For forty minutes Sunday night, it looked like Nashville had figured out how to stop the hawks. They played a strong forecheck game, getting in on the hawks defensemen before they could skate out or find an outlet pass, limiting the hawks transition game and their offensive chances.
Nashville jumped out into the lead early, capitalizing on a poor clearance by Brent Seabrook, who wired it around the boards, too hard for partner Keith to retrieve at the other side - it went to the point where it was held in by Cody Franson who directed a shot on net that was deflected by Marcel Goc standing alone in front of Niemi, and into the net for a 1-0 Nashville lead.
The preds then were penalized, with Martin Erat sent off for interference, and while the hawks failed to convert on the pp, they managed to score shortly after the penalty expired. Kane moving in off the right half boards, tried a cross-ice pass for Campbell that was blocked, however, the puck came back to him down low at a sharp angle at the side of the net & he lifted it high into the far corner over Ellis and the game was tied 1-1.
Each team had a powerplay chance later in the period, however they each managed only 6 shots in total in a tight checking 1st period.
In the second, the preds again struck early, again capitalizing on a strong forecheck, getting the puck in behind the hawk dmen Hendry & Campbell. Kane failed to get Campbell's clear attempt up the boards out of the zone as the Nashville defenseman pinched in and Steve Sullivan pounced on the loose puck, skating into the high slot unchecked, and firing a hard point blank slapper that Niemi coming out of his net to challenge, stopped, but couldn't control the rebound which went right to Erat who fired it into the vacated net to make it 2-1 Nashville.
Bryan Bickell, again in the lineup for Versteeg again showed some bright play, racing past two defenders to get to a long, high, stretch pass, shortly after the preds goal, however, he was in too close to do much with it other than a straightfoward shot that was denied by Ellis.
The teams traded some good chances midway thru the 2nd, first Kane moving in off the right side on a sharp angle but his shot was stopped by Ellis. The preds responded when Dumont outraced Sopel & Barker down the left side & forced Niemi to make a good save. Moments later, he fired a wrister from the right point that beat Niemi but hit the left post, bounced back to Niemi, hitting the back of his left pad & then bounced back towards the net, hitting the post again! The hawk goaltender was able to cover up with the help of Sopel & Barker keeping traffic away, tho the preds & Dumont, were unfortunate not to be up by 2.
The hawks outshot Nashville 9-6 in the 2nd, managing to kill off the only penalty of the period, but had given up the only goal to trail heading into the 3rd. They came out looking more determined in the 3rd, with Hossa creating a good close in chance in the first few minutes, however he was denied by Ellis. A penalty to Hornqvist gave the hawks an early powerplay, which almost backfired with Sullivan moving in on a 2 on 1 together with Legwand, with Byfuglien the lone hawk defender back. Byfuglien slid down to try to prevent the pass, but Sullivan managed to find Legwand who forced Niemi to move across his crease quickly and make a good save to keep the deficit at 1.
Moments after Hornqvist's penalty expired, Barker was again weak on the puck and beaten on a strong forecheck by Hornqvist coming out of the penalty box. Hornqvist gained control of the puck behind the hawk net and fed it in front, however Keith was able to keep the puck away from Dumont & eventually cleared it up to Ladd along the left boards. Ladd then found John Madden at the Nashville blueline, in behind the Nashville D (which was changing after the penalty kill). Madden moved in all alone, lifting up his right leg as if to shoot and then calmly sliding it between Ellis' pads, beating him 5 hole to tie the game.
About 3 minutes later, the preds took another penalty, this time Sullivan was sent off for high sticking. While the preds killed off the penalty, the hawks managed to capitalize again shortly afterwards, again after the preds had threatened, getting Sopel to turn it over in his own zone, however, Arnott returned the favor, passing the puck back where Bickell was well positioned to intercept. Bickell then found Madden streaking up the left side with only Suter back for Nashville.
Madden fired a slapper that appeared to hit Suter's stick and handcuffed Ellis, beating him short side on a shot he'd likely want back, and suddenly the hawks were up 3-2.
Yet another Nashville penalty, their 3rd straight in the period just a minute after Madden had put the hawks up, sent the hawks right back to the powerplay, only this time they finally struck on their 5th pp opportunity of the game. 18 seconds after Hamhuis went off, Campbell, after taking a pass from Kane, rifled a shot from the middle of the blue line into the top left corner with Brouwer again screening in front and the hawks were up 4-2 with just over 6 minutes left, having scored three goals in the 3rd.
Surely the preds had to be deflated if not defeated, but to their credit, they didn't quit and were rewarded when, on a delayed penalty call, they worked the puck to the point where Hamhuis after taking a feed from Arnott, fired a shot that beat Niemi with two predators, including the extra attacker alone in front screening & looking for a rebound. Suddenly it was 4-3.
Less than a minute later, Nashville tied it, again with strong forechecking getting on top of the hawks in their own zone, with Hornqvist's centering attempt hitting Hendry's skate & bouncing back to the left point where Cody Franson fired a weak shot towards the net that somehow found its way through traffic & in behind Niemi, who didn't appear to see it, and incredibly the preds had comeback to tie the game late in the 3rd.
It looked like overtime was a certainty as both teams had blown a lead in the 3rd period and could not be blamed to be content on at least getting a point and not risking giving away two. However, the in the last minute, the hawks went on the attack with Toews leading the rush from center on a strong individual effort - he eventually managed to get a wraparound chance to the left of Ellis, however, it was snuffed out, with puck then deflecting off Brouwer's skate to the right of Ellis - Toews won another battle for the puck, tipping it back to Keith at the point, who found Kane in his usual spot to the right of the net with a hard slap pass. Kane's first shot was stopped, however, the rebound came right back to him & he found an opening high & fired it home with 44 seconds remaining to give the hawks the outright win in a wild 3rd period, and giving him his 3rd straight game winning goal.
The hawks managed to score 4 times in the 3rd on 14 shots after managing just 1 goal on 15 shots in the first two periods, tho they were definitely helped by 3 straight powerplays in the final period, finally capitalizing on the last one & their 5th of the game. In a way, you had to feel for the preds, as they played hard and didn't quit despite things going against them, yet had nothing to show for it afterwards, at least in terms of points.
With the win, the hawks won the season series against the preds 4-2, and moved 8 points up on their nearest division rival and improved to 7-0-2 in the 2nd half of back to back games (improving to 3-5-1 with last night's win in the opening game of the home & home series).
Next it is on to face the stars in Dallas.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Hawks take first of home & home vs. Preds, 4-1
The blackhawks started their post Christmas schedule like they finished their pre-Christmas one, with a convincing road win versus a key divisional opponent, this time beating Nashville 4-1 in the music city.
The hawks started off well, showing lots of jump and creating offensive chances. Bryan Bickell, in the lineup for Kris Versteeg, who was out with an undisclosed injury, had a good chance just over 5 minutes in, when he was set up by Byfuglien on a 2 on 1. Bickell got a point blank shot on Rinne, who stacked his pads to make the save, however, the hawks drew a penalty on the play. They threatened on the powerplay, but failed to convert, though drew another penalty just as the first one expired.
This time, the hawks pp struck, with Jonathan Toews intercepting Marcel Goc's clearing attempt in the high slot & dropping it back to the point to Byfuglien, who wristed a shot that found its way through traffic and into the Nashville net, with Brouwer parked in front of Rinne. 1-0 Chicago. It was Byfuglien's 3rd goal vs. Nashville in 5 games this year.
The hawks outshot the preds, 15-8 in the first and started the second again coming out hard & putting pressure on the Nashville net, though Ladd took an early high sticking minor that the hawks killed off with no damage done. Later Toews was set up alone in front of Rinne by Kane, however, he was in close & had little room to maneuver, other than to get off a harmless shoot, with Rinne standing his ground to make the save.
A few moments later, Brent Seabrook at the left point, misplayed a pass at the Nashville line & lost it to Martin Erat, who broke in alone on Huet with Keith in pursuit. Keith managed to get a stick on the Nashville forward, drawing a delayed penalty call, but Erat continued bearing down on a retreating Huet, trying to beat him five hole. Huet made the initial save, but kept sliding back right into the hawk net, with the puck following him in, while the referee, positioned to Huet's left, lost sight of the puck & blew the whistle, waiving off the goal, once he realized the puck had entered the net. However, replays subsequently clearly showed that the puck had entered the net before the whistle blew and replay officials overturned the call on the ice, apparently ignoring any "intent to blow the whistle" on the part of the referee and the game was tied, against the clear run of play.
The hawks regained their composure and about 5 minutes later, Kane & Brouwer broke in on a 2 on 1, with Kane using Brouwer as a decoy he fired a wrister high glove side with Rinne having no chance and it was 2-1 Chicago.
