Regicide: Hawks 3, Kings 2 (OT)
And so here we are, the official kickoff of Antti Niemi's campaign to take control of the No. 1 goaltending position. Again. Let's hope it lasts longer than 4 games this time, otherwise we're going to have to switch back to Huet. Or maybe the Hawks should go to a platoon system. One guy plays the first and third periods, while the other plays in the 2nd. Maybe that will solve whatever mental block the team seems to have on the 2nd frame.
Regardless, the LA Kings came into the UC tonight, looking for all the world like the team we heard the St. Louis Blues were going to be. You know, young, fun, good on offense, in the playoffs. The Hawks were the Hawks of late: played well in the first and third periods, not so great in the second, poured shots on the opposing goaltender and watched him make some hellacious saves. As a bonus, since it was Dennis Savard Night, Patrick Kane nearly scored a spin-o-rama goal. Anyway, in the end, Patrick Sharp sent us all home happy in overtime. April can't come fast enough.
THE GOOD
Adam Burish - Welcome back. Adam Burish made his triumphant return to the ice, and made an immediate impact, centering the 4th line, and picking up an assist and a fight in the first 5 minutes of the game.
Patrick Sharp: Sharp's been quiet lately, so it was nice to see him bust out in a big way with 2 goals, including the game winner in overtime. I guess we shouldn't have been too surprised, Sharp has owned the Kings and has 13 goals in 15 career games against them.
Muckers and Grinders: Sharp had two goals for the Hawks, but the majority of their best scoring chances were generated by bottom six tonight, guys like Madden, Byfuglien, Ladd and Burish all turned in solid games, on both ends of the ice.
THE BAD
Dave Bolland: Was it just me, or did Bolland seem a bit off tonight. He was by no means brutal, but his timing wasn't very good, and on several occasions he attempted to occupy the same space as Marian Hossa.
Power Play: This thing was piss poor again tonight. Against the 22nd ranked killing unit in the NHL, the Hawks went 0 for 4 including a minute 5 on 3 advantage early in the first period. I thought I heard Foley or Edzo say that the Hawks had only one 5 on 3 goal this year, which absolutely sucks.
THE UGLY
Drew Doughty: When is a high stick to the face not a penalty? When the team committing the offense already has two men in the penalty box, apparently. Doughty got away with a stick to Byfuglien's face, along with seemingly a half dozen other slashes and hacks. He's a hell of a player, but if he keeps that up, Troy Brouwer's going to kick his ass like he did Dustin Brown's.
Regardless, the LA Kings came into the UC tonight, looking for all the world like the team we heard the St. Louis Blues were going to be. You know, young, fun, good on offense, in the playoffs. The Hawks were the Hawks of late: played well in the first and third periods, not so great in the second, poured shots on the opposing goaltender and watched him make some hellacious saves. As a bonus, since it was Dennis Savard Night, Patrick Kane nearly scored a spin-o-rama goal. Anyway, in the end, Patrick Sharp sent us all home happy in overtime. April can't come fast enough.
THE GOOD
Adam Burish - Welcome back. Adam Burish made his triumphant return to the ice, and made an immediate impact, centering the 4th line, and picking up an assist and a fight in the first 5 minutes of the game.
Patrick Sharp: Sharp's been quiet lately, so it was nice to see him bust out in a big way with 2 goals, including the game winner in overtime. I guess we shouldn't have been too surprised, Sharp has owned the Kings and has 13 goals in 15 career games against them.
Muckers and Grinders: Sharp had two goals for the Hawks, but the majority of their best scoring chances were generated by bottom six tonight, guys like Madden, Byfuglien, Ladd and Burish all turned in solid games, on both ends of the ice.
THE BAD
Dave Bolland: Was it just me, or did Bolland seem a bit off tonight. He was by no means brutal, but his timing wasn't very good, and on several occasions he attempted to occupy the same space as Marian Hossa.
Power Play: This thing was piss poor again tonight. Against the 22nd ranked killing unit in the NHL, the Hawks went 0 for 4 including a minute 5 on 3 advantage early in the first period. I thought I heard Foley or Edzo say that the Hawks had only one 5 on 3 goal this year, which absolutely sucks.
THE UGLY
Drew Doughty: When is a high stick to the face not a penalty? When the team committing the offense already has two men in the penalty box, apparently. Doughty got away with a stick to Byfuglien's face, along with seemingly a half dozen other slashes and hacks. He's a hell of a player, but if he keeps that up, Troy Brouwer's going to kick his ass like he did Dustin Brown's.
Posted by CT at 3/10/2010 11:10 PM 
Categories: Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings
Tags: Blackhawks Patrick Sharp Kings
Categories: Chicago Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings
Tags: Blackhawks Patrick Sharp Kings
There's not enough good things to say about the line of Ladd/Madden/Versteeg lately. They've been outstanding.
While he's not quite ready to be listed in "bad", Jonathan Toews has been a little out of sorts the last couple games.
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For my money, I'd rather fly with FinnCrisp and his flaws than commiserate over Camembert's questionable consistency.
And it looks increasingly like Q and Da Krew do too.
A fine team effort and a VERY satisfying win against one of the best in the West.
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Speaking of Brouwer kicking Brown's ass, where the fuck were the instigator and visor calls on Brown?
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I understand putting away the whistles at the end of a game, but those calls should have ended up in a minimum one game suspension. I'm not worried about the PP though, would have fucked that up anyways.
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The officiating has been very inconsistent. It seems like it is going into playoff mode (letting somethings go).
I think all the Olympians look a little gassed, except maybe Kane. I wonder if at some point Q doesn't give each one a night off towards the end of the season.
They really need to work on PP otherwise other teams will start pushing them around.
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Would it be insane to just put Hossa/Toews/Kane on the 1st power play unit with 2 defenseman at the point? Am I just batshit?
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I think the three of them were out there for the 5 on 3, MGRW (with Sharp and Keith on the point).
Hossa's not done much on the PP this year. He's actually got more shorties than power play goals (5-2).
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The Bolland-Hossa thing has never really connected.
And this whole goaltending mess kicked up a notch when Q puleed Niemi after three goals against the Islanders. Two of those goals were NOT Niemi's fault, and this thing has ramped up ever since.
As for the officiating, they totally kicked not giving Brown an instigator, and I don't know how all four guys missed the high-stick on Doughty. The Hawks have been in two really poorly-officiated games since the Olympic break.
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