Not *really*. I was just too tired and filled with ennui to type last evening.
So, briefly, this one could have gone either way, as The Hawks outshot NSH and had their measure in the possession dept., yet no joy.
Here's How:
* First Goal against - Seabrook had three opportunities to break up the play that ended with the puck behind Anton Forsberg, and he gacked all three chances. Seabs subsequently played a mere 14:48, undoubtedly the least he's played when not injured, ill or tossed out in a decade.
* Pekke Rinne was masterful. He robbed Kane three times in the first period, alone.
* Hawks Offense became inverted - when your two least score-y forwards are the ones that get your goals t'is a strange night, indeed.
* High Weirdness with Coach Q: just when you think he's got it kinda figured out (i.e. finally sparing us 20+ minutes of Seabrook) he ends up leaning on Wingels and Sharp whilst trying to get the equalizer late in the game. Really, Q?
* HOWEVER, Q was sufficiently unimpressed with Richard Panik that he earned only 8:14 playing time. This gives me no satisfaction as I'm a bit of a Panik fan BUT, if Q follows through on this partial benching it could pave the way for Alex DeBrincat to join the Top Six. That would be exciting and maybe even worth having wasted a game.
Anything less would have been unacceptable, as The Anaheim Ducks are not-so-mighty these days with 5½ forwards injured, having to elevate several Guys into their top six. To put anything over on The Hawks they would have had to lock down the middle of the ice, look for opportunistic goals and lean on their defense. Well, The Hawks owned the puck tonight, rarely letting The Ducks touch the thing until the game was out of reach, and the Anaheim defense was pretty awful. Let's get some Bits.
* The big story, offensively, was the third line finally breaking out, with Sharp and Hartman each notching their first points in November and Alex DeBrincat cashing in three times. For Harts and Sharpie it was speed and determination with a side of feckless D on the part of The Ducks (how many times did Fowler gack a simple pass tonight?). As for DBC, he had superb positioning and anticipation all night as he notched the hat trick. Two of his three goals were in the midst of line changes, with Schmaltz and Kane getting primary assists on two of those goals, but he had several good looks along with a goal while skating with Hartman and Sharp. DeBrincat is now third in Rookie Scoring, all while playing most of his minutes on the third and fourth lines. And speaking of minutes, he's averaged three-to-five fewer minutes per game than the other rookies atop the scoring leaderboard. Now imagine DBC in The Hawks' top six.
* Patrick Kane's passing mojo appears to be back with two of his three helpies being off laser-guided tape-to-tape passes through Ducks defensemen. On his opposite wing, Nick Schmaltz had another wonderful game, racking up three points and using his speed and superior puck control to create chances. Who would have thought that this kid would be routinely succeeding with simple dump-and-chase gambits?
* John Hayden had another strong game. One shift in the first period was particularly amusing, as he must have circled The Ducks' zone three times before being relieved of the puck.
* The Hawks' defense had an okay game. Connor Murphy caused a turnover that soon resulted in a Ducks goal, although the goal itself was more the product of Seabrook choosing to tip the puck into his own net rather than cover either of the Anaheim forwards within his reach, but Murph was otherwise excellent. Rutta and Forsling played two very good periods before coming a bit unraveled in the third period, while Keith and Franson were as advertised, Keith being solid but unspectacular and Franson having his usual good/bad moments.
* Not the best outing that Corey Crawford has had, lately, but one could forgive him for not being fully engaged in the game as he was only tested occasionally until the third period.
The Hawks will be halfway to Nashville by now with the third back-to-back of their season coming tomorrow. One expects that Anton Forsberg will get the start and that, after taking much of the third period off tonight, The Hawks will still have the legs to keep up with the second-place Predators.
So, I got home with about three minutes remaining in the first period and immediately hear Steve Konroyd remark "this is probably the best period The Hawks have played all season." Well, I missed it, and the rest was....okay, I guess. But that's the way it goes, isn't it? I hesitate to say that The Hawks let up when they have a lead, but rather that they don't always continue to press the point once they're ahead.
Not that it mattered tonight; The Hawks did what they had to do and not much more, which is entirely appropriate given the busy week ahead of them. I have a few Bits for yis.
