This is the third goddamn time I’ve tried to start this game recap, so hopefully my computer plays along and I can actually get through this one. Much like McClure after the second loss to Columbus this weekend, I’m a little confused as to how to write this review. On the one hand – yes, the Blackhawks won and did so in a fairly dominating fashion. The Wild were never really in this game from the start. It has been what we’ve been waiting to see for what feels like ages now – a return to a solid team.
On the other hand – it’s deja vu all over again. We’ve seen the Hawks pull out a solid victory at times against teams like Los Angeles and Phoenix – but we’ve seen them go right back to the craptacular play we’ve seen the last three games. We can’t get too excited over a rout of Minnesota because this is exactly the type of team the Blackhawks should be beating up all season… especially given how many players are missing from the Wild’s lineup.
We’ve had enough of the doomsday naysaying though – so lets focus on the good. For all of Q’s line juggling – he seems to have found something that really worked. The top line of Hossa-Toews-Sharp is a force to be reckoned with. It’ll be hard to find a line that will scare opponents more than those three paired up. All three can play just about any type of game you ask of them. And they only contributed one goal on the night.
Kane-Bolland-Brouwer is another line that we’d certainly like to see more of… while they didn’t get any points they did generate some solid chances. It’s obviously nice to see Kane not on a line with Versteeg as no good can come from the two of them paired together.
I’m going to skip over talking about the third line and get straight to the big story of the night – the return of a strong fourth. Tomas Kopecky once again had 2 goals and Ben Eager threw in another and came only a fight short of the Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Eager has still been a disappointment so far this year but if they can generate chances they way they did today (even if it is pure blind luck)… it’ll go a long way in the post season.
There’s a lot more to talk about soon – but it’s late now and we’ve got our third podcast coming up tomorrow where we’ll discuss some more. Also, John Carpenter’s “The Thing” is on HBO right now so if I don’t force myself to go to bed now I’ll end up watching the whole fucking thing and not getting any sleep at all tonight.
Good game… but lets not start sucking each other’s dicks yet. I’m still waiting to see two in a row…