Just over a minute later, also off the rush, the hawks made it 3-1. Tomas Kopecky took a drop pass from Bryan Campbell & moved in to the left circle & fired a shot which Rinne stopped, however he gave a rebound which Kopecky recovered & sent toward the net a second time - the puck slid over to Andrew Ladd alone to the left side of Rinne & he lifted a sharp angle shot over the sprawled pred goaltender.
The hawks took a penalty later, but effectively killed it off by a drawing a penalty of their own with some good work by Toews & Fraser in the offensive zone. Shortly after their abbreviated powerplay, the hawks struck again when Sharp fired home a rebound off a Duncan Keith point shot that apparently deflected of Kopecky, denying Kane an assist for his pass to Keith at the point. 4-1 Chicago at the end of 2, with the hawks again outshooting the preds in the 2nd period, 16-10.
In the 3rd, the hawks put it on cruise control, killing off a minor high sticking call on Hendry (who was in the lineup for Hjalmarsson), outshooting Nashville 9-8 and 40 to 26 on the game. Brent Seabrook threw a big body check midway through the 3rd on Nick Spaling, but also ended up flying hard into the boards in front of the hawk bench. He was slow to get up, and looked a bit woozy as he headed off to the bench, but did return later in the game.
With the win, the hawks moved 6 points up on their closest division rival and meet the preds in a rematch at the UC, their final meeting of the regular season on Sunday.
The hawks started off well, showing lots of jump and creating offensive chances. Bryan Bickell, in the lineup for Kris Versteeg, who was out with an undisclosed injury, had a good chance just over 5 minutes in, when he was set up by Byfuglien on a 2 on 1. Bickell got a point blank shot on Rinne, who stacked his pads to make the save, however, the hawks drew a penalty on the play. They threatened on the powerplay, but failed to convert, though drew another penalty just as the first one expired.
This time, the hawks pp struck, with Jonathan Toews intercepting Marcel Goc's clearing attempt in the high slot & dropping it back to the point to Byfuglien, who wristed a shot that found its way through traffic and into the Nashville net, with Brouwer parked in front of Rinne. 1-0 Chicago. It was Byfuglien's 3rd goal vs. Nashville in 5 games this year.
The hawks outshot the preds, 15-8 in the first and started the second again coming out hard & putting pressure on the Nashville net, though Ladd took an early high sticking minor that the hawks killed off with no damage done. Later Toews was set up alone in front of Rinne by Kane, however, he was in close & had little room to maneuver, other than to get off a harmless shoot, with Rinne standing his ground to make the save.
A few moments later, Brent Seabrook at the left point, misplayed a pass at the Nashville line & lost it to Martin Erat, who broke in alone on Huet with Keith in pursuit. Keith managed to get a stick on the Nashville forward, drawing a delayed penalty call, but Erat continued bearing down on a retreating Huet, trying to beat him five hole. Huet made the initial save, but kept sliding back right into the hawk net, with the puck following him in, while the referee, positioned to Huet's left, lost sight of the puck & blew the whistle, waiving off the goal, once he realized the puck had entered the net. However, replays subsequently clearly showed that the puck had entered the net before the whistle blew and replay officials overturned the call on the ice, apparently ignoring any "intent to blow the whistle" on the part of the referee and the game was tied, against the clear run of play.
The hawks regained their composure and about 5 minutes later, Kane & Brouwer broke in on a 2 on 1, with Kane using Brouwer as a decoy he fired a wrister high glove side with Rinne having no chance and it was 2-1 Chicago.
Just over a minute later, also off the rush, the hawks made it 3-1. Tomas Kopecky took a drop pass from Bryan Campbell & moved in to the left circle & fired a shot which Rinne stopped, however he gave a rebound which Kopecky recovered & sent toward the net a second time - the puck slid over to Andrew Ladd alone to the left side of Rinne & he lifted a sharp angle shot over the sprawled pred goaltender.
The hawks took a penalty later, but effectively killed it off by a drawing a penalty of their own with some good work by Toews & Fraser in the offensive zone. Shortly after their abbreviated powerplay, the hawks struck again when Sharp fired home a rebound off a Duncan Keith point shot that apparently deflected of Kopecky, denying Kane an assist for his pass to Keith at the point. 4-1 Chicago at the end of 2, with the hawks again outshooting the preds in the 2nd period, 16-10.
In the 3rd, the hawks put it on cruise control, killing off a minor high sticking call on Hendry (who was in the lineup for Hjalmarsson), outshooting Nashville 9-8 and 40 to 26 on the game. Brent Seabrook threw a big body check midway through the 3rd on Nick Spaling, but also ended up flying hard into the boards in front of the hawk bench. He was slow to get up, and looked a bit woozy as he headed off to the bench, but did return later in the game.
With the win, the hawks moved 6 points up on their closest division rival and meet the preds in a rematch at the UC, their final meeting of the regular season on Sunday.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Hawks shutout Wings again 3-0, move back into 1st in the West
Backstopped by the goaltending of Antti Niemi, who recorded his 4th shutout in only 9 starts, stopping 33 shots, the blackhawks won their last game before the Christmas break to move back atop the Western Conference.
Niemi was much sharper than his performance versus Boston, as Detroit actually outshot the hawks 33-31, and tested Niemi several times, forcing the hawk netminder to make several sparkling saves.
Detroit was again without 10 regulars, including Brian Rafalski who missed the game due to the flu, while the hawks were again missing Barker & Eager.
After a pretty even first period, with neither team being able to break through onto the scoresheet, the wings were caught with too many men late in the period. The penalty carried over to the start of the second and the hawks used the clean sheet of ice to their advantage, with Patrick Kane taking a pass from Bryan Campbell & firing a slapper that beat Howard high glove side with Brouwer providing a solid screen to put the hawks up 1-0. After going 13 games with only 1 goal to show for that stretch, Kane's goal was his second in as many nights, and he also assisted on Toews goal late in the 3rd for his second straight multiple point game, leading the hawks offensively.
The wings hung tough & created several decent chances and with a bounce or two, could have tied the game, before the hawks went up by two early in the 3rd on a goal by Patrick Sharp on a goalmouth scramble while the teams were playing 4 on 4.
Jonathan Toews clinched it with a late goal, picking up a loose puck in the slot & sliding it under Jimmy Howard as the hawks replicated their Sunday score line vs. Detroit this time at Joe Louis arena.
The hawks penalty kill continued to be effective, killing off 6 wings' powerplays, with the hawks pp going 1 for 3, picking up the first goal, and only Kane's 2nd pp goal all season.
All that remained was whether Niemi would get the shutout and he turned aside every shot he faced to improve his record to 8-1-1. The contrast in goaltending from last night to tonight was quite apparent for the hawks as Niemi stoned Detroit as Nabakov did to the hawks the previous night. He again looked more confident & clearly looked "bigger" than Huet had in his previous start and did nothing to quell any looming goaltending controversy.
It is doubtful the hawks could move Huet if they wanted to, and it is unlikely they are looking to even do so given the largely unproven status of Niemi. That said, the longer Niemi puts in performances like this, the more work he is likely to see, and that could pave the way for moving Huet in the off-season.
Hawks schedule doesn't get any easier as they face Nashville in another back to back on the weekend where it is quite likely that Niemi will again get one of the two starts.
It will indeed be a Merry Christmas for the hawks & their fans this year.
Niemi was much sharper than his performance versus Boston, as Detroit actually outshot the hawks 33-31, and tested Niemi several times, forcing the hawk netminder to make several sparkling saves.
Detroit was again without 10 regulars, including Brian Rafalski who missed the game due to the flu, while the hawks were again missing Barker & Eager.
After a pretty even first period, with neither team being able to break through onto the scoresheet, the wings were caught with too many men late in the period. The penalty carried over to the start of the second and the hawks used the clean sheet of ice to their advantage, with Patrick Kane taking a pass from Bryan Campbell & firing a slapper that beat Howard high glove side with Brouwer providing a solid screen to put the hawks up 1-0. After going 13 games with only 1 goal to show for that stretch, Kane's goal was his second in as many nights, and he also assisted on Toews goal late in the 3rd for his second straight multiple point game, leading the hawks offensively.
The wings hung tough & created several decent chances and with a bounce or two, could have tied the game, before the hawks went up by two early in the 3rd on a goal by Patrick Sharp on a goalmouth scramble while the teams were playing 4 on 4.
Jonathan Toews clinched it with a late goal, picking up a loose puck in the slot & sliding it under Jimmy Howard as the hawks replicated their Sunday score line vs. Detroit this time at Joe Louis arena.
The hawks penalty kill continued to be effective, killing off 6 wings' powerplays, with the hawks pp going 1 for 3, picking up the first goal, and only Kane's 2nd pp goal all season.
All that remained was whether Niemi would get the shutout and he turned aside every shot he faced to improve his record to 8-1-1. The contrast in goaltending from last night to tonight was quite apparent for the hawks as Niemi stoned Detroit as Nabakov did to the hawks the previous night. He again looked more confident & clearly looked "bigger" than Huet had in his previous start and did nothing to quell any looming goaltending controversy.
