Or last night. Depends on your definition. Whatever.
There are many things to complain about tonight, but in the end it comes down to, “Survive and advance.” After the first 20 minutes, the Hawks were the second best team on the ice. They probably stole this one. But it doesn’t matter. You get where you can, and the Hawks did so. The historians won’t note that the Kings were the better team tonight. And that’s all that matters.
5: TSN
3-2: Chicago Tribune
Hossa’s goal is the difference: Daily Herald
“Soft” Kane scores a pretty hard goal: CSN Autoplay
Outpaced: Cheer The Anthem
Breathe: HockeeNight
Deep and going deeper: Verdi
vs. 
FACEOFF: 8pm Central
TV/RADIO: NBCSN, CBC, WGN Radio 720
CELLULOID HEROES: The Royal Half, Jewels From The Crown, Surly and Scribe
Well, we’re getting a fair bit of preamble now. Richards’s injury, Keith’s suspension, Kane’s lack of scoring…these games seem to have more and more theater as we go along. I guess that’s how the playoffs work.
vs.
FACEOFF: 8pm Central
TV/RADIO: NBCSN, CBC, WGN Radio 720
CELLULOID HEROES: The Royal Half, Jewels From The Crown, Surly and Scribe
Well, we’re getting a fair bit of preamble now. Richards’s injury, Keith’s suspension, Kane’s lack of scoring…these games seem to have more and more theater as we go along. I guess that’s how the playoffs work.
Well, it’s come down now. The Hawks will be without their best player this spring (at least since Game 4 the previous round) for Game 4 against L.A. tomorrow night.
We could sit here and wail about the inconsistency of the NHL and their discipline system. It’s an easy target. Keith earned a suspension and even a hearing that neither Dave Bolland or Matt Cooke got. You go back a year and you have Shea Weber and his Gruesome-with-Bugs-Bunny routine on Henrik Zetterberg’s dome not even getting that much either. Obviously, there’s not consistency or even reason. It seems that Keith got punished for the optics of his play, in that it was wide out in the open and not anywhere near the puck where it could be cluttered by whatever else was going on.
But that’s on the petty side.
Well, it’s come down now. The Hawks will be without their best player this spring (at least since Game 4 the previous round) for Game 4 against L.A. tomorrow night.
We could sit here and wail about the inconsistency of the NHL and their discipline system. It’s an easy target. Keith earned a suspension and even a hearing that neither Dave Bolland or Matt Cooke got. You go back a year and you have Shea Weber and his Gruesome-with-Bugs-Bunny routine on Henrik Zetterberg’s dome not even getting that much either. Obviously, there’s not consistency or even reason. It seems that Keith got punished for the optics of his play, in that it was wide out in the open and not anywhere near the puck where it could be cluttered by whatever else was going on.
But that’s on the petty side.
Well, sometimes that’s gonna go happen.
I can’t decide what’s the more obnoxious trend after losses like this. The people actually losing their mind or the people so eager to make fun of the people losing their mind that they haven’t actually bothered to notice that no one is losing their mind. I’ll let you all debate that.
While the Hawks weren’t near the top of their game and the Kings certainly upped theirs, we’re talking about a broken-stick goal and some pretty nifty Quick saves in the 3rd leading to a one-goal loss in a building where the hosts haven’t lost in two months. Excuse me while I set my hair on fire. Oh wait, I don’t have any hair. So I guess we’ll just calm ourselves down with the notion that it was highly unlikely that the Hawks were going to get both of these games and move on to Thursday night. Deal?
Nice little break today from the playoffs with some other news happening. So let’s look at it.
The Hawks today signed Antti Raanta, the MVP of the Finnish Elite League season and playoffs. Raanta was pursued by a lot of NHL teams, with Minnesota, Edmonton, and Columbus mentioned as the hottest after him.
Raanta’s numbers this year in Finland are pretty eye-popping. He has a .943 save-percentage in the regular season, and .955 in the playoffs. His goals-against was 1.85 in the season and then a ridiculous 1.33 in the playoffs. Raanta then backstopped Finland in the World Championships, and he was excellent there as well with a save-percentage .928.
In all the visions I’ve had of this series in my own mind, not one of them contained Jonathan Quick getting pulled from a game. Hasn’t happened in the playoffs since 2010 (that’s nice symmetry), and though I don’t think it marks some sort of landmark or sea change more than just a quirky note, it does feel good. But then again, this is why The Fifth Feather is simply a manly man among just men, because he said the floodgates would open at some point if the Hawks maintained this kind of pressure. He knows so much, and is so handsome. He really doesn’t belong on this planet.
It’s a funny old game though, because it was the reverse of Game 1’s 1st period in that it ended with a false scoreline. While the Hawks were up 2-0, they really didn’t deserve to be based on balance of play. Just like the Kings had no business being up 1-0 after 20 in Game 1. But thanks to a couple handy saves from Crow, some wayward finishing from the Kings, and utter ruthlessness from the Hawks, they were already halfway home. To me, a two goal lead is nearing the horizon for this Kings team (especially without Richards), and a three-goal one requires a team from NASA. They just don’t generate that much.
Once again, the Hawks speed didn’t have an answer from L.A., and now they face all the questions going into Game 3.
Bullets after the jump.
With both Western Conference finalists coming off a seven game series, there was little reason to doubt that Game 1 would not be the most aesthetically pleasing game to watch. Sure enough, that was the case as the Kings weren’t exactly frothing at the mouth for this one and the Hawks took full advantage to the tune of outshooting them 36-22, nearly outhitting the Kings and dictating the tempo of the game for the large majority.
On to the bullets.
