Better.
It was far from perfect, but The Hawks were actually in this game, especially as they got as close as they did with basically three lines. Their late, frantic effort to even the score was fun to watch, even if it came to nought.
Anyway, enough time has passed since the final horn, so it's seagull-dropping-style observations, today.
The PK
Two games is not a representative sample but, holy crap guys, if you can't kill penalties don't take them. Apart from the PK forwards laying back a little more than I would like I can't really say what's wrong with this "special" team. Their Nashville counterparts applied a lot more pressure on the Hawks' point men, but The Hawks kind of make that easy because their power play is still too static and utterly predictable. It would help, again, if Toews could stay out the box; after Kruger who else is going to win a face off?
The Hawks' leading scorers
Panik
Hartman
Kruger
Hossa
which helps explain why they've got a mere 4 goals-for in two games.
The scorers will score, but it's been hard to watch Kane and Panarin try to do it all themselves, with Panarin being ridiculously shooty and Kane holding onto the puck a little too long. They'll get it together but, until they do, we're going to see a lot more two-goals-for games.
The Line Shuffles appeared to help matters but we're not quite there yet. Hands up, everyone, who would like to see Schmaltz and Motte flanking Toews tonight.
And speaking of the lineup, Christmas came early with TVR being a healthy scratch. Has that ever happened? There may be hope for this crew, yet.
Regarding Schmaltz, that was a far better effort last night and the best game he's played in The Indian Head, preseason games included. I'm still waiting for him to actually do something, but I like his patience and his willingness to slow things down when he's able.
Patience & Trust
Last, in addition to Coach Q finally getting the memo on TVR, I'm so pleased to see the amount of trust he's placing in the new players. Kempny and Forsling have been getting more-or-less regular spins and have mostly acquitted themselves well. Things have not been quite as steady with the new forwards, but Q is at least allowing them the chance to succeed, or fail, at which time he'll have a clearer view of who is going to benefit the team in the long term, which is really the only way he's going to learn this, right? Yes, he's kind of in a position where it's either give the new players some rope or continue to lean on the six or seven guys that played waaay too many minutes over the last three+ seasons.
If Q continues to exercise patience with his lineup, I'm prepared to be patient, too.
That said, let's get Panik off Toews' wing, please.
Tonight
Ryan Hartman will be "out for a bit" which, in Q-speak, means he's actually hurt-hurt, so I assume we'll see Dennis RasMOOSEn make an appearance tonight, and probably Scott Darling in net. If they can pick up where they left off on Friday, things'll be just fine.
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