It is doubtful the hawks could move Huet if they wanted to, and it is unlikely they are looking to even do so given the largely unproven status of Niemi. That said, the longer Niemi puts in performances like this, the more work he is likely to see, and that could pave the way for moving Huet in the off-season.
Hawks schedule doesn't get any easier as they face Nashville in another back to back on the weekend where it is quite likely that Niemi will again get one of the two starts.
It will indeed be a Merry Christmas for the hawks & their fans this year.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Sharks bite hawks, 3-2, retake top spot in the West.
The San Jose Sharks relied on outstanding goaltending, solid penalty killing & an opportunistic attack to beat the hawks at the UC, to gain a measure of revenge for their 7-2 thrashing last month in California.
The hawks got an early powerplay and created several chances, but failed to convert and shortly after the expiration of the San Jose penalty, the sharks struck, with Dany Heatley in behind Seabrook on a 3 on 2 break, taking a pass from Dan Boyle and waiting for Huet to go down before lifting it over the hawk netminder's shoulder from a bad angle to end Huet's shutout streak.
The hawks had two more powerplay chances later in the period and outshot San Jose 15-4 overall in the period, but Nabakov was solid in net, turning aside everything he faced.
The hawks ran into some penalty trouble of their own late in the period which offset part of their 3rd powerplay, tho Joe Thornton helped offset a subsequent San Jose powerplay by knocking down Brouwer in the last 10 seconds of the period.
In the second, the hawks got another early powerplay when Jamie McGinn tripped Huet in the crease and got nailed witha goaltender interference call. That occurred moments after Huet was barreled over in his crease off a rush, with no call made. As the play was called for McGinn's penalty, Bryan Bickell & Frazer McLaren started pushing & shoving in the shark zone and dropped the gloves, with McLaren getting Bickell down & his helmet off & landing a few more than he took, tho no major damage was done.
On the ensuing hawk powerplay, the sharks took advantage of a Versteeg turnover at center and broke in two on one, Pavelski & Thornton with Seabrook back. Pavelski flipped a saucer pass over the sliding Seabrook that connected with Thornton, and with Huet again going down early, Thornton simply flipped it high & into the open net, scoring shorthanded to put the sharks up 2-0.
Later, Patrick Sharp took a retaliation penalty after Heatley threw a solid check into him along the right corner boards in the hawk zone. Sharp took exception to the hard hit and punched Heatley and took two for roughing. The hawks managed to kill off the penalty, and were soon on another powerplay of their own, but again could not get one by Nabakov, who was sharp all evening.
Byfuglien later took a goaltender interference penalty as the hawks tried to get to Nabakov - fortunately they were able to kill off the penalty and keep the deficit at 2 heading into the 3rd period, despite outshooting San Jose 11-3 in the 2nd and 26 to 7 in the game to that point.
In the 3rd, the hawks finally got on the scoresheet just over four minutes in after Hossa set up Kane in the slot. Nabakov made the initial save, but gave a rebound & Kane lifted it up high with Nabakov only being able to get a piece of the puck & it was 2-1, game on.
The sharks however responded on the very next shift as they broke in 3 on 2 after a nice outlet pass from their own zone that sprung Thornton & Heatley with Dman Jason Demers jumping up into the play to make it a 3-2. The hawks forwards got a little overanxious to tie it after having just scored and got trapped inside the San Jose zone on the play. After taking a pass from Heatley who was moving down the left side, Thornton found unchecked Demers moving late into the high slot and he fired a shot off the ice that beat Huet stick side and the sharks were up by 2 again, only 20 seconds after the hawks had pulled within one.
On the next shift, Troy Brouwer took a high sticking penalty and the hawks comeback effort was put on hold.
To their credit, the hawks kept pushing forward when they could, tho not as aggressively, respecting the sharks counterattack ability after having been burned with odd man rushes. Over 13 minutes in, they got yet another pp opportunity, their 7th on the night, when Thornton cross-checked Ladd during a scrum in front of the shark net. The hawks pressured on the powerplay but yet again could not beat Nabakov, thus going -1 for 7 on the night with the man advantage.
A couple of minutes later, the two captains got into it and were both sent off with roughing minors, and on the ensuing 4 on 4, the hawks pulled their goaltender, and managed to convert when Kane from his usual spot on the right half boards, found Hossa down low at the goalmouth to the left of Nabakov. Hossa's shot hit a shark defender's stick & somehow found room between Nabakov & the net to make it 3-2 with just under 2 minutes left.
The hawks lost the subsequent faceoff at center and precious seconds off the clock as the sharks were able to control the puck for about 30 seconds before the hawks finally regained possession at their own line and were able to pull Huet for the extra attacker. By then, the penalties to Blake & Toews were pretty much over, making it a more difficult 6 on 5 skater rather than a 5 on 4 situation. The hawks did gain the zone & were able to pressure and threaten, however could not dent the net again and fell 3-2.
The hawks outshot San Jose 21-7 in the 3rd and managed to at least outscore them in the period 2-1, but lost for the first time at home since Nashville beat them 4-1 early in the month. The game can be summed up by the difference in goaltending and the inability of the hawks to convert on the powerplay, even giving up a shorthanded goal, and thus going -1 for 7 with the man advantage.
Despite giving up only 14 shots against the entire game, (the hawks had more than that total in the 1st AND 3rd periods), they still gave up three goals and lost, which will focus the attention on goaltending yet again, after Huet had registered back to back shutouts in his previous two starts.
Huet looked weak on all three goals - and while he made a couple of good saves early in the 3rd to keep his team in the game, giving up 3 questionable goals on 14 shots when his counterpart was playing extremely well at the other end can't help but give some pause for thought whether the goaltending is up to the challenge when faced with tough, pressure tests.
While defensive breakdowns contributed to the goals by allowing odd man rushes against, it is not realistic to think the hawks goalies are never going to face such situations especially against contending teams. Adding to the concern is that Huet did not appear sharp on any of the goals he let in.
On the first shark goal, Keith was in the slot and approaching Heatley, cutting off his opportunity to perhaps move back in front, which effectively limited his options to taking a low angle shot, yet Huet did not appear to recognize that and instead of standing up, playing the limited angle & holding his ground, he went down early, giving Heatley opportunity to simply continue skating to an even sharper angle to find a huge hole up high which he promptly exploited.
On the second goal, it may be more difficult to fault Huet as it was a clear 2 on 1, however, as the play developed, it became clear with Seabrook going down on the ice to prevent the pass, that Pavelski's options were to either shoot high (to get it over Seabrook & avoid having it blocked), or attempt a difficult saucer pass over Seabrook (that would give Huet some time to move over while still remaining upright). Nevertheless when the pass connected with Thornton, Huet went down early again, leaving himself deep in the net & vulnerable up high which is exactly where Thornton flipped the puck, beating him with a crucial shorthanded goal to make it 2-0.
The third goal was another odd man rush, where Huet stayed back in his net, instead of reading the developing play and aggressively challenging it, thus giving the shooter more net to shoot at and Demers found an opening with what looked like a stoppable wrist shot, the first one against after the hawks had just scored - a huge goal to give up.
It wouldn't be fair to place the entire blame on Huet - the hawks offense must also take its share of responsibility for not capitalizing on any of their powerplay opportunities, which would likely have made the difference in the outcome. The powerplay continues to be very inconsistent, too often struggling to convert.
This was a meaningful game - the sharks had played the night before in Dallas and first in the conference was at stake with the schedule getting much less friendly for the hawks. And while they thoroughly outplayed the sharks and perhaps deserved a better result, if they want to lay claim to best in the west, their powerplay and goaltending needs to come up bigger in big games against the top opponents than they did tonight.
The hawks were again without Barker & Eager, though Hendry & Bickell again filled in adequately.
The only good news on the night was that division rival Nashville lost to Vancouver, and thus remained two points back with the hawks having two games in hand.
The hawks next face a rested (tho still hurt) Detroit team to close out the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule before a big home and home weekend with 2nd place Nashville.
The hawks got an early powerplay and created several chances, but failed to convert and shortly after the expiration of the San Jose penalty, the sharks struck, with Dany Heatley in behind Seabrook on a 3 on 2 break, taking a pass from Dan Boyle and waiting for Huet to go down before lifting it over the hawk netminder's shoulder from a bad angle to end Huet's shutout streak.
The hawks had two more powerplay chances later in the period and outshot San Jose 15-4 overall in the period, but Nabakov was solid in net, turning aside everything he faced.
The hawks ran into some penalty trouble of their own late in the period which offset part of their 3rd powerplay, tho Joe Thornton helped offset a subsequent San Jose powerplay by knocking down Brouwer in the last 10 seconds of the period.
