Nachos:CSN
Does it again:Daily Herald
Groggy:HockeeNight
Scoring his way out:Let’s Go Hawks
The little red engine that could:TSN
Oh My God this is real:SportsNet
vs 
Game Time: 8:30PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, NBCSN (US), SportsNet (Anglo), TVA3 (Franco), WGN-AM 720
Arrested Development: On The Forecheck
For already the second time in the series, the Hawks have an opportunity to go up two games on the Nashville Predators, this time to push them to the brink. The last time didn’t go so well, but the Hawks are now doing so on home ice where they can dictate the matchups. The key, as always, becomes execution.
I am actually a bit surprised that Joel Quenneville came out so quickly and so definitively to reaffirm Corey Crawford’s status as the starter for Friday night. It’s the right decision of course, but it wouldn’t be out of Q’s methodology to goose Crow a bit by letting it dangle until the morning skate tomorrow. Once a year it seems like Q would throw the starting job up in the air for a week or two, and Crow would almost always take it back. Even in 2013, Ray Emery got a week’s worth of starts while Crow was healthy, as almost a tease. Of course, behind that team, any of you could have started and it probably would have worked out all right during the regular season.
The real question Q should be asking himself, and the rest of the team for that matter, is why they’re depending on their goalie so much.
The Rockford IceHogs have been at or near the top of the AHL’s Western Conference throughout the season due in a large part to their play between the pipes. Just how good have the Hogs been in net this season? It has been a season for the ages in terms of proficiency in the crease.
Through 73 games this season, Rockford has surrendered 173 goals. That total is good for a tie for third in the AHL. Along with Utica and Grand Rapids, the IceHogs are tops in the Western Conference.
So who is manning the net for Rockford in the playoffs? Head coach Ted Dent doesn’t know. At least, he didn’t…
vs. 
FACEOFF: 8pm
TV/RADIO: WGN for both
ALTITUDE AND ATTITUDE: Mile High Hockey
I’m writing this as the Wild-Blues goes on and fully admit by the time you get to read this the result of that game will have rendered this one meaningless. If the Wild don’t claim both points, the Hawks will open at Nashville next week for Game 1, and I guess you could argue that’s what they’ve been angling for anyway. Or not. I don’t know. It’s probably the best of a bad bunch of matchups.
vs.
FACEOFF: 8pm
TV/RADIO: WGN for both
ALTITUDE AND ATTITUDE: Mile High Hockey
I’m writing this as the Wild-Blues goes on and fully admit by the time you get to read this the result of that game will have rendered this one meaningless. If the Wild don’t claim both points, the Hawks will open at Nashville next week for Game 1, and I guess you could argue that’s what they’ve been angling for anyway. Or not. I don’t know. It’s probably the best of a bad bunch of matchups.
vs. 
FACEOFF: 6pm Central
TV/RADIO: CSN, WGN Radio 720
THERE AIN’T NO MONORAIL AND THERE NEVER WAS: Die By The Blade
I’m not even sure this one needs much of a preview. It couldn’t be clearer that both teams, at least among their management, want the same thing tonight. That is a Hawks win. This seems such an oddly-scheduled game, as I would have thought for the last two weeks the NHL would have wanted to keep schedule intra-conference to really hop up playoff races. But then that would be logical, and we all know what we’re dealing with when it comes to his league.
vs 
Game Time: 7:30PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, WGN-AM 720
It Never Snows In Florida: Litter Box Cats
Much like Joel Quenneville’s theory regarding 5-on-3’s, there was a school of thought that this 8 game homestand would go a long way in determining how the Hawks’ regular season will end up. And also similar to Quenneville’s 5-on-3 power play units, this stretch has been frustrating and bordering on motionless, going down to the wire to salvage something other than “unmitigated disaster” as a result. That opportunity presents itself tonight in the form of the Florida Panthers on the front end of a home-and-home, where the Hawks can barely squeak out 9 points of a potential 16 with a win tonight coming off of three straight losses.
vs 
Game Time: 7:30PM Central
TV/Radio: CSN, WGN-AM 720
It Never Snows In Florida: Litter Box Cats
Much like Joel Quenneville’s theory regarding 5-on-3’s, there was a school of thought that this 8 game homestand would go a long way in determining how the Hawks’ regular season will end up. And also similar to Quenneville’s 5-on-3 power play units, this stretch has been frustrating and bordering on motionless, going down to the wire to salvage something other than “unmitigated disaster” as a result. That opportunity presents itself tonight in the form of the Florida Panthers on the front end of a home-and-home, where the Hawks can barely squeak out 9 points of a potential 16 with a win tonight coming off of three straight losses.
