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Blackhawks vs. Flames: 3 stars of the game

Welp. That’s the way it goes sometimes. The Chicago Blackhawks absolutely dominated the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night, firing 50 shots on goal and completely ruling the possession side of things. In the end, though, it didn’t matter as a pair of goals were enough to allow the Flames to prevent the Hawks from getting that second point in an overtime tilt.

If this was an objective feature, then we’d feature players from the other side, which would allow us to focus on Jonas Hiller. In reality, he’s the only really notable player from the game, as he made all the difference in the world for Calgary. But that’s not the case, so let’s take a look at who excelled for the Hawks in the overtime loss.

3. Brandon Saad

I wish there were words to accurately describe how I feel about watching Brandon Saad play the game of hockey. He didn’t record a point and was a minus-1 for the night, but he was noticeable all over the ice. He pushed the Blackhawks’ offensive attack, adding a grip of power play time and leading the Hawks in minutes while shorthanded. He added three shots to the effort, and a takeaway. If what we’ve seen in the first three games is any indication, that breakout year is coming.

2. Daniel Carcillo

Despite the fact that I’ve gained a reputation as something of a Carcillo hater (not the worst thing in the world), I had acknowledged that he played quite well in the first two contests of the year, especially possession-wise. This was once again the case on Wednesday night, as he was a force in the Corsi side of things. In fact, there wasn’t a Hawks forward who was better.

In nine minutes of ice time, Carcillo finished with the highest relative Corsi, at over 22 percent. His overall Corsi% for the game was an absurd 90 percent (the Hawks overall were at 74 percent). He also missed two open net chances for no other reason than tripping over himself. So it goes.

1. Andrew Shaw

The lone goal scorer for the night for the Blackhawks, Shaw’s redirect goal was reviewed, and maybe was deflected in with a high stick, but the evidence was inconclusive. In addition to marking the only tally of the night for the Hawks, Shaw played a pretty solid game overall. His Corsi% was fourth among Hawk forwards, at a touch under 77 percent and he won 62 percent of his draws on the night. He also led the team in hits, which is important because #grit.

Randy Holt is a staff writer for Second City Hockey. You can follow him on Twitter @RandallPnkFloyd.

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