3 against the Avs and Blues — with it looking pretty likely they’ll have to get through both in April — that doesn’t feel good. It can be a little scary, even. But I don’t know if it’s indicative of how things would go in the spring. In a twist, the Blues are 1-10 against the California teams and Vancouver where the Hawks are 6-0-3. Again, I don’t know that means anything.
It’s still early March, and the Hawks showed some signs of tightening up their game. It’s got to get better, but it probably will.
