It took a while, but it's finally starting to actually feel like winter. Snow is on the ground, Sam is freezing his ass off outside of Gate 3, and the Hawks are able to brush aside an inferior team with a modest effort and superior depth. Some early and late rebound issues from Ray Emery made things a little more interesting than even the scoreboard would indicate, as the Wild hardly got a sniff for the vast majority of the game, even on the advantage. Hawks 5, Wild 2, and one point closer to reclaiming the Central from the fried-ravioli mongers with their OT loss to Vancouver. To the snow-encased bullets.

Observations

• So the story is going to be Andrew Shaw and Jimmy Hayes, as it probably should be. While Shaw's goal was as soft and fluffy as the drifts outside, he's still provided energy and a bit of physicality for his diminutive stature, and as we're starting to see, a decent set of hands on his first two goals. As for Hayes, on his goal, he showed quite a bit of hockey accumen by popping out from in front of the net and squaring up to the looping around Dave Bolland, giving Bolland a target and giving himself space to pick his spot against Josh Harding. But again people, sample sizes. There's a cautionary tale with 8:15 of ice time a little further down the wrap.
  
• Even with that nice play, however, it still wasn't enough to keep Quenneville from swapping in Michael Frolik on the line at even strength with Bolland and Marian Hossa. The same Michael Frolik on whose tape many an offensive zone possession dies with an ill advised shot from a bad angle. I'm sure Marian Hossa was thrilled. That being said, Frolik's defensive work has been exemplary, even if he couldn't hit snow if he fell off a salt truck right now. It also came at the expense of breaking up a nice unit of Frolik, Brunette, and Shaw, which had numerous sustained possessions in the early going.
  
• And back to Shaw, while Fels put out the clarion call to get Shaw a nickname, how about everyone works on getting the kid a real jersey number first. As Pat Foley pointed out during the broadcast, there's only one 65 in town, and it's Patrick Damn Mannelly. Spare me your Kelly Wunsch stories. And no, suggesting "Shaw Shank" for the 87th time isn't original or clever, and that movie is emotionally manipulative schlock.
• Viktor Stalberg, Professional Bum Slayer. Probably says so on his business card. If it doesn't, it should.
  
• While Pat and Edzo couldn't wait to toss bouquets Sean O'Donnell's way for his play tonight, which was justifiable, their assertion that he's been solid all year is simply inaccurate. But over the last couple games, he and Montador have returned to their October-ish form that bordered somewhere between "invisible competence" and "pretty decent", which is all that can be asked of a third pair.
• Pretty good time for Dave Bolland to finally wake up, huh?
• Two sets of actual defensemen on the power play points, and two goals against a decent Minny PK. I'm sure Quenneville will chalk it up to a fluke and put Leddy in front and Mayers on a point for Saturday, because these units as presently comprised don't illustrate Q's tactical geniusness nearly enough.
• Not game related, but possibly indirectly Hawks related - Mike Cammalleri was traded this evening back to Calgary for the eminently suspendable Rene Bourque, in an exchange of bad paper for bad paper. But Cammy's getting paid more than Bourque and is younger, and the Flames are already dry humping the cap. The first move in Jay Feaster's plan for life without Iggy, or a petulant move by Gauthier and the Habs after Cammalleri's comments to the always rational Montreal press? Stay tuned.
• Bryan Bickell and Ben Smith with 8:44 and 8:15 played respectively, and almost none of it came when the game was tied or still in question. Four shifts a piece in the first half of the game. I hope Bickell doesn't have more than a couple months left on the lease on his apartment.
  
• In a game the Hawks controlled for the vast majority, Leddy and Hammer were still in the red on Corsi. This isn't going away. Those numbers also explain in Quenneville logic why Jimmy Hayes was relieved of his top 6 duties.
• Did anyone else's sphincter clench more than they'd like to admit after the Seabrook-Staubitz collision?
• It had been written here over the past month or two that the secondary scoring needed to actually start picking up some of the slack, especially now with Patrick Sharp missing significant time (though given Sharp's perennial drop-off with the change of the calendar year, it could be argued just how significant), and they've done so in a timely manner since Sharp was felled. However, far sterner tests are coming over the weekend, and Patrick Kane going back to "Fuck You Mode" would certainly amplify the lower half's of the roster's contributions.