In the second, the hawks got another early powerplay when Jamie McGinn tripped Huet in the crease and got nailed witha goaltender interference call. That occurred moments after Huet was barreled over in his crease off a rush, with no call made. As the play was called for McGinn's penalty, Bryan Bickell & Frazer McLaren started pushing & shoving in the shark zone and dropped the gloves, with McLaren getting Bickell down & his helmet off & landing a few more than he took, tho no major damage was done.
On the ensuing hawk powerplay, the sharks took advantage of a Versteeg turnover at center and broke in two on one, Pavelski & Thornton with Seabrook back. Pavelski flipped a saucer pass over the sliding Seabrook that connected with Thornton, and with Huet again going down early, Thornton simply flipped it high & into the open net, scoring shorthanded to put the sharks up 2-0.
Later, Patrick Sharp took a retaliation penalty after Heatley threw a solid check into him along the right corner boards in the hawk zone. Sharp took exception to the hard hit and punched Heatley and took two for roughing. The hawks managed to kill off the penalty, and were soon on another powerplay of their own, but again could not get one by Nabakov, who was sharp all evening.
Byfuglien later took a goaltender interference penalty as the hawks tried to get to Nabakov - fortunately they were able to kill off the penalty and keep the deficit at 2 heading into the 3rd period, despite outshooting San Jose 11-3 in the 2nd and 26 to 7 in the game to that point.
In the 3rd, the hawks finally got on the scoresheet just over four minutes in after Hossa set up Kane in the slot. Nabakov made the initial save, but gave a rebound & Kane lifted it up high with Nabakov only being able to get a piece of the puck & it was 2-1, game on.
The sharks however responded on the very next shift as they broke in 3 on 2 after a nice outlet pass from their own zone that sprung Thornton & Heatley with Dman Jason Demers jumping up into the play to make it a 3-2. The hawks forwards got a little overanxious to tie it after having just scored and got trapped inside the San Jose zone on the play. After taking a pass from Heatley who was moving down the left side, Thornton found unchecked Demers moving late into the high slot and he fired a shot off the ice that beat Huet stick side and the sharks were up by 2 again, only 20 seconds after the hawks had pulled within one.
On the next shift, Troy Brouwer took a high sticking penalty and the hawks comeback effort was put on hold.
To their credit, the hawks kept pushing forward when they could, tho not as aggressively, respecting the sharks counterattack ability after having been burned with odd man rushes. Over 13 minutes in, they got yet another pp opportunity, their 7th on the night, when Thornton cross-checked Ladd during a scrum in front of the shark net. The hawks pressured on the powerplay but yet again could not beat Nabakov, thus going -1 for 7 on the night with the man advantage.
A couple of minutes later, the two captains got into it and were both sent off with roughing minors, and on the ensuing 4 on 4, the hawks pulled their goaltender, and managed to convert when Kane from his usual spot on the right half boards, found Hossa down low at the goalmouth to the left of Nabakov. Hossa's shot hit a shark defender's stick & somehow found room between Nabakov & the net to make it 3-2 with just under 2 minutes left.
The hawks lost the subsequent faceoff at center and precious seconds off the clock as the sharks were able to control the puck for about 30 seconds before the hawks finally regained possession at their own line and were able to pull Huet for the extra attacker. By then, the penalties to Blake & Toews were pretty much over, making it a more difficult 6 on 5 skater rather than a 5 on 4 situation. The hawks did gain the zone & were able to pressure and threaten, however could not dent the net again and fell 3-2.
The hawks outshot San Jose 21-7 in the 3rd and managed to at least outscore them in the period 2-1, but lost for the first time at home since Nashville beat them 4-1 early in the month. The game can be summed up by the difference in goaltending and the inability of the hawks to convert on the powerplay, even giving up a shorthanded goal, and thus going -1 for 7 with the man advantage.
Despite giving up only 14 shots against the entire game, (the hawks had more than that total in the 1st AND 3rd periods), they still gave up three goals and lost, which will focus the attention on goaltending yet again, after Huet had registered back to back shutouts in his previous two starts.
Huet looked weak on all three goals - and while he made a couple of good saves early in the 3rd to keep his team in the game, giving up 3 questionable goals on 14 shots when his counterpart was playing extremely well at the other end can't help but give some pause for thought whether the goaltending is up to the challenge when faced with tough, pressure tests.
While defensive breakdowns contributed to the goals by allowing odd man rushes against, it is not realistic to think the hawks goalies are never going to face such situations especially against contending teams. Adding to the concern is that Huet did not appear sharp on any of the goals he let in.
On the first shark goal, Keith was in the slot and approaching Heatley, cutting off his opportunity to perhaps move back in front, which effectively limited his options to taking a low angle shot, yet Huet did not appear to recognize that and instead of standing up, playing the limited angle & holding his ground, he went down early, giving Heatley opportunity to simply continue skating to an even sharper angle to find a huge hole up high which he promptly exploited.
On the second goal, it may be more difficult to fault Huet as it was a clear 2 on 1, however, as the play developed, it became clear with Seabrook going down on the ice to prevent the pass, that Pavelski's options were to either shoot high (to get it over Seabrook & avoid having it blocked), or attempt a difficult saucer pass over Seabrook (that would give Huet some time to move over while still remaining upright). Nevertheless when the pass connected with Thornton, Huet went down early again, leaving himself deep in the net & vulnerable up high which is exactly where Thornton flipped the puck, beating him with a crucial shorthanded goal to make it 2-0.
The third goal was another odd man rush, where Huet stayed back in his net, instead of reading the developing play and aggressively challenging it, thus giving the shooter more net to shoot at and Demers found an opening with what looked like a stoppable wrist shot, the first one against after the hawks had just scored - a huge goal to give up.
It wouldn't be fair to place the entire blame on Huet - the hawks offense must also take its share of responsibility for not capitalizing on any of their powerplay opportunities, which would likely have made the difference in the outcome. The powerplay continues to be very inconsistent, too often struggling to convert.
This was a meaningful game - the sharks had played the night before in Dallas and first in the conference was at stake with the schedule getting much less friendly for the hawks. And while they thoroughly outplayed the sharks and perhaps deserved a better result, if they want to lay claim to best in the west, their powerplay and goaltending needs to come up bigger in big games against the top opponents than they did tonight.
The hawks were again without Barker & Eager, though Hendry & Bickell again filled in adequately.
The only good news on the night was that division rival Nashville lost to Vancouver, and thus remained two points back with the hawks having two games in hand.
The hawks next face a rested (tho still hurt) Detroit team to close out the pre-Christmas portion of the schedule before a big home and home weekend with 2nd place Nashville.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Hawks clip broken Wings, 3-0, move into sole possession of 1st in the West.
The blackhawks took advantage of a Detroit team missing 9 regulars due to injury and went on to blank the red wings 3-0 with a solid, workman like performance for their 4th straight win at home, 3 of them shutouts, in front of the biggest crowd of the season at the UC. With the win, the hawks have now beaten every original 6 rival at home this season, something they last accomplished in 1991.
Detroit was missing Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Dan Cleary, Jason Williams, Valteri Filppula, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson & Andreas Lilja, all injured, several of them out longer term.
They also lost the likes of Hossa, Hudler, Samuelson, Kopecky, Chelios & Ty Conklin in the off-season to UFA, so their experience and depth isn't nearly what it was & thus it isn't surprising that Detroit is struggling simply to get & stay in the top 8 in the Western Conference this season.
And to top it off, Detroit played yesterday in Dallas & had to travel, while the hawks were resting up waiting for them in Chicago, so there was an expectation that the hawks had the clear upper hand against their original six rival heading into tonight's game, even though they were missing Barker & Eager who were originally hurt in the St. Louis game. Nik Hjalmarsson returned after missing the Boston game, while Jordan Hendry suited up for Barker and Bryan Bickell was called up again to replace Eager.
The hawks showed a lot of jump early, going on the attack with Sopel drawing a hooking minor on Maltby just over 3 minutes in, but the hawks were unable to capitalize (Detroit had killed 36 of their last 37 penalties) and just before the penalty expired, Patrick Kane took a tripping minor that nullified the remainder of the powerplay & gave Detroit one.
The wings were unable to generate much on their own pp and like the hawks, ended up taking a penalty to nullify their man advantage, with Bertuzzi caught holding Toews.
The hawks had the better of the 4 on 4, with Campbell getting two good chances, the first set up by Sharp as the hawk dman moved in off his point position for a point blank shot and moments later Versteeg cut into the slot before passing to Campbell at the left side of the wing goal.
A minute after Kane's penalty expired, the hawks struck, with Versteeg moving in to the zone down the right side & taking a pass from Toews, but missing the net on a snap shot from the top of the right circle. The puck went back to Toews along the left boards and he sent it back to Keith at the left point. Keith "walked the line" to the middle of the ice & fired a shot that appeared to deflect off a Detroit defenseman's stick and over Osgood's glove and the hawks powerplay had them up 1-0 early in the first.