* The Toews line kinda ran wild with The Panthers' brain trust choosing to pit their best all-around line and top D-pairing against the Anisimov trio. As I said, I dunno what went on for most of the first period but, once they were behind by a couple of goals, the Trocheck - Bjugstad - Haapala line weren't checking a whole lot as they tried to mount some offense. How did that go, you ask? How about a goal and a pair of helpies for Toews, a couple of points for Saad and, while he failed to make it to the scoresheet, Panik crushed a whopping 86% Corsi. The cherry on top was Toews' goal - maybe not the prettiest but certainly one of the most fun goals I've seen in awhile, with the captain backhand swatting a puck out of the air past Roberto Luongo.
* Despite the high shots against The Hawks' defense were decent enough, with Keith, Rutta and Murphy putting forth solid efforts. Forsling and Franson each had a few not-so-good moments, but nothing ruinous. Hardly noticed Seabrook, which I'll chalk up as a positive.
* The Hawks' fourth line had an...interesting night, consistently generating chances (or almost chances?) and somehow capitalizing on their effort only once. What am I saying - Bouma and Wingels, for all their hard work, will only score the odd opportunistic goal. Hayden has okay hands and is very determined in front of the net but often struggles to keep up with his speedy if unfocused linemates. Konny quipped that this trio have been playing more or less third line minutes lately and, if that's the way it's going to be, one hopes that they could cash in a little more often. That said, these guys were +1 and all three sported Corsi numbers north of 60% so, ultimately, I have nothing to complain about.
* Crawford had yet another near-perfect outing, with only a kinda soft goal against to detract from a an overall great game. He actually worked harder than he should have, with FLA mounting several brief but intense attacks in which he was forced to make two or three saves in rapid succession.
The Hawks now face a week in which they'll play five times over seven days with two back-to-backs, so we're gonna see Anton Forsberg at least once, maybe twice. Like I said last week, it's felt like it's only a matter of time before the Toews line busts out, and this would be the perfect time to do it.
Could have had this one. Did The Hawks deserve a win? Maybe not entirely, but to lose the way they did leaves a bit of a sour taste. Let's go:
* The Hawks played a near-perfect first period, going up 2-0 courtesy of P. Kane and killing off a raft of penalties, including a big 5½ minutes, a chunk of which was 5-on-3. Perhaps The Lightning were a little flat in the first but, whatever the case, The Hawks lacked that same jump, particularly on the forecheck and when breaking out, the rest of the way.
* Patrick Kane potted a pair, both nice goals, but he was also guilty of some exceptionally lazy, impatient decisions. A careless turnover set up The Lightning's first goal and, here and there throughout the match, he just lacked polish.
* Cody Franson's game was even more a case of extremes, as he had a masterful first period highlighted by his confident, accurate quarterbacking on the power play but, like Kane, had his struggles in the second and third. Franson was at the crime scene for the first Lightning goal, as well, having "raced" back after Kane's giveaway, only to stand in front of Crawford, accomplishing nothing. Several times in the last half of the game The Lightning exploited Franson's lack of foot speed, sometimes just letting him spin himself in place.
* The Hawks' breakouts early in the game were terrific, as the D always seemed to catch a forward moving past them with some speed, hitting them with a short, safe pass. Not so much in the late going though, as Tampa's speedier forwards harried The Hawks' D much of the time, frequently pinching off those head-man passes.
* Corey Crawford was fine given what was going on from time to time in front of him. He looked a bit disordered at times, but his quickness and athleticism bailed him out. The Kunitz goal looked pretty soft but, to be fair, Crow likely only saw that one at the last moment, what with the wall of blue sweater in front him and Keith outmanned in front of the net.
* Andrei Vasilevskiy, down in the Tampa nets, was ridiculously good, stoning Saad, Panik as well as Kane on a breakaway. I'm afraid there's no real remedy for that.
* Jan Rutta made a few nice passes but was otherwise pretty poor. His lazydogging back to the defensive zone and subsequent failure to cover anyone helped make possible the aforementioned Kunitz goal.
* Forsling had some moments both good and bad, but I still liked seeing him play with more urgency and lot less hesitancy than he had been.
* Connor Murphy, however, played as good a game as he's had all season, with good positioning and a great stick, all while playing a team-low (for d-men) 14 minutes. I thought Anisimov was pretty good, too, this being the best game he's played in which he failed to score.