Now that that's over with, at least we won't have to go through much more misty-eyed reminiscing of a Cup won two years ago when there's still quite a large task at hand of acquiring the one that's still up for grabs in six months. After going their first 15 games without a regulation loss when scoring first, the Hawks have now lost their last two. This tilt was predictably fast paced and high-scoring, with both teams trading periods of exerting themselves offensively while the respective defensive corps did their best Roger Dorn impersonations. In an ending reminiscent of the last time the Hawks were in Philly for a regular season game, a late penalty to Patrick Kane proved the death knell for the Hawks, as their passive and sloppy kill was torched by Claude Giroux who was given all the time in the world by all four Hawks to find Scott Hartnell, who relayed a pass from down low to a streaking JVR who didn't miss on the game winner. Flyers 5, Hawks 4.

Observations

• The early returns from Hawk nation are that of bellowing of no minors being called on the Flyers during the game. With the way the game was officiated, I'm not sure what they could have called that would have been within the context of the game they were allowing to happen. Though it is curious how Patrick Sharp wound up with four minutes for nary a scratch on Giroux, otherwise the zebras let the boys play.
• While the defensive zone coverage was for the most part abhorrent from the Hawks tonight, Ray Emery finally got exposed by a team that had the skill and patience to get him moving laterally. All 5 Flyer goals forced Razor to move post to post. And though Emery did make several solid stops, his rebound control left a lot to be desired.
  
• I'm sure the legends of Andrew Shaw and Jimmy Hayes are already being penned in leather bound, gilded page volumes as we speak. While both had nice games, and showed some hands both in close and in space, let's wait for a bigger sample size before everyone goes all Ben Smith on them. And I'm pretty sure there's still bone fragments from Shaw's skull getting kicked around the Wells Fargo ice.
  
• Nice of Pat and Eddie to finally tell us that Kimmo Timonen, the Flyers' best defensman with Pronger out, missed the last half of the first period and was only able to muster 3 short shifts at the start of the second with about 5 minutes left to go in that frame. I'm sure the shoutouts and waxing poetic about the Hawks training staff were more important, though.
• The Corsi numbers defy logic all over the place.
• Oh hey, Dave Bolland with an assist. So nice of him to make the trip.
  
• Something needs to be done with the defensive zone coverage. If the Hawks can't cut off the opposition's zone entry, they're getting repeatedly hemmed in and consequently clowned. The Hawk D men are going to need to a better job at closing in on puck carriers and angling them at the wall, rather than just flailing their sticks at them bent at the waist. Hawk wingers would be well served to stay interested in their checks crashing into the slot as well, rather than waiting for their chance to shotgun back up ice.
  
  In a rare instance, Marian Hossa was particularly guilty of this on the Harry Zwasweriosasdoflkmnsadecyk goal, as he let him just waltz into the slot uncovered after Dylan Olsen had forced his man into a low percentage shot from the corner, and OD was in his rightful place occupying a man in front of Emery.
• For as iffy as he's been all year, The Universe was so humahngusbig when it counted (timely humor!), even if he almost filled his diaper at the end.
• Patrick Sharp officially has his annual case of the post-Holiday yips. A prolonged homestand with a newborn during one of the Hawks' densest stretches of games probably isn't helping things in the rest department either. Even with that being the case, it might be time to get him back at the pivot, as Kane's line got dong whipped in their own end tonight on a fairly consistent basis.
• If nothing else, the Hawks will have very little time to dwell on that cock-punch of an ending, as the suddenly relevant Avalanche are back at the UC tomorrow, which will be just as fast paced an affair as tonight's was. And on the plus side, at least we won't have to look at Matt Duchene's face tomorrow.

