Joel Quenneville switched things up in the shootout, electing as home coach to shoot second, and moving Dave Bolland into the shooting mix and the hawks managed to score their first two shoot-out goals of the year, the one by Patrick Kane the clincher as Chicago edged Anaheim 3-2.
Kane helped the hawks get to the shoot-out, assisting on both hawk goals in regulation, both times erasing a deficit.
1st Period - Fast start
The game opened up quickly with an early chance for Ducks newcomer Pat Maroon, who skated down the left side with Getzlaff on a 2 on 2. Maroon took Getzlaff's pass and fired a shot that tested Crawford. The hawks came right back after recovering the rebound and Carcillo made a nice pass to Kane at the Ducks line to send him in on the left side, taking a huge hit in the process. Kane didn't get all of the shot & Hiller stopped the fluttering puck.
The teams continued trading possession in a fast moving first, and just over five minutes in, Carcillo was involved in the next good chance, keeping the puck in the Anaheim zone on a line change, then finding Toews open in the high slot. Toews moved down the left boards and was headed behind the net but dumped off a centering pass to Carcillo who had moved to the front of the net and he fired a point blank shot high & wide.
The hawks recovered the rebound and continued to press with an O'Donnell point shot coming close. Moments later, Sharp jumped off the bench and moved into the zone and took a Toews pass but blasted a shot from the right point that whistled wide & out of the zone.
From the ensuing face-off, the Ducks moved up ice, catching the hawks on a bad line change with Cogliano taking a lead pass at center, then dropping back for Gordon who had an open shot which Crawford stopped & held. The hawks moved it back to the Ducks zone after the face-off, where Perry cleared it over the glass to give the hawks the game's first powerplay.
The hawks had zone time, but failed to get a shot on goal with the man advantage. The ducks seemed to gain some momentum from the kill, and had some zone time of their own following, where they eventually drew a penalty on O'Donnell who tripped Ryan as he tried to come out from behind the hawk net in a stuff attempt.
The hawks penalty kill managed to get a good chance when Frolik chased down a loose puck at center with one man back and got off a backhand on Hiller who made the save. The Ducks came back and threatened when Selanne redirected a Getzlaff wrister from the point where Crawford had to be sharp. Near the end of the penalty kill, Mayers took a big blindside hit from Sbisa as he cleared the zone.
Late in the first, the hawks had another good chance as Brunette moved behind the ducks net and back out front on the other side, evading his check and got a sweeping wrap-around shot off that Hiller stopped with Beauchemin clearing the rebound before Toews could get to it. A minute or so later, off a face-off win in the ducks zone, Hossa took a nice dump-off pass from Leddy at the point and moved in before firing a low wrister that tested Hiller. Moments later, Frolik managed to negate an icing call, and then found Carcillo along the left half boards, who centered it to Bolland driving the net. Bolland deflected the pass on net, but Hiller again was sharp. In the dying seconds of the period, Bolland slashed Beachemin's stick out of his hands, and was called for slashing.
Hawks outshot Anaheim 11-5 in a scoreless first.
2nd period -Kane spinorama
Anaheim breaks ice, scores on early pp, Anaheim 1, Hawks 0
The hawks were on the penalty kill to start the second, and looked in control, even creating an offensive chance when Hossa picked up a loose puck in front of his own crease and moved all the way up ice as the ducks changed and tried to stuff one past Hiller who covered the short side. Toews then won possession in the ducks zone and managed to kill off the first minute of the penalty. The following shift, with the play again in the ducks zone, O'Donnell decided to pinch at the left point to try to check Selanne off the puck. He failed and was caught when Selanne turned away from him and then fed Perry at center who, once he had gained the hawk line, found a streaking Getzlaff, being chased by O'Donnell. Getzlaff took the pass on his tape and from 15 feet fired a high wrist shot that beat Crawford cleanly and the ducks were up 1-0, the hawks having given up only their second powerplay goal of the season.
