Yeah, right. Sloppy, chaotic, mistake-ridden and half of the goals scored in this one were not "good" goals. It's all right, though, because neither team was especially switched on last night; The Hawks were fortunate to get a win on a quite ordinary shot.
Boy, that first seven or eight minutes had to be the worst three weeks of hockey The Hawks have put us through since about 2007. They couldn't even clear the zone and The Devils looked like the Red Army Team of the 70s, just playing keep away for what seemed like forever, before Travis Zajac finally shuffled the puck past Corey Crawford.
To their credit, The Hawks picked things up slightly to close out the period, before storming out for a mostly-dominant second frame, in which each team traded errors and goals. Kruger potted his second of the season on a fine shot from high in the slot, before Nik Hjalmarsson made an uncharacteristic mistake, gift-wrapping the go-ahead goal for Zajac. Large Arthur nailed a right-place-right-time goal to tie the game once again, before Hjalmarsson made amends by capitalizing on a Devils turnover and wristing a soft shot through a screen and past Cory Schneider.
A fairly even third period yielded only one goal, Zajac, to tie the game AGAIN, and we were off to yet another OT. Seconds after Mike Cammilleri hit iron, Marian Hossa cruised through the high slot and floated a speculative shot past Schneider, who was once again screened by his own guy.
Momentum was swinging all over the place in this match, with both sides enjoying periods of sustained pressure. Both teams hit goalposts, both goalies were beaten by some pretty savable shots and each side made a few colossal errors. This was a game to simply endure, with the luckier team "earning" the extra point.
Marcus Kruger had himself another fine outing, with a whopping 65% Corsi at even-strength and a goal to boot. He and his linemates have been terrific the last few games.
Dennis Rasmussen made another sneaky-good feed to start the play leading to Kruger's score, two nights after making a diabolical between-the-legs pass to start a fast break. Does this suggest better hands than he's been given credit for or merely dumb-ass luck. Let's see!
Wide Open Hockey was the order of the day, once again and, for the second game running, The Hawks came out on top. Is this worth noting, or pursuing? How long could they hope to get away with squeaking out these kinda haphazard things, leaving it until the end to get the win. Not that long, I'll wager, but I don't think that'll stop them from trying.
Well, duh. You don't have to be St. Stormare to know that Hossa has been the king of the last minute men so far this season. Hoss leads The Hawks in goals, game-winning goals and utterances of "unbeliebable"
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