Wouldn't seven games of THAT be seizure inducing? And if the Penguins were healthy...

In a matchup both sides were looking forward to as a measuring stick between the Blackhawks and Pens, things began tentatively enough, and escalated in a hurry. After the brief, obligatory, junior high dance-like feeling out process between the two teams, the chances began to accumulate for both squads, with goalies Ray Emery and Marc-Andre Fleury standing tall early on. Shortly after the Hawks killed off an iffy interference call on Nick Leddy, the game had its first momentum swing, with Derek Engelland hitting Marcus Kruger high after he had already been engaged. Seeing a chance to justify his existence on the ice, John Scott quickly sprang forth to scrap with Engelland, and earned himself an extra 2 and 10 in the process. Predictably, the Penguins scored on the ensuing power play, and took that 1-0 advantage into the dressing room at the first break.

The Hawk march to the box continued in the second, with the Hawks taking 8 more minutes in penalties, 4 of which were nullified by the exuberance of James Neal in the Hawk zone. It was Neal, though who extended the Pens lead to 2-0 on a 2-on-1 from the wing, after Duncan Keith blew a tire and coughed the puck up on a pinch attempt. Tyler Kennedy broke a personal drought during one of the Neal-caused 4-on-4 situations and extended the lead to 3 after Steve Montador did what Steve Montador does in the defensive zone.

And then the third period happened.

Quenneville's obligatory pulling of the line combination slot machine to spark his team once again landed Triple 7's, with Viktor Stalberg of all people leading the charge. Stalberg's driving to the net allowed Jonathan Toews to score on a backhand feed attempt that deflected in front on a rush wide, and Vik himself capped off one of the more gorgeous three-man-weave plays anyone will ever see in the offensive zone between he, Patrick Kane, and Marian Hossa to draw the Hawks within one with a little less than 14 to play. From there on in was a full frontal assault on Fleury from the Hawks, drawing only iron and Flower's equipment. Even with a late power play, MAF wouldn't wilt, and the Pens would hang on 3-2, giving the Hawks their first pointless game in December.

Observations

• Yes, I'm going to talk about the Kruger-Scott-Engelland incident, so deal with it. While yes, that specific scenario is what John Scott is ostensibly dressed or even on an NHL roster for, he has to be smarter than that, as the rulebook is going to give him a bonus 12 minutes every time, and the Hawks had only been 44 seconds out from killing Leddy's penalty. Even without Sid, Letang, et al, the Penguins are still not a team that can be given numerous changes on the advantage, and they made the Hawks pay like good teams do, further disproving the idiotic notion that fights always cause a swing in momentum in favor of the team "sticking up for one another". Furthermore, with Brent Seabrook's health still up for debate, it probably wasn't the best idea to once again hamstring the d-corps for an extra 10 minutes with another game coming tomorrow night. So while there should have been a call on Engelland (he will probably get his pager blown up by Brendan Shanahan tomorrow if he hasn't already), there's such a thing as situational awareness, which is yet another item on the list of skills that John Scott is lacking.
  
• Oh, and Scott did his best to give Jordan Staal an opportunity to seal the game with a breakaway after coughing the puck up at the blue line when the Hawks had about 150% of the game's momentum. Fortunately for Scott and for the rest of us, Staal was at the end of a shift and was completely gassed from chasing around other Hawk players that actually contribute that Scott was able to reach and get the puck away from him.
  