The hawks continued to go to the attack, having a 7-0 shot advantage over half way through the first. The Wings finally got their first shot on goal over 13 minutes in, and tested Huet late in the 1st when Leino cut in on a partial break, forcing Huet into making a good glove save while doing the splits.
The hawks seemed to take their foot off the gas in the last 5 minutes of the 1st, as Detroit put together a couple of good shifts in the hawks zone, with the hawks blocking 5 shots while Huet stopped 4 others, including Leino's chance.
The second period started much like the first, with the hawks jumping on the wings - Kane stealing the puck at center and moving into the zone, using the "Savardian spin-o-rama" at top speed to elude the dman in the circle and get a good scoring chance from in close, but his backhand missed the target just over a minute in.
Just over 6 minutes in, the wings were caught with too many men - the hawks powerplay controlled the play in the Detroit zone & created several good chances, but missed the target a couple of times. They continued to hem Detroit in their own zone after the penalty, forcing an icing call though the wings were eventually able to change with no damage done.
Perhaps the turning point of the game came a few minutes later, when Abdelkader attempted to throw a hit on Patrick Sharp behind the hawks net, but got the worst of it as Sharp braced for the hit & ended up shouldering Abdelkader to the ice. Abdelkader got up and went after Sharp again as the play headed to the corner, with Sharp again bracing for the hit and denying Abdelkader a big hit, though a scuffle ensued, with some minor pushing & shoving.
Ironically, Sharp was the only one called for a penalty, when it appeared that Abdelkader could have picked up an interference (and a roughing) penalty. Replays further revealed that Detroit actually had 6 skaters active on the ice during the Sharp Abdelkader exchanges, nevertheless it was the hawks who found themselves shorthanded with only a 1-0 lead.
The wings managed just 1 shot on goal during their pp, and after the penalty expired, Sharp went to work. After registering a shot on goal & a takeaway on returning to the ice from the penalty box, he threw a hit at center on his 2nd shift back, then shortly afterwards, led a rush from his own blue line down the left wing into the Detroit zone together with Ladd & Hossa, as Campbell jumped up as the trailer on the play. As Ladd drove to the net, he took a wing dman with him, with another wing defender taking Hossa on the right side and a 3rd defender taking Sharp, leaving the late incoming Campbell open & after taking Sharp's pass, #51 had a wide open lane to the net & skated into it deep in the left faceoff circle before firing a shot that beat Osgood between the legs and the hawks were up by 2-0.
After a couple of strong shifts by the 1st & 4th lines, where Bickell rang one off the post to the right of Osgood, the hawks had the clear momentum as the period wound down, and took command when Byfuglien later worked the give & go with Madden, taking a return feed at center and moving in over the blue line and beating Osgood on a 40 foot snap shot to make it 3-0. Babcock afterwards indicated the two late 2nd period goals effectively killed the wings' chances, sapping any energy they may have had. The hawks outshot Detroit 14 to 5 in the 2nd.
To start the 3rd, a minor scuffle erupted beteen Versteeg & Datsyuk at the players' benches, with both players assessed offsetting minor roughing penalties. It was apparent that Detroit wanted to step up their hitting, perhaps to send a message for the Wednesday rematch, as Stuart, Abdelkader & Meech all followed Datsyuk's lead, throwing hits on Sharp, Ladd & Madden. Shortly afterwards, Drew Miller got off a one-handed shot on goal on a rush where he partially eluded Seabrook but Huet made the save.
The physical play continued throughout the period, as Hjalmarsson caught the speedy Helm a bit off balance with a shoulder deep in the hawks' zone that sent Helm heavily into the boards. Later in the 3rd, Abdelkader caught Kane with a clean left shoulder as Kane was cutting across the slot, that sent the hawk forward flying - on the ensuing play, Toews nailed Abdelkader along the boards behind the net, with Abdelkader grabbing a hold of Toews, perhaps thinking the hawk captain wanted to challenge him for hitting Kane. Instead, Abdelkader was assessed a minor for holding, effectively killing two more minutes off the clock.
The hawks' Ladd & wings' Bertuzzi were each given misconducts late in the 3rd, as Bertuzzi looked to be trying to antagonize Sharp, who appeared to be a target of the wings all night. Ladd moved in to apparently come to his linemate's defense, and the next thing he knew, he, along with Bertuzzi, were heading for the showers.
Abdelkader continued to throw the body when he got out of the box, but that was the extent of Detroit's feeble response as the hawks skated off with the shutout win.
Without Zetterberg, the hawks not surprisingly dominated the face-off circle, winning over 64% of the draws and helping their puck possession game. While hard to accurately measure the hawks play given that Detroit was decimated with injuries, it is clear the hawks did what they had to do, not taking the wings lightly and got an important two points.
They finish off their 5 game homestand vs. San Jose on Tuesday before heading to Detroit to finish their pre-Christmas schedule.
Detroit was missing Henrik Zetterberg, Johan Franzen, Dan Cleary, Jason Williams, Valteri Filppula, Niklas Kronwall, Jonathan Ericsson & Andreas Lilja, all injured, several of them out longer term.
They also lost the likes of Hossa, Hudler, Samuelson, Kopecky, Chelios & Ty Conklin in the off-season to UFA, so their experience and depth isn't nearly what it was & thus it isn't surprising that Detroit is struggling simply to get & stay in the top 8 in the Western Conference this season.
And to top it off, Detroit played yesterday in Dallas & had to travel, while the hawks were resting up waiting for them in Chicago, so there was an expectation that the hawks had the clear upper hand against their original six rival heading into tonight's game, even though they were missing Barker & Eager who were originally hurt in the St. Louis game. Nik Hjalmarsson returned after missing the Boston game, while Jordan Hendry suited up for Barker and Bryan Bickell was called up again to replace Eager.
The hawks showed a lot of jump early, going on the attack with Sopel drawing a hooking minor on Maltby just over 3 minutes in, but the hawks were unable to capitalize (Detroit had killed 36 of their last 37 penalties) and just before the penalty expired, Patrick Kane took a tripping minor that nullified the remainder of the powerplay & gave Detroit one.
The wings were unable to generate much on their own pp and like the hawks, ended up taking a penalty to nullify their man advantage, with Bertuzzi caught holding Toews.
The hawks had the better of the 4 on 4, with Campbell getting two good chances, the first set up by Sharp as the hawk dman moved in off his point position for a point blank shot and moments later Versteeg cut into the slot before passing to Campbell at the left side of the wing goal.
A minute after Kane's penalty expired, the hawks struck, with Versteeg moving in to the zone down the right side & taking a pass from Toews, but missing the net on a snap shot from the top of the right circle. The puck went back to Toews along the left boards and he sent it back to Keith at the left point. Keith "walked the line" to the middle of the ice & fired a shot that appeared to deflect off a Detroit defenseman's stick and over Osgood's glove and the hawks powerplay had them up 1-0 early in the first.
The hawks continued to go to the attack, having a 7-0 shot advantage over half way through the first. The Wings finally got their first shot on goal over 13 minutes in, and tested Huet late in the 1st when Leino cut in on a partial break, forcing Huet into making a good glove save while doing the splits.
The hawks seemed to take their foot off the gas in the last 5 minutes of the 1st, as Detroit put together a couple of good shifts in the hawks zone, with the hawks blocking 5 shots while Huet stopped 4 others, including Leino's chance.
The second period started much like the first, with the hawks jumping on the wings - Kane stealing the puck at center and moving into the zone, using the "Savardian spin-o-rama" at top speed to elude the dman in the circle and get a good scoring chance from in close, but his backhand missed the target just over a minute in.
Just over 6 minutes in, the wings were caught with too many men - the hawks powerplay controlled the play in the Detroit zone & created several good chances, but missed the target a couple of times. They continued to hem Detroit in their own zone after the penalty, forcing an icing call though the wings were eventually able to change with no damage done.
Perhaps the turning point of the game came a few minutes later, when Abdelkader attempted to throw a hit on Patrick Sharp behind the hawks net, but got the worst of it as Sharp braced for the hit & ended up shouldering Abdelkader to the ice. Abdelkader got up and went after Sharp again as the play headed to the corner, with Sharp again bracing for the hit and denying Abdelkader a big hit, though a scuffle ensued, with some minor pushing & shoving.
Ironically, Sharp was the only one called for a penalty, when it appeared that Abdelkader could have picked up an interference (and a roughing) penalty. Replays further revealed that Detroit actually had 6 skaters active on the ice during the Sharp Abdelkader exchanges, nevertheless it was the hawks who found themselves shorthanded with only a 1-0 lead.
