It's Late: Hawks 4, Blues 3 (OT)

After the game Steve Konroyd stated "they seem to find ways to win".   Sure, I guess, but they're also finding ways to lose or, in this case, almost lose.  I mean, they chucked 50 shots at STL tonight and absolutely pantsed them in Corsi, yet it took until OT to seal the deal.
Nevermind that The Blues took almost half the game to find their gear because, once they got rolling, they largely outplayed The Hawks and, yet again, that determined effort was helped by The Hawks easing off the pressure. As in the last game, though, that wouldn't be such a sin if it weren't coupled with defensive gaffes and sloppiness.  This team can and should be killing it, yet they're just getting by.

Alex DeBrincat is not the best Hawks forward, but he will be, someday.
Cam Ward was okay.  Well, maybe a little better than okay but he did not help his cause with a poor pass to Manning, which I'll return to shortly.
Alexandre Fortin might be okay, as well.  He's decently quick and has enough size & reach to protect the puck somewhat, but he's kinda stepping on the puck a lot and not getting it from his feet to his stick a lot of the time.  It's early days though and, if he's meant to be part of the team, he'll figure it out.
Eric Gustafsson made his first nasty turnover of the season, which amazes me.
Kruger & Kampf were barely acknowledged yet led all players in possession stats, which is an utterly perfect night for a couple of 4th line guys.
John Hayden played the least of all Hawks tonight despite having no truly bad shifts.  Meanwhile, Kunitz huffed and puffed, a half-step behind whoever he was vainly chasing....
Brandon Manning, it would appear, is just dumb as hell.  Am I offside with this?  Yes, Ward's exchange to him was poor, but why'd Manning lift his foot?  Play the puck, man.  Manning remains the sole Blackhawk d-man who routinely messes up his breakouts, often making a bad first pass or, even more often, simply sending the puck downrange as fast as he can with no discernable purpose nor plan.
Kane didn't have his best night, his timing looking a little off and he fumbled the puck a few times, but the patience he displayed leading to his goal  was certainly admirable.  100% of the other Hawks would just have shot the puck ASAP 90% of the time.
The Power Play is backsliding already, with too much standing around and not enough net presence + shooting.  The first couple of PPs weren't bad but beyond that, and I hesitate to repeat myself, it was all so predictable.  I mean, I could anticipate all of The Hawks' actions on the PP and I'm an idiot, so even mayonnaise-slurping morons like The Blues could figure them out, too.  But it's not far off, 'cos we've seen some wonderful PP efforts already this season, they've just got to bring that more often than they've been doing.



Queen - It's Late