• Hey, maybe with Marcus Kruger presumably watching tomorrow night's game from a very quiet room, that'll give Ben Smith his long awaited opportunity to burst onto the scene if given top 6 minutes, much to the delight of the press corps.
• Despite three penalties that probably gave Dan Bylsma a stroke either individually or collectively, it's pretty easy to see why the rest of the Eastern/Gondor-in-2012 Conference should be terrified of James Neal if Sid ever sees straight again.
• Think Viktor Stalberg was a little indignant about getting dropped down in favor of Jeremy Morin (did he even play, by the way)?
• It was also nice to see that even after some time off, that Patrick Kane/Marian Hossa thing still works.
• Though he's probably overpaid by more than a little bit based on the stats he posts, there's no doubt that Marc-Andre Fleury has got quite a set on him when it counts.
• Steve Montador - Either follow the guy around the net or stay at the near post. Don't stop halfway. Monty has a lot of upside to his game, particularly on the third pair, but we're seeing that he falls far more onto the risk-taking side of the equation. Having a regular, conservative, competent partner would do wonders for his game, and make the Hawks that much more dangerous in transition when rolling everyone. And get his ass on the blue line on the power play with that shot. The experiment with him in front is over. Final grade, as is everything with me- C-.
• Ray Emery deserved better a better result than what he got, and Edzo's notion during the second break that he be yanked for Crawford was asinine.
  
• Let's hope the book doesn't get out on the stretch pass and its effectiveness against the Hawk defensive scheme. Due to their attacking nature, the Hawks are going to leave a soft area between their forecheckers and defensemen in transition, but fortunately not every team has Evegeni Malkin keying that attack. Just further proof that Dan Bylsma sees more and gets more from his players than just about any other bench boss in the league.
  
• Even with Crawford in net and likely reconfigured lines due to Kruger's presumed absence, an effort like that should yield 2 points at home against the Habs, who will be starting Peter Budaj and are still looking for that "new coach bump" after whacking Jacques Martin over the weekend. SHOULD.

It had been a long damn time since a game between the Hawks and any Minnesota-based team had any kind of importance to it, or ever in the case of the Wild since their inception. But tonight's game about 3/8ths deep into the season between the top two teams in the west had a near playoff-like atmosphere, complete with the 6th largest crowd ever on hand at the Xcel for a regular season game.

For the most part, the game lived up to the billing, and a see-saw battle in which the Hawks never trailed, and there was more than a little questionable officiating ended with two points gained and one kinda-sorta given away. Even though the game was early and the wrap is timely, the linear recap is getting bypassed for the meaty, meaty bullets. Enjoy.

Observations

• The officiating. Yes the big fuck up was the ice/no-ice call that led to Minny's first goal, but the calls were bad all the way around for both teams tonight, and it's something that has to be rolled through. Mikko Koivu's "trip" on Brent Seabrook was pretty much Seabs blowing a tire for no reason, and the only fathomable reason to give Cullen and unsportsmanlike would be because he said the "magic word" to the official. There was much consternation and bleating from the Wild side regarding the Duncan Keith breakup of Cullen's breakaway which drew his ire in the first place, but I've yet to see a replay where there's anything but stick-on-stick from Keith, who made a beautiful play to deny a chance.
• So back to that icing call. Yes, the linesman did apologize for it, which Regis McGuire later declared on national TV, but that does not absolve John Scott of the irredeemably stupid manifold decisions he made.
  
  First, whether he knew icing was on or off, there is zero reason for him to skate to the exact same spot as his partner Steve Montador, who had clearly and embarassingly beaten him from across the ice to the puck. In fact, there's hardly a reason for both defensemen to be in the same spot like that anywhere away from the goal mouth EVER. Given the oncoming forecheck, Scott should have either a) held up at the hash and given Monty a target, then gone in if he needed help, or b) just gone to the front of the net to take up space.
  
