- That Shaw kid had himself quite a game there. It's pretty rare for Shaw to register shots from further than a few feet from the crease but, on this night, he scored one from 20+ feet and took the shot that Rasmussen tipped in, that one from closer to 40 feet out. I'm not sure if there's a connection between last night's successes and his atypical shot choices but I feel like I want to pay closer attention to where he shoots from, going forward. Shaw has a well-deserved reputation as a "net-front-presence" guy, a label he probably takes pride in, being as it's worked reasonably well for him and, as a smallish guy, the swagger factor plays into it, too. Anyway, he probably won't want to change his style much, even though I think it might be fun to see him try.
- That power play that led to The Hawks' second goal was pretty special and I really enjoyed watching Shaw, Teravainen and Rundblad moving the puck so crisply and accurately. Shaw's shot was outstanding but TT's pass was a thing of beauty.
- On Rundblad and his first game in what seems like months; not a disaster, but The Preds are so thin up front right now and his zone starts were so carefully selected he was set up to succeed. Which I'm all for, BTW. He was right at home on the power play but I guess that's where he had better be great, with the extra time and space that the man advantage allows. It's when he's forced to make quick decisions that things go off the rails for him. It just breaks my heart to know that his wonderful, wonderful shot is stuck to this guy who is prone to becoming paralyzed when the pressure mounts.
- Crawford's best game in weeks. 'Nuff said.
- The Art Line wasn't The Hawk's best line last night. That's not to say they were bad, just that the Toews trio was a little better, and that pleases me to no end.
Three games is a small sample, I know, but I'm so encouraged by the Toews-Hossa-Teravainen reunion. The truth is, if they didn't achieve results in a hurry they would be disbanded, so I'm extra grateful that Teravainen has been getting to do good stuff with good linemates. He's actually got a pretty quick release, there, far moreso than I gave him credit for since, before this week, the last goals I remember him scoring were of the knuckle puck variety in the playoffs last spring. He lacks the snap that Panarin possesses but it's better than I'd thought. Last week, Teravainen wouldn't have had those kind of chances, skating 10 minutes with Kero and Mashinter, because the bad guys could pounce on him straight away; if Teuvo passed the puck off what's the worst that would happen? You really do get a lot more space to work with when your linemates are Toews and Hossa.
Viihdyn taalla ja haluan pysya.
Translation, please?! All I can make of it is "I want..."
ReplyDelete