The ducks got another chance a few minutes later after O'Donnell's clear attempt of a dump-in from behind his net was blocked by Gordon the first time and then tried kicking the puck ahead toward Kane in the left circle. Kane tried to poke it away from the oncoming Cogliano, however the puck deflected right back in front to an open McMillan, with Hossa skating past him looking to breakout, however, fortunately for the hawks, the puck got caught up in McMillan's skates and he was only able to get off a weak backhand that was stopped by Crawford, who also stopped Cogliano's close in rebound attempt. The puck remained loose for a moment in Gordon's skates before Montador finally cleared the zone for the hawks.
A minute or so later, Brookbank too exception to Stalberg taking a swipe at Hiller's glove as he was covering it up for a stoppage and went after him. Mayers immediately intervened and took on Brookbank, with both players exchanging a couple of rights before Mayers took him down to the ice, before Brookbank rolled over on top of him. No damage done, as both received fighting majors. Less than a minute later, the ducks looked dangerous again, this time on the rush as both Keith and Sharp (who was covering the point for Keith) were caught after failing to keep the puck in front of them, with the ducks breaking out on a 2 on 1. Kane hustled back to support Leddy and ended up deflecting a pass by Ryan intended for a wide open Selanne that prevented a sure goal. Leddy took a penalty on the play, holding Koivu as he was dishing off to Ryan.
The hawks did a good job killing the penalty with Crawford making a good save at the end of it on a clear shot by Beauchemin from the left faceoff dot, and then stopped Ryan on a rebound stuff attempt before covering up.
The hawks tied it up on a highlight reel goal set up brilliantly by Patrick Kane. He took a pass at his own line from Hossa who had skated a loose puck in the hawk zone, with Kane moving down the right wing. As he crossed the duck line, he cut towards the slot, backing off Lydman, then did a 360 degree turn before making a backhand pass across the ice to a streaking Hossa who had a simple tap in to an open net to tie it at 1.
The game then opened up, as moments later the hawks moved in 4 on 2, with Seabrook jumping up to join the rush, and Bickell found him wide open in the slot with the ducks defenders backing in. Seabrook took another stride before blasting one from 25 feet out that Hiller kicked out past a driving Brunette & Bickell with the puck ending up with Getzlaff who with Belesky, found themselves 2 on 1 against Leddy, however Seabrook managed to recover enough to allow Leddy to take his man and neutralize the rush.
Frolik later got a chance as he tried to cut in from the right side and managed to get a weak backhand on net before being shoved off-balance by Lydman, and crashed heavily into the end boards. He was slow to get up, having a few words for the referee, however, was able to skate off, tho no penalty called.
The fourth lines then got into the act, first with Parros picking up a loose puck at center and taking a long wrist shot as he crossed the line which Crawford kicked out, leaving a big rebound which Parros managed to get to, beating both Keith & Leddy to it, and testing Crawford a second time. Once the hawks recovered, Keith sent a long pass from his own left corner up to Mayers who shoveled it ahead on the left side to a streaking Brunette who shot it wide.
Selanne steal - Anaheim 2, Chicago 1
The ducks broke through again late in the second after some sloppy play by the hawks in their own zone. After Montador recovered a loose puck in his own right corner, he fed it off to Kane in the right circle, who was being watched by Cogliano. Montador continued moving up the right side, while Hossa headed up ice, leaving Kane with no outlet support, other than Keith, who was already near the blueline, apparently looking to change. Kane fed it up towards Keith who was facing Kane and didn't see Selanne, who had just come off the ducks bench. Selanne was able to strip the puck away from Keith, which ended up right on Cogliano's stick. Cogliano managed to slide the puck back over to Selanne with Kane just failing to get his stick on it to break it up and Selanne moved in alone on Crawford and with a little deke, lifted a backhand off the post and in behind Crawford to make it 2-1 Anaheim.