  Secondly, upon arrival, there's no need for him to just stand still and try to decapitate someone, though I suppose he felt he's been deprived of those opportunities lately, with no one stupid enough to engage him. Either way, once again, a John Scott shift on the ice on the road led to a goal against that changed the complexion of the game. At what point is anyone going to ask Quenneville what specific reasons he has for trotting him out there, especially on the road?
• And for his troubles, Steve Montador found himself benched in the third with Scott taking shifts with Keith, Seabrook, and Leddy. I'm not sure what is expected of Montador (or Lepisto or OD for that matter) as a third pairing defensemen that John Scott somehow provides, but again, I'd be happy to hear it.
• Relating to the previous point, the ice times were once again completely cockeyed, with Duncan Keith skating over 30 minutes, Toews nearly 24:00, but with Montador, Frolik, and Brunette (the latter two of whom actually had decent games) all dry-humping 10:00 minutes TOI. It became pretty clear last year what leaning on the top of the roster for an extended period of time can do. Let's not go through that again, shall we?
• Pretty solid game by Razor all the way around, including in the shootout, where he hadn't inspired much confidence prior to tonight. However, all three Wild goals came with Emery being just a touch slow moving laterally, which shows the toll his hip condition has taken. For the most part though, Razor's shown that if he can see it, he can stop it.
  
• So Toews pretty much once again just kinda threw it right down on the kitchen counter for everyone to behold on that goal, didn't he?
• Oh hey, Michael Frolik is alive.
• Not Brent Seabrook's best night, but he's been generally better since his first game or two back from injury.
• Marcus Kruger just keeps getting better. He's still a little too light in the ass, but he's got the hockey IQ to make up for it. And he's going to keep trying that blind, between-the-legs pass until it works it seems.
  
• I'm not sure if what was observed tonight was the Hawks letting off the gas in the 3rd, or one of the league's hottest teams of late making a big push, but the blown third period leads are still a bit worrysome.
• John Scott was a +10 in Corsi. Excuse me while I set myself on fire.

That 3rd period goal will get you here every time. More please.

Oh what a difference a Dave makes.  You hate to put an entire game or series on one man's back but when that man finally shows up and the team plays the game we've all been waiting for.. well it's hard not to. In his first game since Pavel Kubina attempted a lobotomy on him in the neutral zone, Dave Bolland made no mistake of his importance to his team.  4 points, a +4 and nearly 16 minutes of TOI that helped limit everyone else's exposure.  If I'm not mistaken, I even saw 36 throw a few hits and continue his tradition of being an all-around pain in the ass for everyone not wearing an Indian head.  He's showed no rust in getting not only back into playing form.. but seems to have made the leap directly into playoff form we've all missed so dearly.

Everyone else around him played an inspired game as well.  Whether it is too little too late remains to be seen but consider me fully on board this optimist wave.  There are plenty of places to read some negative statements about the Hawks' chances and I can't blame them.  But looking forward to the next game is just a fuck ton more fun... so I'm going with that.  The Hawks haven't been blown out quite the way it may have seemed in the previous three games, so if they can put together another effort similar to what we saw tonight, I see no reason to be anything less than thrilled that we still get to see at least one more game. 

This Kings/Sharks game is far too fun.. so lets get down to it

• Lets get it out of the way - John Scott was once again useless except for the brief moment where it seemed like he may get to pound the shit out of Tanner Glass.  And I was really hoping he might get that chance.  I'm not sure what happened when he drew the misconduct with Raffi Torres either.. but that would have been another good chance to see what he could do.
  
  The sad fact is that he didn't get to do anything with either of these opportunities.  In one case, the other team was smarter... in the second.. I don't really know.  Either way, he isn't going to be an effective player at this point in the season.  We've ragged on him all season but obviously we stand and cheer when he destroys someone like Westgarth.  The Canucks aren't going to give him the opportunity to do anything like that though... so he doesn't have a reason to skate.  Sorry...
• John Scott did manage 20 minutes of penalties in a single period... that's kinda cool
• Even with Scott's eight and half minutes.. the Hawks were at least able to keep things reasonable in regards to others TOI.  Campbell led the team with just over 25 minutes.  6 goals in a row will do that for you though.  A lead like that lets Q rest his top lines which was much needed. 
  
