Did the Hawks play a full 60 mintues of hockey? No
Did they play a hell of a game? Fuck and Yes
Quote of the night:
OK.
Must have a great first period. Must, must, must. Don’t want to come from behind tonight.
I thought the Chief summed it up nicely but somehow at the same time got it completely wrong.
I felt the same way… And yet the Hawks kept taking dumb penalties and were down 2-0 after the first I didn’t have a great feeling about the game. Positive Mental Attitude.. but still drinking heavily.
There might be a better quote of the game in the game thread but I didn’t feel like reading through 600+ (way to go guys) to find one better.
The Hawks started off the first period as if they had learned absoulety nothing from the first game. Giving this Canucks team a man-advantage is deadly, they’re just too good. Giving them a 5-on-3? Edler’s goal speaks to that. So going into the second it wasn’t a great mood at the bar.
Somehow though, it didn’t seem to matter for the Hawks. I don’t think I could have told anyone else at the bar that “5-on-5, the Hawks are the better team, they just need to quit taking so many penalties”.
That didn’t register with Biscuit taking a penalty 2 minutes in but the Hawks were able to kill it. How dead did you feel after Luongo made the save on Eager though when it was still 2-0? Lucky for us though, the Hawks will battle back from just about anything.
The Hawks scored the first of their goals even-strengthed but knocked home the second on the Bieksa penalty, which would be the second of three in a row. A bit about that power play drawn by Buff… to me it looked like bullshit. Bieksa got called for the hook, but at best it looked like Buff lost an edge, at worst… it looked like Buff took a dive to take a run at Lou. Either way, I loved it.
Bolland’s goal to take the lead? Beautiful. It looked like Keith was just trying to clear the zone but Bolland was there to grab it right on the blue line and put a move I don’t think any of us thought he could make to get Luongo sprawl out and get the Hawks their first lead of the series.
The only other goal that really needs to be talked about was Burish to Eager. When your 4th line gets a goal like that.. it’s a nail in the coffin for the game. Burish made a hell of a pass to get the puck to the front of the net with only one hand on the stick and Eager roofed it.
Kane’s goal was nice to see Toews get a point, only to be ejected for a misconduct later, and Bolland’s to seal it was beauty.
The Hawks are coming home with the series tied and we couldn’t have hoped for much better. 5-on-5 they’re the better team, no doubt. If they can play like they did for the final two periods, it’s looking good for the Hawks.
Oh and I don’t know about you… but Toews looked damn good to me.. the assist on Kane’s goal, won battles along the boards, 64% on the faceoff, 14:21 TOI but could have been more if not for that asshat Burrows, anyone else glad Toews keeps his hair short?
Player of the Game:
2 goals on 2 shots, +2.. a shortie that was a thing of beauty and the shortie to put it away..
Honorable Mention to Sharp (2G) and Kane (1G, 1A).
Enjoy your Sunday.