Selanne on his next shift had another good chance where he was in on a 2 on 1, but Toews managed to get back to knock the puck off his stick.
In the final minute, Kane fed Toews who was cutting down the right wing in the ducks zone and as he tried to move past Maroon, he was tripped up, giving the hawks their second powerplay of the game.
The ducks outshot the hawks 13-9 in the second, outscoring them 2-1.
3rd period - Hawks tie it up
The hawks powerplay to start the 3rd, was unable to create any dangerous chances and in fact lost possession trying to enter the zone on a couple of occasions and losing puck battles after gaining the zone a couple of other times.
The hawks best early chance came from the fourth line which had a 3 on 2 rush. Kruger passed it to Frolik down the right side whose shot was kicked out right to an open Stalberg who had an open net to shoot at but the puck bounced over his stick. The ducks responded with some offensive zone pressure, helped by the hawks sloppy and soft defensive coverage and inability to take control of the puck. There was little to no attempt to take the body, just stick checks that when they connected, merely moved the puck away, often from their own teammates. Finally, it ended up costing them when O'Donnell tried to clear and sent it over the glass for a delay of game penalty.
Kane again, Anaheim 2, Chicago 2
The hawks managed to kill off the penalty, tho the ducks did have a couple of decent chances that missed the target. Shortly afterwards, Quenneville reunited Kane, Toews and Sharp after an icing and a face-off win in the ducks zone, Kane's shot from the point was deflected high and wide, however, the ducks couldn't clear thanks to a pinch by Leddy, with Kane picking up the loose puck. He turned and moved forward while sliding the puck across to a waiting Sharp, who blasted a one-timer high into the top corner past Hiller and the game was tied.
On the next shift, Maroon nailed Seabrook up against the glass in the hawk corner, knocking a pane out, causing a slight delay. However, the hawks continued their momentum, getting a bit of a break that led to another great chance, this time when Brookbank's attempted pass off the end boards hit the referee and went right to Kane, who saw Hossa in the slot and quickly fed him. Hossa one-timed it off the post to the left of Hiller with the puck bouncing back to Kane who tried lifting a backhander over a sprawled duck defenseman and Hiller, but the puck bounced off Brookbank.
The ducks responded a minute or so later, after Getzlaff won a puck battle with Leddy and fed Selanne alone in front, however Crawford reading the play came out and didn't give Selanne much room. Moments later, Visnovsky had trouble controlling a loose puck, giving Frolik an opening. Frolik poked it past Visknovsky, who was caught flat footed and Frolik moved in all alone on Hiller, but was thwarted by the ducks goaltender, unable to get it high enough over Hiller. Kane then took a high sticking penalty midway through the 3rd, on Bobby Ryan and the hawks had taken their 5th penalty of the game.
The ducks created a good chance with some nifty passing in the hawks zone, Getzlaff on the right half boards feeding Fowler at the right point while Getzlaff moved to the high slot. Fowler fed Selanne in the right corner, and Selanne then fed Getlaff who had a clear shot with Perry in front of Crawford, but failed to connect on the shot/pass attempt with the puck going wide. The hawks otherwise did a good job of blocking shots and intercepting passes and were able to kill off the penalty.
The ducks got another good chance after McMillan beat Sharp in the right boards, creating a 2 on 1 with Cogliano against O'Donnell. O'Donnell went down along the ice to prevent the pass, so McMillan cut into the crease from the right side however, Crawford was able to hold his ground, though McMillan fell over him while Sharp picked up the loose puck to clear.
Moments later, Carcillo attempted to corral a Kane bounce pass off the boards at center with one hand and failed allowing Selanne to pick up the loose puck with Kane & Hossa moving towards him. Selanne effectively trapped all three hawk forwards with a lead pass to a wide open Koivu on right wing who cut back into the circle and forced Crawford to make a good right leg pad save, however, Leddy was caught looking at the puck and failed to cover Ryan whose good chance was also turned aside by Crawford. Carcillo then nailed Selanne hard in the corner as the hawks finally were able to clear, however, the ducks came right back into the hawk zone, creating more good chances, with Perry redirecting a pass just wide of the hawk net.