• A few flashes of life from the top lines tonight.  Everyone had at least one point though plenty still haven't broken out of their slumps.  We're waiting.. and we've got at least one more to see it.
• Early reports are in on Luongo being chased/being injured... doctors say he needs a backiotomy.
• Lord Byron Bickell... where did that come from my friend?
• Did the penalty boxes get the same expansions we've seen in the 300 level bars?  How many damn people can you fit into those things now?  The Canucks seemed determined to find out...
• Ryan Johnson was a bit over excited tonight... not at faceoffs, he only won 25% of those.  Instead, he decided to try and even things up with more than one questionable hit.  One of which was called for a penalty.  Meh
• Kevin Bieksa remains a piece of shit, just in case there was any doubt
  
• Did anyone not see Patrick Sharp's first goal coming a mile away?  A three on two power play rush with Kane holding the puck and Sharp trailing?  Sharp lifted his stick simply waiting for that sure to come pass and everyone screamed "there it is!" about a minute before it happened.  
• Kings - Smyth/Sharks - Setoguchi
• Hawks in 7

Player of the Game:

No doubt about this one.. .welcome back Rat

Fels Here: We very well may not get to do this again this season, so let's not waste any more time.

Well, at least the Blackhawks were able to figure out the riddle that was Roberto Luongo.  After almost stealing the first game singlehandedly, it looked like we could get a repeat performance out of ol' Borat.  Didn't work out that way as the Hawks were able to find the back of the net 3 times in the final two frames.  Unfortunately, the Canucks did it in all three and grabbed the 2-0 series lead heading back to Chicago. 

There seem to be two reactions among everyone on the internets.  Plenty are ready to call this series over.  The Canucks have dominated long stretches of play and are capitalizing on every mistake.. and there have been more than a few. I can't blame these doom and gloomers.  Meanwhile, there are plenty of others that see games that have been closer than it may seem and realize the series shifts back home.  Luongo finally started to give up some rebounds in the second and third... hopefully that continues.

Anyways, lets just get right down to it:

• Who the hell is Jannik Hansen and why is he absolutely murdering us? 
  
• Not being able to clear the puck certainly helps make Hansen seem like a hero.  As we've seen far too many times this year, the Hawks struggled to get the puck out of their zone on multiple occasions.  And early on it bit them in the ass.  One of the Sedins, doesn't matter which, was able to pick the puck up low and feed it directly to Hansen who found soft ice all alone..
• Ben Smith.  How about that?  Two goals, both off rebounds.  I think that maybe, kinda, sorta, could be a theme that the Hawks might want to look in to. 
  
• The power play looked worse than Clown Shoes tonight... it looked like a monkey trying to fuck a clown's shoe.  
• Umm.. 85 combined hits?  That seems juuuuuuust a little high.  It certainly was a physical game and as we expected, the Nucks aren't shying away from throwing plenty of hits.  Unfortunately, it seems only Brent Seabrook seems to want to respond... no matter how far out of position it'll put him. 
  
• To be fair, Sharp had his fair share of physical play and took a stupid penalty because of it.
• Giving up a goal in the first and last minute of the period... always a killer.
• How excited were you when you saw Toews absolutely fly past about 3 Canucks to drive on the net?  He was once was going to win this game or die trying...
• How disappointed are you now when you realize that was about the only time you'd notice him?  -1 and not a single SOG... more is needed Marvel
  
• If anyone can explain what was going on the second goal from Sedin, doesn't matter which, I'd like to hear it.  Keith and Hossa gave him all the time and space in the world and it's no surprise it ended up in the back of the net... 
• Is Stephane Waite a long lost Baldwin brother?
• So.. are you one of the pessimists, ready to call it a series?  Or are you thinking the Hawks were close in both games?  Time will tell my friends. 

It wasn't exactly the text book blow out and it wasn't the prettiest but it was two points the Hawks needed to have and it was two points they got.  Though the Hawks controlled the play in the first, they were once again in danger of being stood up by a hot goalie... and as McClure mentioned goalies that catch right handed always drives the Hawks and the rest of us crazy.  While the ice tilted in the Hawks favor, you could just as easily seeing it shift the other way if the Panthers were the first to find a way to score. 