The wings managed just 1 shot on goal during their pp, and after the penalty expired, Sharp went to work. After registering a shot on goal & a takeaway on returning to the ice from the penalty box, he threw a hit at center on his 2nd shift back, then shortly afterwards, led a rush from his own blue line down the left wing into the Detroit zone together with Ladd & Hossa, as Campbell jumped up as the trailer on the play. As Ladd drove to the net, he took a wing dman with him, with another wing defender taking Hossa on the right side and a 3rd defender taking Sharp, leaving the late incoming Campbell open & after taking Sharp's pass, #51 had a wide open lane to the net & skated into it deep in the left faceoff circle before firing a shot that beat Osgood between the legs and the hawks were up by 2-0.
After a couple of strong shifts by the 1st & 4th lines, where Bickell rang one off the post to the right of Osgood, the hawks had the clear momentum as the period wound down, and took command when Byfuglien later worked the give & go with Madden, taking a return feed at center and moving in over the blue line and beating Osgood on a 40 foot snap shot to make it 3-0. Babcock afterwards indicated the two late 2nd period goals effectively killed the wings' chances, sapping any energy they may have had. The hawks outshot Detroit 14 to 5 in the 2nd.
To start the 3rd, a minor scuffle erupted beteen Versteeg & Datsyuk at the players' benches, with both players assessed offsetting minor roughing penalties. It was apparent that Detroit wanted to step up their hitting, perhaps to send a message for the Wednesday rematch, as Stuart, Abdelkader & Meech all followed Datsyuk's lead, throwing hits on Sharp, Ladd & Madden. Shortly afterwards, Drew Miller got off a one-handed shot on goal on a rush where he partially eluded Seabrook but Huet made the save.
The physical play continued throughout the period, as Hjalmarsson caught the speedy Helm a bit off balance with a shoulder deep in the hawks' zone that sent Helm heavily into the boards. Later in the 3rd, Abdelkader caught Kane with a clean left shoulder as Kane was cutting across the slot, that sent the hawk forward flying - on the ensuing play, Toews nailed Abdelkader along the boards behind the net, with Abdelkader grabbing a hold of Toews, perhaps thinking the hawk captain wanted to challenge him for hitting Kane. Instead, Abdelkader was assessed a minor for holding, effectively killing two more minutes off the clock.
The hawks' Ladd & wings' Bertuzzi were each given misconducts late in the 3rd, as Bertuzzi looked to be trying to antagonize Sharp, who appeared to be a target of the wings all night. Ladd moved in to apparently come to his linemate's defense, and the next thing he knew, he, along with Bertuzzi, were heading for the showers.
Abdelkader continued to throw the body when he got out of the box, but that was the extent of Detroit's feeble response as the hawks skated off with the shutout win.
Without Zetterberg, the hawks not surprisingly dominated the face-off circle, winning over 64% of the draws and helping their puck possession game. While hard to accurately measure the hawks play given that Detroit was decimated with injuries, it is clear the hawks did what they had to do, not taking the wings lightly and got an important two points.
They finish off their 5 game homestand vs. San Jose on Tuesday before heading to Detroit to finish their pre-Christmas schedule.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Hawks beat Boston 5-4 in SO, move atop Western Conference standings.
The blackhawks shutout string ended after 180 minutes & 55 seconds, but they managed to win their 3rd straight (all at home) and 5th in their last 6 games, beating the bruins with Antti Niemi in net to move into a first place tie atop the western conference standings with San Jose, though the hawks have played two fewer games than the sharks, their opponent Tuesday night at the UC.
The bruins started well, with a strong forechecking game that caused the hawk defenders several problems, including the bruins' 4th line which hemmed in the hawks top line in their own zone, creating a couple of good scoring chances of their own.
The hawks were missing Niklas Hjalmarsson, who according to coach Quenneville was "under the weather", though they did have Cam Barker back in the lineup, after he had left the last game against St. Louis with an undisclosed "lower body" injury. Jordan Hendry took Hjalmarsson's spot and played over 21 minutes on the night, while Barker & Sopel played their usual 12 to 13 minutes. Bryan Bickell was called up to replace Ben Eager in the hawks lineup, while the bruins were without forward Milan Lucic & defenseman Dennis Wideman.
Midway through the first, the bruins offensive zone pressure paid off, as Marco Sturm stole the puck in the hawk zone, which eventually led to the opening goal. Blake Wheeler managed to get to the loose puck before Niemi could cover up the rebound off David Krejci's shot from the right half boards. Wheeler poked the puck away from Niemi & recovered it behind the hawk net, then fed it back in front to Krejci, who managed to elude Keith, Madden & Sopel and beat Niemi from in close on the short side to end the hawks shutout streak and put the bruins up 1-0. Boston outshot the hawks 13-11 in the first, thanks to 5 takeaways & 2 hawk giveaways - they also had 8 shots blocked.
The hawks came out stronger in the second, and got a break when Andrew Ference misplayed a hard shoot in by Cam Barker in the right corner, where the puck bounced off righthand-shooting Ference's backhand side and straight out in front of the net to Kris Versteeg who was cruising in the slot. Versteeg quickly pounced on the loose puck and fired it past a startled Thomas who had no chance, and the game was tied just over a minute into the 2nd. A couple of minutes later, the hawks drew a penalty as Sobotka hooked Colin Fraser in the bruin zone, however, the hawks could not convert against the top ranked penalty killing team in the league, though Kane did have a good rebound chance to the left of Thomas off Campbell's point shot, but the bruin netminder made the second save as well.
Midway through the second, Brent Seabrook took a pass from defensive partner Keith & from his own blue line rushed up ice, cutting deep into the bruin zone past three bruins, as they all backed in. Seabrook then fired a shot from the right faceoff dot, about 20 feet out, that Thomas came out on to cut down the angle, however he gave a big rebound that bounced right to Sharp who was streaking down the left side, that had been vacated by the bruin defenders who all went towards Seabrook. Sharp essentially had an empty net and made no mistake to put the hawks up for the first time in the game, 2-1.
With time winding down in the second and play in the hawk zone, Sopel failed to clear as he ran into the referee in the right corner (and later complained he was also hooked by Mark Recchi), coughing up the puck in the process to Recchi, who moved in from Niemi's left and fed a cross-crease pass through Duncan Keith to Daniel Paille who had stationed himself at the other side of the net. Paille beat Niemi high, from a very sharp angle to tie the game at 2.
5 seconds after the bruins tied it, Hossa tripped up Ference in the neutral zone & the hawks 2nd ranked penalty killing unit had to go to work. The bruins managed to get a couple shots on Niemi, however the hawks managed to kill the penalty with no damage. Less than a minute after the expiration of the penalty & with less than a minute left in the 2nd, the hawks struck again, with Toews & Brouwer working a give & go in the bruins zone. Kane started the play working the puck up along the right half boards from the corner - he was checked there, but managed to get to the puck to Toews, who had moved in to support. Toews poked the puck to the open right corner with Brouwer the closest man, while Toews headed straight for the front of the net. Brouwer got to the loose puck first & threaded a pass between two bruins to Toews alone in front, who poked the puck past Thomas and the hawks had once again regained the lead 3-2 after two periods. The hawks outshot Boston 13-6 in the 2nd.
In the 3rd, the bruins struck just over 5 minutes in, as Bergeron beat two hawks, Sopel & Versteeg, behind the hawk net and got the puck to Paille in the corner. Paille eluded Sopel's check and returned the puck to Bergeron, who had gotten position on Versteeg behind the hawk net. Bergeron skated around the net and found Boychuk coming down the right wing - Boychuk took a sharp angle shot which beat a surprised Niemi, who may have been screened on the play, as he appeared to look at Barker in front after the puck went in.
The hawks replied quickly, as Hendry's blocked left point shot bounced straight to Campbell, open at the right point, who fired a shot on net that hit Ladd's hand in front & deflected past Thomas to restore Chicago's lead yet again.
The hawks had a chance to put the game away with a power play opportunity midway thru the 3rd, but again failed to convert, leaving the door open for Boston to tie.
And with less than 3 minutes remaining, they did as all three hawk forwards got caught deep in the boston zone when Morris sprung Krejci up the middle with a pass from the left corner corner for a 3 on 2 break, with Campbell & Hendry back for the hawks. Krejci fed Recchi on the left side, and he found trailer Bergeron moving in on the right side of the hawks zone for an open shot. Bergeron fired it past a sliding Hendry who tried to block the shot (& prevent a pass) and while Niemi made the initial save, he again failed to cover the rebound. Krejci quickly pounced on it and fired it in to tie the game yet again.
The hawks pushed forward in the last two minutes, with the Bruins laying back, apparently happy with a point and hoping to take their chances in the OT/SO, however, the hawks failed to threaten, sending the game to OT. The hawks outshot the bruins in the 3rd 17-7, but were outscored 2-1.
In the OT, both teams created chances with the extra room, perhaps the best going to Ference, who had moved deep into offensive zone & fired a wrister from the left circle that Niemi stopped & was able to cover the rebound before the bruin could get to it. In the dying seconds, Versteeg made a strong rush that setup a couple of chances, but Thomas was equal to the task, sending the game to a shoot-out.