* Saad and Panik, once again, each had multiple looks but failed to capitalize. The explosion is coming, and it cannot come soon enough.
* Sticking with Panik, I wonder if he's camping out too far to the side of the net, hoping for some cross-ice stuff and an easy tap-in, because he's rarely close enough to get after a rebound and often finds himself shooting at a poor angle.
* Finally....the penalty in OT. It was a weak call, with Schmaltz doing little more than waving his stick in front of the Tampa player, the latter's follow through actually being what initiated contact. There was no chopping motion. One likes to think that these things even out over the course of a game and throughout a season, but that was a lousy time for the official to make such a crap call.
In some ways The Hawks actually acquitted themselves well tonight, taking the league's best team to OT and at least earning the consolation point. If they had managed to maintain the intensity and the control that they exhibited in the first period, though, things could have been different. Sure, Tampa upped their effort, but that's when The Hawks needed to see them and raise them....but they didn't. Or couldn't.
Here comes a workmanlike recap for a workmanlike game, regardless of who or what deserves anything. It wasn't a perfect effort but good enough to earn two points and with enough bright spots to make one believe, or hope at least, that The Hawks will be able to muddle their way into the playoffs. Forward to The Bits.
* Anisimov scores again, and a pure garbageman's goal, at that. It's been fun to watch Large Arthur do his thing and do it so well, as late, but I spoil it for myself (and everyone else, now) by considering where The Hawks would be if he wasn't scoring by the bucketful. Aside from DeBrincat none of the other Hawks forwards have had much luck around the net for weeks. Kane and Schmaltz are both moving the puck well enough, exceptionally well in Schmaltz's case, but not cashing in. The Toews line look dangerous every night but have little to show for their efforts apart from an empty-netter and an OT goal by Saad while playing with DBC. You have to think that the pucks will start going in for them...but when?
The best Hawks' player, once again.
* While the Top Six crushed PIT in possession and chances, which says a lot given that this was a road game and The Hawks wouldn't get their preferred match-ups, the Bottom Six were a sucking chest wound. Sharp had a dozen or so semi-breakaways but couldn't convert because a) a Penguins D-man always managed to catch him just enough to be a nuisance, and b) Matt Murray's already seen Sharpie's best stuff in summer scrub hockey. Wingels had one good look in the second but, around that same time, Old Lead Hands Bouma squandered an A+ chance. Is Kero really not an option over Bouma?
* Forsling had another pretty good game with only a couple of "moments", scored a goal and had that same good, darty stick that he had going against NYR. The Hawks' D was okay, in general, and that's about as good as we can hope for with this bunch, right now.
* Crawford was tremendous, missing a shutout by a fraction of an inch on a shot that may or may not have ticked off of Keith's stick.
* Two Power Play goals in one game is a victory in and of itself. The Hawks had good puck movement for the most part and actually got a few shots on net during the PP. I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that The Hawks' recent successes and Anisimov's scoring binge is partly due to Franson getting the puck on-net so often, particularly with the extra man. Seriously, The Hawks haven't had a guy on the back end accomplish that in years.
Off to FLA on Wednesday and too many days off for my liking before that and between the Tampa and Miami games. Maybe it'll rain and the golf courses will be closed....
Early in the first period my electricity briefly went off and I had to horse around to get the furnace restarted. After reviewing the tapes it was apparent that it was a period worth missing, anyway. However, as the house heated up, so did The Hawks. I assume this was entirely coincidental.
* Artem Anisimov. Yeah, he's slow as hell and isn't so good at those faceoffs but, boy, has he been working the front of the net like a champ the last several games. As long as his big body is allowed to hang out there his strength and his hands will continue to ca$h in the goals. Also, while he was below 50% on those faceoffs, he always seemed to win the ones that mattered. That was as perfect a game as one can expect from Large Arthur.
* DeBrincat was good, finally got some significant power play time and continued to surprise me with his aggressive and often effective forechecking. More, please, and in the top six, if you don't mind; he's being wasted on the third/fourth line.
* Patrick Kane was better, but he still seems not-quite-right. His passing has not been up to his usual standards, his shooting mediocre and his judgement a bit suspect for about two weeks, now. He just hasn't always appeared fully invested in what was going on. Last night saw an improvement in all those areas, even with a couple of ain't-give-a-damn passes and a pair of simply dumb shots, but he can and will be better.
