After a first period which both teams spent feeling out the other with no results, Dallas opened the scoring early in the second when Devin Shore swatted in a goal on The Stars' third try on the play. It was the only time The Stars would lead as, 43 seconds later, Marian Hossa's hard shot oozed through Kari Lehtonen to tie the match. Midway through the second The Hawks would take the lead as Ryan Hartman, having just left the penalty box, drove hard to the net and, though Hartman's attempt was foiled, Stars defenceman Stephen John's clearing attempt bounced off Artem Anisimov's shinpad and into the cage. Artemi Panarin would provide an insurance goal at the midpoint of the third period, a power play marker from a ridiculous angle made possible by a smart, hard pass from Keith.
Finally, The Hawks won a game in which they won the possession game and outshot their opponent. The world makes sense, for tonight, at least. The Arthurs Line ran amok for much of the game and, while they were not always completely smooth, were inches away from another couple of goals.
Kruger, Hossa and Hartman did not have as consistently dominant a game as they had in the previous few games but were still very good, especially considering that this trio played the last half of the game opposite Benn and Seguin. This assignment was likely the catalyst for Dallas swapping Spezza out for Eaves as they sought to spread out their attack and try for the equalizer.
Gustav Forsling had a night to forget, coughing up the puck a few times and making a mess of his coverage leading up to the Dallas goal. It's frustrating but I recall the same stuff happening to Nick Leddy some years back, and he didn't turn out too bad.
TVR wasn't a complete nightmare but he sure doesn't belong on the power play. I just about plotzed when Edzo praised the goof to the moon for heading off a Dallas forward at the boards when, let's face it, lacking the great stick that Keith or Hjalmarsson possess, the play could just as easily have resulted in a breakaway for Dallas. I had been wondering if Kempny is slightly on the limp after missing some shifts late against Phoenix (I think) but the way Coach Q has been deploying TVR has me thinking otherwise; it's probably just business as usual, unfortunately.
Scott Darling has delivered exceptionally in Corey Crawford's absence, playing his four best games in the last five starts, even though he has only two wins to show for it.
I took the piss on the post-game report the other night, not because The Hawks didn't deserve some kind words, but more out of disappointment and fatigue. Being without three of their most vital players when the lineup is already somewhat thin, they're hanging in alright.
Peter The Great and I are going a bit off-script tonight. Darling was great, Panarin was darty and exciting and Hossa was vintage Hossa, but Ryan Hartman gets smoke in his eyes for his pinpoint pass to Hoss and his dash-deke-shot that led to Anisimov's goal. Hartman is still kind of a blunt instrument in many ways, with inconsistent finishing skills and an annoying habit of shooting from stupid places but, of the four Young Fellas, he's been by far the best.
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