Quenneville again decided to "kick", allowing the Bruins to shoot first, and Bergeron's wrist shot from in close was stopped by Niemi's left pad, as the bruin fell over the hawk goaltender on the way by, with Niemi looking back, apparently to see if the loose puck was heading toward the net. Toews then beat Thomas with a low, quick snap shot between the legs, to put the hawks up by 1 in the SO. Blake Wheeler then beat Niemi but his shot hit the left post and stayed out, giving Patrick Kane the opportunity to win it. Kane came in with speed and made a couple of moves before sliding the puck between the backsliding Thomas's legs and it slipped through & into the net to give the hawks the win in the 2nd round, with a frustrated Thomas smashing his stick at the bruin bench.
The hawks had 10 different players register a point in a balanced offensive attack, with Kane extending his current point streak to 6 games. Jonathan Toews is now 10 for 18 in shootout attempts and is likely to be part of the Canadian Olympic team squad as Steve Yzerman, Canada's GM was at the game. Since Toews has come back from his concussion, the hawks are 14-3-1 and are off to their best start in 27 years. Hendry did reasonably well as a fill-in for Hjalmarsson, though the hawks did miss their steady & reliable swede as the bruins were able to sustain considerable offensive zone pressure on the hawks defense in the first, creating turnovers and several good scoring chances. Niemi was sharp early, though he had clear problems in controlling rebounds, that directly led to two bruin goals. He also gave up a couple of bad angle goals, though he may have been screened on one, and the other was the result of a cross-crease pass where he had little time to position himself properly.
Despite Hendry's adequate job replacing Hjalmarsson, it is apparent that Quenneville didn't have a lot of confidence in Barker & Sopel's defensive game as the two got their normal 12 to 13 minutes while Hendry played 21. While some of that may be explained perhaps by Barker not being 100% after leaving the previous game due to injury, and also by not wanting to disrupt the other set pairings (Seabrook/Keith & Sopel/Barker), the hawk coach did attempt to change the defensive pairings around in the first period, but eventually settled on keeping Hendry in Hjalmarsson's spot next to Campbell. While I haven't tabulated the statistics, from general observation, it is clear that Sopel & Barker are the weak link in the hawks' defense and when you figure in their cap hits vs. ice time, they are a luxury the hawks can't afford longer term.
Next up are the banged up Detroit Red Wings, who lost star forward Henrik Zetterburg last night for at least a couple weeks with a separated shoulder. Despite all their injuries Detroit is still 8th and only 6 points behind the hawks with a home & home against Chicago before the Christmas break. The hawks host San Jose between Sunday's game against the wings at the UC & Wednesday's at Joe Louis.
As well as the hawks have played of late, Nashville & Detroit are staying with them, making the Central division one of the toughest in the league, with only the Pacific division having a slightly better overall record. The hawks next 5 games are all against Detroit, San Jose & Nashville and should provide another test to measure where the hawks stand against the top teams in their division & conference.
The bruins started well, with a strong forechecking game that caused the hawk defenders several problems, including the bruins' 4th line which hemmed in the hawks top line in their own zone, creating a couple of good scoring chances of their own.
The hawks were missing Niklas Hjalmarsson, who according to coach Quenneville was "under the weather", though they did have Cam Barker back in the lineup, after he had left the last game against St. Louis with an undisclosed "lower body" injury. Jordan Hendry took Hjalmarsson's spot and played over 21 minutes on the night, while Barker & Sopel played their usual 12 to 13 minutes. Bryan Bickell was called up to replace Ben Eager in the hawks lineup, while the bruins were without forward Milan Lucic & defenseman Dennis Wideman.
Midway through the first, the bruins offensive zone pressure paid off, as Marco Sturm stole the puck in the hawk zone, which eventually led to the opening goal. Blake Wheeler managed to get to the loose puck before Niemi could cover up the rebound off David Krejci's shot from the right half boards. Wheeler poked the puck away from Niemi & recovered it behind the hawk net, then fed it back in front to Krejci, who managed to elude Keith, Madden & Sopel and beat Niemi from in close on the short side to end the hawks shutout streak and put the bruins up 1-0. Boston outshot the hawks 13-11 in the first, thanks to 5 takeaways & 2 hawk giveaways - they also had 8 shots blocked.
The hawks came out stronger in the second, and got a break when Andrew Ference misplayed a hard shoot in by Cam Barker in the right corner, where the puck bounced off righthand-shooting Ference's backhand side and straight out in front of the net to Kris Versteeg who was cruising in the slot. Versteeg quickly pounced on the loose puck and fired it past a startled Thomas who had no chance, and the game was tied just over a minute into the 2nd. A couple of minutes later, the hawks drew a penalty as Sobotka hooked Colin Fraser in the bruin zone, however, the hawks could not convert against the top ranked penalty killing team in the league, though Kane did have a good rebound chance to the left of Thomas off Campbell's point shot, but the bruin netminder made the second save as well.
Midway through the second, Brent Seabrook took a pass from defensive partner Keith & from his own blue line rushed up ice, cutting deep into the bruin zone past three bruins, as they all backed in. Seabrook then fired a shot from the right faceoff dot, about 20 feet out, that Thomas came out on to cut down the angle, however he gave a big rebound that bounced right to Sharp who was streaking down the left side, that had been vacated by the bruin defenders who all went towards Seabrook. Sharp essentially had an empty net and made no mistake to put the hawks up for the first time in the game, 2-1.
With time winding down in the second and play in the hawk zone, Sopel failed to clear as he ran into the referee in the right corner (and later complained he was also hooked by Mark Recchi), coughing up the puck in the process to Recchi, who moved in from Niemi's left and fed a cross-crease pass through Duncan Keith to Daniel Paille who had stationed himself at the other side of the net. Paille beat Niemi high, from a very sharp angle to tie the game at 2.
5 seconds after the bruins tied it, Hossa tripped up Ference in the neutral zone & the hawks 2nd ranked penalty killing unit had to go to work. The bruins managed to get a couple shots on Niemi, however the hawks managed to kill the penalty with no damage. Less than a minute after the expiration of the penalty & with less than a minute left in the 2nd, the hawks struck again, with Toews & Brouwer working a give & go in the bruins zone. Kane started the play working the puck up along the right half boards from the corner - he was checked there, but managed to get to the puck to Toews, who had moved in to support. Toews poked the puck to the open right corner with Brouwer the closest man, while Toews headed straight for the front of the net. Brouwer got to the loose puck first & threaded a pass between two bruins to Toews alone in front, who poked the puck past Thomas and the hawks had once again regained the lead 3-2 after two periods. The hawks outshot Boston 13-6 in the 2nd.
In the 3rd, the bruins struck just over 5 minutes in, as Bergeron beat two hawks, Sopel & Versteeg, behind the hawk net and got the puck to Paille in the corner. Paille eluded Sopel's check and returned the puck to Bergeron, who had gotten position on Versteeg behind the hawk net. Bergeron skated around the net and found Boychuk coming down the right wing - Boychuk took a sharp angle shot which beat a surprised Niemi, who may have been screened on the play, as he appeared to look at Barker in front after the puck went in.
The hawks replied quickly, as Hendry's blocked left point shot bounced straight to Campbell, open at the right point, who fired a shot on net that hit Ladd's hand in front & deflected past Thomas to restore Chicago's lead yet again.
The hawks had a chance to put the game away with a power play opportunity midway thru the 3rd, but again failed to convert, leaving the door open for Boston to tie.
And with less than 3 minutes remaining, they did as all three hawk forwards got caught deep in the boston zone when Morris sprung Krejci up the middle with a pass from the left corner corner for a 3 on 2 break, with Campbell & Hendry back for the hawks. Krejci fed Recchi on the left side, and he found trailer Bergeron moving in on the right side of the hawks zone for an open shot. Bergeron fired it past a sliding Hendry who tried to block the shot (& prevent a pass) and while Niemi made the initial save, he again failed to cover the rebound. Krejci quickly pounced on it and fired it in to tie the game yet again.
The hawks pushed forward in the last two minutes, with the Bruins laying back, apparently happy with a point and hoping to take their chances in the OT/SO, however, the hawks failed to threaten, sending the game to OT. The hawks outshot the bruins in the 3rd 17-7, but were outscored 2-1.
In the OT, both teams created chances with the extra room, perhaps the best going to Ference, who had moved deep into offensive zone & fired a wrister from the left circle that Niemi stopped & was able to cover the rebound before the bruin could get to it. In the dying seconds, Versteeg made a strong rush that setup a couple of chances, but Thomas was equal to the task, sending the game to a shoot-out.