* Nick Schmaltz was, I thought, the second best Hawk in this game. Thinking back to around this time last year, he had one move, the old Mats Naslund get-the-zone-curl-back-and-look-for-a-pass schtick. This year, he hardly ever does that, instead usually choosing to barge deep into the offensive zone, trying to set up camp below the goal line and do his passing from there. He's just so much more confident, isn't shying away from contact like he had been (which might be a mistake, but that's not for now) and has a much wider array of plays he's willing to try. If it weren't for Anisimov carrying the mail right now I'd campaign for a DeBrincat-Schmaltz-Kane combo. Yeah, it would be the smallest line in the NHL, but these three all play bigger than they are, and I wanna have a longer look at Schmaltz setting up DBC.
* Brandon Saad. I hesitate to say he's been bad, but he hasn't been good either. Having had only one really good game in the last 3½ weeks should be bugging him as much as it's bugging me.
* John Hayden came through with exactly the kind of goal one expects from him given his location in the lineup. He was well-positioned and did a great job to lift Shatnerkirk's stick, outmuscle him, and get the shot away. He could shape up into a pretty effective blunt instrument.
* Goose Forsling. Despite a pretty shaky first period (from what little I saw and, in his defense, everyone in red was pretty poor in the first) he had his best game in ages, breaking up numerous plays with a good, active stick. His positioning was decent, too. Could be an anomaly, but one hopes he's being coached in these areas and is applying himself, finally.
* Cody Franson. Not perfect, and that back-pass in the first would have gotten Murph or Kemps stapled to the bench for the duration, but he's so good along the other guys' blue line I think you've got to keep him in the lineup. That low, hard shot has led to many primo rebounds. How is it that he shoots half as often but records a shot-on as often as Keith and Seabrook? He just does.
On the topic of Franson v. Seabrook: that's how you execute a last-ditch bellyflop. Franson kept his eyes on what was happening and used his stick and/or legs, ultimately, to break up the play, while Seabrook's plan appears to be to flop, hope for the best and take the rest of the night off.
* Jan Rutta just had his two worst games, back-to-back.
* Seabrook played a team-low 16:26 on the back end. I won't get my hopes up that he's blown his cover and that "circumstances" kept him off the ice more than usual, but a girl can dream...
* Corey Crawford. He did what he had to do and not much else, keeping The Hawks in it during that abysmal first period, but let a few softies in later on. That's fair enough, as he's stolen more than his share of games in this young season, but I rather hope it's not something we need to worry about.
* Lance Bouma. I'm unsure of what he does beyond tearing around, laying a few hits and crashing the net. He has no shot, hands so hard that every pass bounces off of his stick and he's a bad penalty killer. Sorry, just had to get that out.
The Penguins, then, on Saturday. It won't be another 10-1 affair (unless The Hawks are really bad... ha ha) since we won't have poor Antti Niemi to slap around. Better be ready, boys.
So, it was another one of those deals when almost every defensive mistake ends up in he back of The Hawks' net. First, Forsling, inattentive and overmatched. Then, Oesterle, too soft twice on the same play, with a side of Bouma floating instead of taking away the passing lane. Next, Hayden coasting back to The Hawk's zone even while Andy Greene "sped" past him. After that, Saad standing and watching, Rutta pantsed by Hall, Oesterle weak again, although precipitated by Kempny's terrible breakout attempt and, finally, Rutta convinced that merely placing his hand on Miles Wood's back would slow him down. As score-y as Rutta was tonight his defensive effort was garbage - dude nets three points and ends up -1 on the night?
The Hawks outshot, outchanced and made fewer turnovers than the Devils, but they were so lackadaisical about containing the Devils' forwards it was always going to end in tears.
The absolutely best part of this game was Pat Boyle slipping in "The Devils were sporting Full Wood tonight...."
I'll just bet they were.
