I have no doubt:LGH
Maybe? BU
Understatement:CSN
The only choice:DH
Why? ST
Sounds familiar:TT
Dumb:SN
Oh right, the Hawks don’t know how to ease themselves into the playoffs in the shallow end, as this marks the 4th straight year the Hawks have gone to OT in R1G1, and the second straight year it’s been a mult-OT game. Why do things easy? Isn’t this more fun?
Rarely will you see a playoff game swing from one side to the other so violently so quickly. The Preds, at least about halfway through the 1st, took this one over and put up three. The Hawks tightened everything up in the 2nd and were all over Nashville in the 2nd. The Preds were slightly better in the 3rd and first OT, and the Hawks waited them out.
Of course, after we said this was two disciplined teams with anemic power plays, this turned out to be a game of indiscipline and special teams, which the Hawks actually won. Perhaps the excitement gets to the players too. And the ice didn’t help, but the Hawks should be used to that.
Still, you can’t be blowing three-goal leads at home, can you? Let’s try and clean this one up, if we can.
Oh right, the Hawks don’t know how to ease themselves into the playoffs in the shallow end, as this marks the 4th straight year the Hawks have gone to OT in R1G1, and the second straight year it’s been a mult-OT game. Why do things easy? Isn’t this more fun?
Rarely will you see a playoff game swing from one side to the other so violently so quickly. The Preds, at least about halfway through the 1st, took this one over and put up three. The Hawks tightened everything up in the 2nd and were all over Nashville in the 2nd. The Preds were slightly better in the 3rd and first OT, and the Hawks waited them out.
Of course, after we said this was two disciplined teams with anemic power plays, this turned out to be a game of indiscipline and special teams, which the Hawks actually won. Perhaps the excitement gets to the players too. And the ice didn’t help, but the Hawks should be used to that.
Still, you can’t be blowing three-goal leads at home, can you? Let’s try and clean this one up, if we can.
So we’re almost through the set up, and then McClure will be along in a bit to get you ready for Game 1. There’s not much more to discuss, but let’s clean up the rest.
Special Teams – This probably should be the big worry for Hawks fans, because the Hawks’ PK hasn’t been very good lately, but luckily the Preds’ power play has fallen off a cliff from previous seasons and ranks 25th in the league. If the Predators don’t get a fair share of power play goals, it’s hard to see how they can consistently win the battle at even-strength at even-strength.
On paper, it should be a good unit though. You know all about Shea Weber’s elephant gun from the point, and no forward is going to be aching to get in front of that. If you cheat out at that too much, you would think Ribeiro would have enough space to find Neal on the other side for one-timers through the slot or Wilson or Smith in front. But it just hasn’t worked out that way.
Well, it’s time to get in up to the elbow on everything yellow that comes with the three stars of Tennessee. We’re going to name it that because there were simply no good matchups for the Hawks to find. Had they even won the division that would still mean Minnesota, otherwise known as the West’s best team since January. Or it could have meant the Jets, a team with three wins at the United Center this season and perhaps will have the hardest arena to play in anywhere in these playoffs. The Blues? Probably on paper (which doesn’t include what’s in between their ears) the most solid team out there. So yeah, no good solutions.
So while the Predators are far from anything resembling easy, and have just as good of a chance of winning this series as the Hawks do, it’s probably the one you’d choose for least painful. So let’s get to it. As the Preds are built from the net out, that’s how we’ll comb it.
I can’t remember when I’ve walked out of the UC more confused. Usually I’m feeling good, dejected, or indifferent. But I don’t know what to make of tonight.
I’m cheating again. Usually I’d quickly sum up the game, then go to the bullets of what you might not have seen. But just like I did the last time I wrote a wrap, this one feels like a prose. So follow me after the jump, and we’ll go through it together.
vs. 
FACEOFF: 6:30pm Central
TV/RADIO: NBCSN, WGN RADIO 720
METH COUNTY PICAYUNE: St. Louis Gametime
Well it’s a whole St. Louis-Chicago thing tonight, ain’t it? Not that any St. Louis resident will be aware that there’s a hockey game tonight. But there is, and it’s an important one, and this could be the first of up to nine contests between these two teams in the next three weeks. Tasting your lunch again? Thought so.