Luckily for us - the Panthers had a slow and steady march to the box to feel shame in the second.  It took the Hawks three chances but Brent Seabrook was finally able to break the scoreless streak with his now patented fall down slapper as he pinched in from the point.  The Hawks exploded in the third for three more goals all off some pretty passing all around the ice... and one kinda biffed shot from Kaner that beat Vokoun only by how terrible it ended up being.  The Hawks survived the late push from the Hawks and march up the standings... at least for a few more days til they drop back to 7th because of not playing for a few days anyway.

Bullets:

• Welcome to the top line Viktor Stalberg - stick around long enough and things like that will end up happening for you.  Keep that stick on the ice, sir.  
• Yet another scary moment as Marian Hossa lost an edge, or something, and ended up taking a knee or skate to the head, or something.  He looked shook up on the play and left for the dressing room causing a minor ulcer in everyone else to go along with Q's.  He barely missed a shift though and based on his passing later on... he's alright.  
• Yes, it was a solid night for Crawford as he came up with some big saves but the Hawks also did a fantastic job of limiting chances for the Panthers.  Only 5 shots in the second?  Yeah, that'll do.  However, Crawford looked absolutely awful handling the puck tonight.  On multiple occasions he held on to it far too long behind the net and nearly allowed the Cats to steal it for an easy wrap around. 
  
• Tomas Vokoun is just now getting back to his crease after sliding nearly 10 zip codes away on Kopecky's goal.  The Hawks ran him early and fairly often and it seemed to achieve the desired effect later in the game.  He was a little shaky and could not have been more out of place on the final goal of the night... or "a three-way slovaky passing beauty" if you're nasty. 
  
• Brian Campbell had an uneventful return which is a good thing I suppose.  His skating looked a little forced though so he's clearly no where near 100%.  With every point worth it's weight in gold though, anything we can do to keep John Scott from skating only 5 minutes a night is worth it.  Campbell actually had over 20 minutes tonight with Nick Leddy bringing up the rear for D-men with just over 14.
• Oh, and speaking of/to Leddy... feel free to shoot that puck next time.
• Frolik was over 60% at the dot... this I like.  Toews took nearly half the draws though... no wonder he leads the league in wins.  
• Dallas was 6 seconds away from winning a game in regulation over Anaheim.  They blew it.  I hate Dallas... not just because I'm a Redskins fan.  The game on Saturday gets even bigger
  
• Not quite a DLR game.. close though.  
• Marcus Krüger... for all those who thought Nick Leddy didn't quite look young enough.  And yes, we're going to be using the umlaut as much as possible until the NHL puts it on his jersey.  If he won't wear #13... we demand an umlaut on the sweater. 
  

Player of the Game:

Seabrook seems to be the popular choice among most people tonight - and he was the first star of the night.  But I'm going with Toews who continues to force this team to win.  His two points tonight matched and then beat his career high for assists.  Keep it up.

I'm not going to sit here and blame tonight's loss on shitty officiating (though you could certainly make that case).  The Hawks had plenty of opportunities to win this game and just about as many to completely fucking blow it.  In the end they found themselves somewhere in the middle and walked away with a single point which is nothing to scoff at this late in the season and in this close of a race.

It seems that the rest of the NHL has found the best way to beat the Hawks isn't to just let them beat themselves but to bring a strong physical game early and often and the Bolts weren't scared to do everything they could to try intimidate the Hawks.  Unfortunately, one of those early physical hits took Dave Bolland out of the game early on a gutless hit from Pavel Kubina.  He finished out the first period but played far more like the early season Bolls rather than the player he's been of late and didn't return for the final 40.  Mattias Ohlund took the game plan to heart and was throwing out big hits on Kane and Toews any chance he got.  Last year we saw the Hawks respond to the physical game by taking advantage of the space created from players moving out of position and this year they simply haven't been able to do the same.  Even more absent from the Hawks game was a lack of response til far too late.  While the Hawks didn't lose the skill people claimed.. you could make the case they lost some of the sandpaper though and that could matter more.  More on that later though.

