Got To Get Better: Oilers 4, Hawks 0

Too many times in recent years have I typed one of these in which the message is this: The Hawks carried the play, yet still lose.  Here's another one.

Costly Errors: After a head-turning start to the season Erik Gustafsson has been ordinary or worse in the last few games.  Twice he messed up keep-ins, one of which ended up costing The Hawks a goal.  We've seen what he can do....now he has to get back to doing that.
And then there's Manning, getting the puck the hell away from him as fast as possible as is his custom, this time right onto Draisaitl's stick.  I guess the difference here is that Gus can do better but I'm not sure Manning has it in him.  If Schmaltz was scratched for, essentially, one horrible pass, so should Manning, but we'll see, we'll see.
Cam Ward wasn't bad but he failed to make any phenomenal saves on a night when The Hawks could have used a few.  Maybe he could have been sharper on Chaisson' s goal but, by then, it was already all over but the crying.
Kane was merely at half-speed, which is fair enough given that he was sick enough a day earlier to miss a game. Maybe he gave whatever he's had to DeBrincat, 'cos The Cat turned in another poor effort in which his passes were trash and his decision making dubious.
Anything Good Here? Well, take those four goals against out of it and maybe most of the third period while we're at it and The Hawks played a pretty sound road game.  I wasn't pumped to see Martinsen in for Kampf but the big fella actually played pretty well, credited with five hits, which is probably a conservative estimate.  Yeah, yeah, big deal, but on this night it actually created some opportunities as Martinsen had frightened Klefbom sufficiently that he straight up gave the puck away rather than be crushed again, and he made a nice chance out of basically nothing just through force of will.  It's just a shame that the one hit he shouldn't have made (and really, he was just out of control) became an Oilers PP and, of course, a goal against.  Davidson was actually decent - not perfect but far better than expected.  Once again he found himself crossed up during a fast break but, otherwise, a surprisingly good two-way effort.

Big game tomorrow, The Hawks' last chance to salvage something from this so-far quite disappointing road trip.  There are a handful of Hawks who, if they don't deliver something, anything, are going to be sliding down the order, some into the press box.

Clapton - Got To Get Better