It wasn't a pretty game by any stretch, but it may well prove to be a turning point for The Hawks or, at least, for a couple of Hawks that, if tonight's result signals a change in fortune, may have gotten a much-needed confidence boost. Let's see them Bits:
* Alex DeBrincat was the big story tonight, potting two goals and orchestrating a masterful setup on the winning goal. His goals weren't solo efforts, with each marker made possible by excellent passes but, in each case, DBC was charging the net, in the right location for the pass and made no mistake when those chances came. His pass to Saad in overtime was just as good, if not better; as the two forwards approached the Carolina blue line, Saad was rapping his stick on the ice for a pass but, to his credit, DBC had the balls to hold the puck, risking putting Saad offside and, at the perfect moment, deftly slid the puck to #20, who found himself one-on-one with Scotty Darling. This game has certainly lifted a large & angry monkey off the young forward's back, with that gutsy OT play already indicating that his confidence has spiked. It's worth noting that, while DBC was ostensibly relegated to the fourth line, his first goal came when he was tossed out there with Toews and Panik, while his second was off a feed from Kane, who was double-shifting in Hartman's spot. Hmmm....
* Saad scored, even after gacking an easy tap-in and missing on a penalty shot. That was Saad's first goal in four weeks and, in between those goals, he's been absolutely ham-fisted around the bad guys' net. This, too, could be the event that gets Saad back on track.
* Kane made a pass in the offensive zone that actually mattered. He's carried the puck as well as ever, lately, but just hasn't been able to hit a linemate in a primo location very often. That could be down to those linemates not doing enough to get to those good shooting areas, but I wonder if it's been largely impatience or failure to execute on Kane's part.
Those are the key items, now The Other Stuff:
* Forsberg was both great and terrible. He remarkably adept at tracking the puck in close quarters but has let in softies in each game he's played this year. Tonight marks the first game he's ever won as a starter, so that's over with and perhaps he can just get on with business.
* Did Hartman play tonight? That stat line says he did, but he was utterly invisible. While I wouldn't necessarily agree with the move I wouldn't be shocked if he and Vinnie Hinostroza swapped places very soon. Coach Q seems to have little use for him right now.
* Classic Post-2015 Seabrook tonight, complete with the signature bellyflop "move" (it failed) and, despite being on the ice for two goals against, still managed to emerge +1 for the night and smelling like a rose. You're not fooling me, tortoise-boy.
* Is Franson hurt? Did he take another shift after whatever it was that had him in a fetal position in he third period?
* I didn't mind Schmaltz - Anisimov - Kane. The wingers did some nifty stuff and, all foot speed-related shortcomings aside Large Arthur, with his size and hands, has been pretty good in front of the net, lately.
Okay, New Jersey tomorrow, Crow back in net...let's open the floodgates and get this thing going again.
This will be brief.
I have little problem with the effort but, rather, it's the execution that's been lacking for two+ weeks.
Generally, The Hawks cannot make a short pass when it counts.
Their shots are either wide or right in the goalie's gut.
On the five-on-three power play tonight they managed ONE shot, despite controlling the puck in Philly's end for approx 1:30, solid. That power play was snuffed out when Keith fired the puck wide and it curled up the boards and out of the zone.
I get that, at this point, The Hawks are clutching their sticks a little too tightly, but this is getting stupid. Somebody COACH these guys, please. Micro-managing the forward lines is accomplishing nothing.
Despite being almost a full day removed from the end of this game I am nevertheless compelled to sound off. Just a little bit.
Only a few things went wrong:
* The Hawks Cannot Score. They shoot a lot and, in this game, had a lot of A+ chances, but no joy? I have no idea what's going on with that. Bad luck? Chucking at the goalie? Saad, Toews and Panik all failed on point-blank attempts. I don't know but, until some shots start going in, The Hawks are gonna be looking at lot of nights like this one.
Saad has one assist in his last six games, and has not scored in over three weeks.
Panik has one goal and one assist in that same timespan.
* They Did Kinda Get Goalied. Charlie Lindgren came outta nowhere and threw a perfect game, so there's that.
* Another Brief Let Up let them down. The Hawks were the better team by some margin...except for a seven-or-eight minute spell in the third period in which everything they touched turned to crap. Keep it somewhat together for the full 60 and it's a different story. Probably.
* Connor Murphy played a pretty good game...except for two plays. He rocked a gaudy 76% Corsi at even strength, had good gaps and made safe, careful plays out of his own zone, but he was on the ice for both goals against. On the first GA, things started going wrong when Kempny failed to keep the puck in the MTL zone, although that was complicated by an official in the way. Murphy then tripped all over himself trying to change direction and chase down Drouin, who he was never going to catch, and managed to get in the way of Sharp who *might* have something for the speedy Habs forward.
