- Crawford looks tired, and who could blame him? It didn't appear that he made much of an effort on the last two goals against and I can sort of get that. The Kings did not actually have the puck a whole lot in this game, especially in relation to the score; it just seemed that whenever they got a primo chance the puck went in. Lacavalier's open-netter, I suspect, took Crow's heart out of this one.
- Sidebar, here: so what do you do? Scott Darling hasn't been as bright & shiny as The Hawks
had hoped or expected he would be. Still, if The Hawks are going to make any noise in the post-
season it will be with Crawford in net, so I believe they've got to allow him more rest and, if
Darling gacks a few games what's the difference, really? Taking a few more chances with your
backup seems preferable to breaking your No. 1 starter's confidence.
- My lasting memory of this game will be a view of Seabrook's back while he unsuccessfully pursued a Kings forward, 'cos we were treated to that view every second shift, after all. Edzo can gush all he wants about Seabrook's "excellent stick" when he tried to use his reach to disrupt a faster opponent, but the fact is that, at that point, it was Seabrook's only option as the other guy blew past him. Not at all good.
- Exciting news! The Hawks will wear green jerseys during the warmup for Wednesday's game! It's great to see that management is taking the team's on-ice problems extremely seriously.
- Back to puck control for a sec: The Hawks appeared to control the puck a lot more than The Kings and "enjoyed" several periods in which they sustained considerable pressure in The Kings' zone. BUT, they failed to pull the trigger very often and, when they did, had a couple of posts, a broken stick and a shot that zinged three feet wide despite being shot from point-blank range. The Hawks' puck movement seemed imprecise in this one as, while they controlled the puck, they were not particularly crisp with their passes and spent a lot of extra time recovering the handle, kicking the puck out of their feet or to their preferred side...that sort of thing. This may not be all on The Hawks, as The Kings are quick enough to disrupt passes and were causing many Hawks to work a little faster than they would like.
- Not Gustafsson's best effort, as he bobbled the puck into an offside position three times in the first 15 minutes. The Kings smelled blood, I think, as they seemed to make a special effort to get after Gus whenever he tried to start something in his own end.
- When Brandon Mashinter gets a regular shift The Hawks are a three-line team. Enough said.
- While I get that Hossa hasn't been at his best, lately, putting Shaw on the PP over Hoss is idiotic. Shaw is fine, even quite good, on the PP whilst stationed in front of the net but, with Ladd now pulling that duty what does Shaw offer? Not much, as he spent his PP time in this match darting around without any apparent plan.
- In other news, Marko Dano had 3 points for The Jets last night. Just sayin'...
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