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THE GOOD

Marian Hossa:  This Hossa fellow may have a future in the hockey business.  2 assists in the game, and a goal in the shootout for Hoss.  I also love the way he handles his breakaways and penalty shots.  Hossa doesn’t blaze in at full speed and try to juke 57 times before shooting, he just comes straight in at a steady pace, waits on the goalie to make the slightest commitment, and then buries a shot in the opposite direction.  Awesome.

Kris VERSTEEG!:  Still, there’s something to be said for juking 57 times.  VERSTEEG! Opened the Hawks scoring with a short handed goal that’s going right into the 2009-10 season highlight reel.  He beat two Blue Jackets’ defensemen with the sweetest little toe-drag you’ll ever see, then put the puck past Mason.

Duncan Keith:  To this point in his career, Duncan Keith has been considered one of those really good defensemen who will never win a Norris trophy because he doesn’t score enough points and doesn’t see much time on the power play (there’s probably a correlation there).  Well, don’t look now, but Keith has 23 points in 26 games (good for 2^nd on the Hawks) and he added another assist on the power play last night (he was originally given credit for a goal, which it was later determined went in off Jonathan Toews). 

Special Teams:  The game was won here.  The Hawks got two power play goals and one short-handed, and killed all 3 of the penalties they took.

THE BAD

Puck Control:  I expected the Hawks forwards to be able to cycle and hold the puck a lot more against Columbus’ no-name blue-liners.  Columbus is 2^nd worst in the NHL in goals against, and the Hawks could not muster a goal at even strength.  Luckily, they were able to take advantage of the Blue Jackets’ wretched penalty killing.

Long Shootouts:  Yes, the shootout is exciting, but when teams start going 9-10 skaters in, the whole thing starts to resemble a 15 inning baseball game where the managers bring in their utility infielders to pitch a couple of innings.

THE UGLY

Take your pick: Andrew Ladd’s shootout attempt or Tomas Kopecky’s shootout attempt.