Sometimes it just goes like that.
On the second GA Murph took way too much time tracking the puck down in the corner, gave it up to Pacioretty and - boom - 2-nothing. And that's why he'll sit on Thursday in favour of (ulp!) Forsling.
At least Corey Crawford was named the NHL First Star of The Week, for what that's worth...
Large Arthur can erase many sins if he continues to score de goals.
Front
All four lines were effective tonight. Not all the time, but more often than not. On the first line DeBrincat had one rotten pass but was otherwise tip-top with sound passing and a solid effort on the forecheck, which doesn't always pan out cos he gives up a lot in size & strength, but his stick and timing are excellent. The third line had moments good & bad and Sharp had a far better effort than in recent games. The fourth line was surprisingly aggressive and occasionally dangerous although Bouma, fine in the 1st, was inattentive & yippy the rest of the way. Wingels had the best scoring chance for The Hawks in the first period.
Middle
Probably the best all-round effort from the D this year. Franson repeated his Wednesday performance, still awfully slow but rarely beaten due to realizing that fact & positioning himself accordingly. Loving him on the power play. Kempny and Murphy were solid; not without errors but when Kemps gacked a clear or made an errant pass, Murph had his back and vice-versa. Kemps also hit for 6 shots - where'd that come from?
Back
Corey Crawford continues to be the most reliable Hawk but, for a change, he didn't have to steal this win. His presence of mind on The Wild's best chance, in which he refused to panic and back the puck into his own net, demonstrates just how dialed-in he is right now.
If The Hawks can keep playing like this good things will continue to happen. They'll have to stay in this headspace tomorrow, as Forsberg will almost certainly get the start and, as stupid as it sounds, I fully expect Forsling to draw in at the expense of a guy who's played well in his absence (pick a guy, doesn't matter who). Regardless of that decision, here's hoping that Forsberg can follow his teammates' lead and have a good bounce-back game after his last rotten start.
Make no mistake, Corey Crawford won this one for The Hawks. He was simply brilliant and, while the skaters were better than they have been, lately, had Crow not carried the mail against a somewhat depleted Flyers squad, the result could easily have flipped in Philly's favour. Here are some quick Bits.
* The changes to the top six were interesting and certainly worthy of a longer look, but failed to accomplish anything concrete. It's difficult to pinpoint what's not quite right with them, as the effort is there but the results have been hard to come by. Kane appears to be doing the right things but isn't managing to get his passes through, which could be on him or it could be a case of his linemates not being in the correct position. It's subtle, and probably really frustrating. Similarly, Saad and Panik have both been driving hard to the net, creating chances and getting some shots, but have not been able to finish. I mentioned The Hawks not capitalizing on second chances and that was true again tonight: there's either no one within reach of a rebound or they're not in an ideal position to do much with it. I'm not sure what else to say about that, so hopefully Coach Q has some ideas.
I'd like to see DeBrincat with Toews & Panik again, and also Saad alongside Schmaltz and Kane. Give those lines at least another game or two and see what develops.
* The slightly altered D pairings were okay. Franson had some moments, just being a bit unable to keep up, but he rarely stuck his neck out and played within himself for the most part, so that was good. His work on the offensive blue line, with hard, low shots on net and some fine keep-ins mitigated any speed-related shortcomings. The rest were generally okay and I can't say I noticed Seabrook much which, given what he's done recently to attract attention, is a small victory in itself. One thing is certain: on this night, The Hawks D were better than they've been with Forsling aboard.
* Anisimov has been better in recent games but not so much when on his regular line. Had Sharp not been kicked in the gut tonight I would not have noticed him at all. The same goes for Hartman - one could argue that he's being wasted on the fourth line, but what's he done lately to warrant being further up the ladder? It seems that the bottom six are existing, right now, to fill a bit of time and to augment the special teams.
The annoying Wild are up on Saturday, followed by the enigmatic Canadiens on Sunday, so we're sure to see Anton Forsberg this weekend which, so far, has meant a loss. Tonight may not have been a perfect effort outside of Crawford, but hopefully The Hawks can build on that, get a little confidence back and maybe find a little more chemistry with the new combinations.