To open the scoring, young protegy (who just wasn't quite ready two years ago, right Barry?) Steven Stamkos picked up the puck at center ice and fought his way around the mush brained Bolland and fired a puck between him and Seabrook with a shot that Crawford would likely want another chance at.  Biscuit may have provided a screen but Craw has to have that kind of shot. 

The Hawks drew even by a play started with a John Scott rush into the Bolts zone off feeds from... wait, what?.. Scott?  Yes, John Scott brought the puck into zone on a nice play that led to Toews feeding Kane in soft ice who fired a nice wrister to tie the game.  That tie wouldn't last though.  Sharp had a chance on a breakaway that was taken away by the Bolts defenders.  Instead of trying a nearly impossible shot... he went with an even more impossible backwards pass to Kane which led to Stamkos taking the puck into the Hawks zone.  Three Hawks collapsed on him and unfortunately the puck got caught in Toews' skates and was kicked directly to St. Louis who scored his first annoying goal with just 16 seconds left in the first.

Early in the first the 'Ning got another break as a shot was deflected right onto Purcell's tape and he was able to catch Crawford completely out of position and unaware.  Bad bounces, lucky breaks... either way - Bolts up two.  Luckily, the Hawks were able to get a few good bounces of their own that allowed Patrick Sharp to score his first goal since Feb. 28th.  He's tied for second in goal scoring in the league... just so you know.

In the third, Edzo informed us all about faceoffs... evidently they're fairly important.  Right after doing so, Toews won a draw and the puck moved from Seabrook to Hammer who fired a shot at net.  Toews was right there to re-direct it into the net.  Just afterwards, the Hawks took their first penalty of the game and I, officially, put on my brown pants.  The Bolts took every chance they could to put the puck on net and ended with an amazing opportunity that Keith was able to keep out of the net. 

Hammer once again factored into the game as he took a bullshit delay of game penalty late in the third.  For whatever reason, the Bolts were willing to concede a point (Thanks Eastern Conference!) and we go to overtime trading chances til the shootout... which did not go well.  Let us know get into the random thoughts...

Bullets!

• So yeah, the Hammer penalty was utter bull.  A really tough call on a guy who simply isn't catching many breaks lately.  Though have you ever seen a guy plead his case to the authorities with more passion than he did here?  "I SWEAR TO GOD!!  SHE TOLD ME SHE WAS 18!"  
• Bryan Bickell finally decided to throw around his weight late in the third taking out St. Louis and some other guy in the same shift.  This was a welcome sight but could have been far more useful earlier in the game when the Bolts were just devastating the Hawks smaller forwards.  The Hawks are averaging 23 hits per game this year... some how, that's up from the 19 hits they averaged last season.  If you need some proof that "hits" is a total subjective stat.. it's in here somewhere.  
• Lets talk about shootouts... You'll find the opinions on St. Louis' goal pretty split between Hawks fans and everyone else.  Just about any Hawk fan will tell you the goal was bullshit.  Yet count it did and the extra point it did decide.  If you ever want to make the argument that the shootouts degrade the game to nothing more than a slam dunk contest... look no further than the two spin-o-rama attempts tried back-to-back by the Bolts.  I still think St. Louis' goal was a crock though.  What a joke
  
• That being said, it wouldn't have hurt if Toews or Kane would have tried to lift the puck over a sprawling Rolonson. 
  
• Although the ice seemed to be a lot better than it was in Miami (or Sunrise or wherever).. the Hawks seemed to have a problem keeping their edges.  Seemed like a lot of them were just falling over without any Bolt anywhere nearby. 
  
• Crawford seemed shaky early on in the game but came up with some huge saves late in the game... It was a tough spot for Q though.  He probably should have rested Craw but that would have made him go almost a full week without a complete game.  He played him and it didn't work out early.  So it goes.