The Toews line responded for the hawks, getting some good offensive zone time on their next shift to turn the momentum around and that was followed by a great chance for Hossa. Beachemin lost his stick and as he was retrieving it, Kane found Carcillo at the ducks line with a long stretch pass from deep in his own zone, which drew Fowler over to Carcillo, and leaving the slot wide open for Hossa. Carcillo led Hossa with a nice pass sending him in alone but Hiller made a great save to stone Hossa. Later that same shift, Hossa set a pick to try to give more room for Kane as he was moving into the slot and was called for interference, taking the hawks 6th penalty of the night.
The hawks did a good job on the penalty kill as the ducks failed to really threaten, sending the game into overtime. The ducks outshot the hawks in the 3rd, 11-9, having three powerplays in the 3rd.
Overtime
In the overtime, good chances were at a premium, however Toews managed to beat Beauchemin with a nice fake inside out move giving him an opening down the left side however his high shot hit the crossbar and went out of play. The hawks threatened again a minute later when Bickell picked up a loose puck in his own zone and turned up ice and cutting into the slot as he moved over the line with Stalberg driving the net and causing the ducks defenders to back in. Bickell moved into the vacated space and fired a low wrister that Hiller stopped, but gave a rebound that Stalberg kicked up to his stick but was in too close to lift it over Hiller's leg pad. Seabrook was the beneficiary of some good work by Montador, who pinched in to retrieve a loose puck then sent it to Sharp covering at the point who quickly moved it across to Seabrook who was moving into the right circle. Seabrook fired a low wrist shot with Toews driving the net, however Hiller kicked it out. That sequence was followed up with Toews feeding Sharp at the left point, then heading toward the net as Sharp shot, however, he was unable to do anything with the rebound.
In the dying seconds of overtime, Hjalmarsson was high sticked by Ryan as both were attempting to retrieve a loose puck at center, but there was only three seconds remaining. On the ensuring face-off with only 2.4 seconds left, Toews won the draw straight back to a waiting Hossa who fired a one-timer that clung off the post to end the overtime. The hawks outshot the ducks 6-2 in the overtime.
Shoot-out
With the hawks failing to score a single goal in their previous two shootouts, Quenneville decided to switch things up, electing to shoot second and giving Bolland a chance as the second shooter.
Crawford, who had been the hawks best shootout performer giving up only 1 goal in each shootout loss, faced Corey Perry first. Perry swung out wide right and tried to shoot five hole as he cut back to the front, but Crawford closed his pads and made the save.
Toews followed for the hawks and made several head fakes, patiently waiting as Hiller went down, with Toews going to his left and shooting up high, knocking the water bottle off the net for the hawks first shootout goal, putting them up 1-0
Selanne followed for the ducks, and with a fake that seemed to freeze Crawford, fired a shot high that beat Crawford cleanly to square it at 1.
Bolland followed, faking a slap shot, then trying to slip it through five hole, but Hiller stayed with him to keep it tied.
Getzlaff followed up for the ducks, going left to right and tried low five hole, but Crawford made a left leg pad stop.
Kane then moved in with speed, making several dekes, opening up Hiller, and then calmly slid the puck between the duck's goaltender's legs to give the hawks the win.
Overall, it was Patrick Kane who won this game for the hawks - assisting on both regulation goals and scoring the shootout winner. He also made a goal saving play defensively, tho his pass to Keith led to the ducks second goal.
The hawks penalty kill was strong, killing off 5 of 6 chances, though the lack of discipline after taking only 2 penalties in their last two games was a concern.
They managed to create some good chances with Frolik & Hossa both failing to convert breakways in the 3rd, but also played better defensively, however this was clearly a game that Patrick Kane led the hawks to victory.
Next up is Carolina on the road.
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