Quenneville again decided to "kick", allowing the Bruins to shoot first, and Bergeron's wrist shot from in close was stopped by Niemi's left pad, as the bruin fell over the hawk goaltender on the way by, with Niemi looking back, apparently to see if the loose puck was heading toward the net. Toews then beat Thomas with a low, quick snap shot between the legs, to put the hawks up by 1 in the SO. Blake Wheeler then beat Niemi but his shot hit the left post and stayed out, giving Patrick Kane the opportunity to win it. Kane came in with speed and made a couple of moves before sliding the puck between the backsliding Thomas's legs and it slipped through & into the net to give the hawks the win in the 2nd round, with a frustrated Thomas smashing his stick at the bruin bench.
The hawks had 10 different players register a point in a balanced offensive attack, with Kane extending his current point streak to 6 games. Jonathan Toews is now 10 for 18 in shootout attempts and is likely to be part of the Canadian Olympic team squad as Steve Yzerman, Canada's GM was at the game. Since Toews has come back from his concussion, the hawks are 14-3-1 and are off to their best start in 27 years. Hendry did reasonably well as a fill-in for Hjalmarsson, though the hawks did miss their steady & reliable swede as the bruins were able to sustain considerable offensive zone pressure on the hawks defense in the first, creating turnovers and several good scoring chances. Niemi was sharp early, though he had clear problems in controlling rebounds, that directly led to two bruin goals. He also gave up a couple of bad angle goals, though he may have been screened on one, and the other was the result of a cross-crease pass where he had little time to position himself properly.
Despite Hendry's adequate job replacing Hjalmarsson, it is apparent that Quenneville didn't have a lot of confidence in Barker & Sopel's defensive game as the two got their normal 12 to 13 minutes while Hendry played 21. While some of that may be explained perhaps by Barker not being 100% after leaving the previous game due to injury, and also by not wanting to disrupt the other set pairings (Seabrook/Keith & Sopel/Barker), the hawk coach did attempt to change the defensive pairings around in the first period, but eventually settled on keeping Hendry in Hjalmarsson's spot next to Campbell. While I haven't tabulated the statistics, from general observation, it is clear that Sopel & Barker are the weak link in the hawks' defense and when you figure in their cap hits vs. ice time, they are a luxury the hawks can't afford longer term.
Next up are the banged up Detroit Red Wings, who lost star forward Henrik Zetterburg last night for at least a couple weeks with a separated shoulder. Despite all their injuries Detroit is still 8th and only 6 points behind the hawks with a home & home against Chicago before the Christmas break. The hawks host San Jose between Sunday's game against the wings at the UC & Wednesday's at Joe Louis.
As well as the hawks have played of late, Nashville & Detroit are staying with them, making the Central division one of the toughest in the league, with only the Pacific division having a slightly better overall record. The hawks next 5 games are all against Detroit, San Jose & Nashville and should provide another test to measure where the hawks stand against the top teams in their division & conference.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Hawks post back to back shutouts, blank St. Louis 3-0
The blackhawks recorded their league-leading 5th shutout of the season, while Patrick Kane assisted on all three goals as Chicago beat division rival St. Louis at the UC in their first meeting of the season, 3-0 on Stan Mikita night.
The hawks have now not given up a goal in their last 171 minutes & 33 seconds at the UC, since Chris Higgins scored for the rangers in the 1st period of the hawks 2-1 OT win a week ago.
The blues actually started well, outshooting the hawks 7-2 in the first five minutes of the first, having two more shots blocked and missing the net on yet another. But then the tide turned, with the hawks taking over, eventually drawing a penalty on Perron for interference. Though they didn't score on the powerplay, the hawks seemed to gain further momentum, and about a minute after the expiration of the penalty, they put one on the board, with Kane & Toews cycling the puck deep in the St. Louis zone, eventually finding Brouwer up high on the right side. Brouwer fired a long shot on net, that deflected off blues defenseman Barret Jackman and somehow found room between Conklin's legs, to make it 1-0 Chicago. It was Brouwer's first point in 9 games, after he had picked up 9 points in his previous 8 games.
About a minute later, the hawks' powerplay got another opportunity when Brad Winchester interfered with Bryan Campbell. This time, Campbell made the blues pay by firing a snap shot from the point that found the net with Kris Versteeg screening Conklin on the play.
The hawks ultimately outshot the blues 21-9 in the period, an amazing stat considering the shots on goal after the first 5 minutes.
The blues started the second the way they had started the first - outshooting the hawks 6-1 in the first 10 minutes, though the hawks had two separate 2 on 0 breaks where they failed to convert - Versteeg & Byfuglien and later Madden & Versteeg, both, however missing great chances. Late in the 2nd, the blues Crombeen was sent in alone but Huet made a good save to keep it 2-0. A minute or so later, the blues got a powerplay opportunity when Versteeg was sent off for hooking, but St. Louis couldn't capitalize and shortly after the expiration of the penalty, the hawks scored their 3rd goal with Toews gaining control of the puck behind the blues net & skating to the other side of the net, found Hossa alone in the slot for a one timer that beat Conklin between the legs.
The hawks essentially coasted the rest of the way, with the help of some bone-crunching hits by Dustin Byfuglien. It seemed the blues finally tired of being at the receiving end of big #33's hits for most of the game, with Crombeen & Winchester both going after Byfuglien after he nailed Jackman late in the 3rd, with all three receving roughing minors. After Crombeen had served his minor, he returned to the ice and got involved again with some extracurricular activity when Sopel came to the aid of Huet after Cam Janssen got into a scuffle with the hawk netminder. Eager then challenged Crombeen, with Jackman jumping in the middle of that scrap. When all was said & done, Eager, Jansen & Jackman received 10 minute misconducts.
Hawk defenseman Cam Barker left the game early in the 3rd & did not return. Coach Quenneville indicated after the game that it was a lower body injury but not believed to be serious. Keith Tkachuk was a healthy scratch for St. Louis.
With the win, the hawks moved into sole possession of 2nd place in the western conference, two points behind Los Angeles with four games in hand. They get ready to face the rejuvenated Boston Bruins at the UC on Friday in another original 6 matchup.
The hawks have now not given up a goal in their last 171 minutes & 33 seconds at the UC, since Chris Higgins scored for the rangers in the 1st period of the hawks 2-1 OT win a week ago.
The blues actually started well, outshooting the hawks 7-2 in the first five minutes of the first, having two more shots blocked and missing the net on yet another. But then the tide turned, with the hawks taking over, eventually drawing a penalty on Perron for interference. Though they didn't score on the powerplay, the hawks seemed to gain further momentum, and about a minute after the expiration of the penalty, they put one on the board, with Kane & Toews cycling the puck deep in the St. Louis zone, eventually finding Brouwer up high on the right side. Brouwer fired a long shot on net, that deflected off blues defenseman Barret Jackman and somehow found room between Conklin's legs, to make it 1-0 Chicago. It was Brouwer's first point in 9 games, after he had picked up 9 points in his previous 8 games.
About a minute later, the hawks' powerplay got another opportunity when Brad Winchester interfered with Bryan Campbell. This time, Campbell made the blues pay by firing a snap shot from the point that found the net with Kris Versteeg screening Conklin on the play.
The hawks ultimately outshot the blues 21-9 in the period, an amazing stat considering the shots on goal after the first 5 minutes.
The blues started the second the way they had started the first - outshooting the hawks 6-1 in the first 10 minutes, though the hawks had two separate 2 on 0 breaks where they failed to convert - Versteeg & Byfuglien and later Madden & Versteeg, both, however missing great chances. Late in the 2nd, the blues Crombeen was sent in alone but Huet made a good save to keep it 2-0. A minute or so later, the blues got a powerplay opportunity when Versteeg was sent off for hooking, but St. Louis couldn't capitalize and shortly after the expiration of the penalty, the hawks scored their 3rd goal with Toews gaining control of the puck behind the blues net & skating to the other side of the net, found Hossa alone in the slot for a one timer that beat Conklin between the legs.
The hawks essentially coasted the rest of the way, with the help of some bone-crunching hits by Dustin Byfuglien. It seemed the blues finally tired of being at the receiving end of big #33's hits for most of the game, with Crombeen & Winchester both going after Byfuglien after he nailed Jackman late in the 3rd, with all three receving roughing minors. After Crombeen had served his minor, he returned to the ice and got involved again with some extracurricular activity when Sopel came to the aid of Huet after Cam Janssen got into a scuffle with the hawk netminder. Eager then challenged Crombeen, with Jackman jumping in the middle of that scrap. When all was said & done, Eager, Jansen & Jackman received 10 minute misconducts.
Hawk defenseman Cam Barker left the game early in the 3rd & did not return. Coach Quenneville indicated after the game that it was a lower body injury but not believed to be serious. Keith Tkachuk was a healthy scratch for St. Louis.
With the win, the hawks moved into sole possession of 2nd place in the western conference, two points behind Los Angeles with four games in hand. They get ready to face the rejuvenated Boston Bruins at the UC on Friday in another original 6 matchup.
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