Nevermind that a couple of their goals were pretty lucky.
And Nevermind that The Panthers have a ton of holes in their lineup and it's no wonder that they're dead last in The East.
It's more than just the two points, 'cos The Hawks finally, FINALLY showed some resolve, some will to win, and managed to execute. To it, then.
Things Looked Irritatingly Familiar Right Off The Trot. The Hawks had a hard-charging first shift only for FLA gather themselves and then utterly dominate the first period. I won't say that Manning's penalty was the sole cause of the momentum shift, as The Hawks had already begun to fold, but it was certainly inopportune. Worse, though, was the all-too-familiar defensive obliviousness that we've become sadly accustomed to, epitomized by three Hawks players chasing after one Panthers forward, leaving J. McCann to go mano-a-mano with Cam Ward. Just like that and we were down 2-0, like some cruel Groundhog Day sequel.
The Hawks Showed Some Signs of Life early in the second when, first, David Kampf executed a textbook power move through no less a man than Aaron Ekblad and then around James Reimer to bring The Hawks within one. Minutes later, in a role reversal, Kane redirected a Saad pass to tie the score. Then the wheels fell off again.
For The Second Night In A Row Kane missed a defensive assignment, failing to pick up Ekblad who one-timed a crisp pass past Ward. Minutes later, after a power play in which The Hawks held the puck for virtually the entire two minutes yet generated zero legit scoring chances, The Panthers pounced (because that's what panthers do) on a tired group of Hawks who had been unable to change and put the home side up 4-2. FLA managed to spend most of the remainder of the second period in the CHI zone and it was starting to look like the sun had gone down for The Hawks, yet again.
Then Two Things Happened. First, The Hawks finally got the bit in their teeth, outshooting the suddenly passive Panthers 9-0 in the first half of the period, which is nothing new, really, as we've seen these guys wait until it was too late to get their motors running. HOWEVER, fortune smiled upon The Hawks on this night. Sometimes you make your own luck through hard work, etc, and sometimes you just fall ass-backwards into it, and I think Fortin's shorty was a little bit of both and I am 100% okay with that. On the game-tying goal.....well, anytime you tie a game in the final second it kind of smacks of dumb-ass luck but, again, Saad's pass to DeBrincat was pretty special. We won't overstate that James Reimer was soft as hell on that goal....
Overtime. What I've become used to is The Hawks getting one or two good looks, changing all three skaters and getting scored on immediately. Tonight it took 4 or 5 shifts to settle matters, providing not only a much needed victory for The Hawks, but also some redemption for a couple of guys.
Erik Gustafsson has been bad, lately, his play going from sublime in October to terrible in November. Prior to this fall the expectation with Gus had been that he'd be an okay puck-lugger but, when it came to being defensively aware, he was nowhere to be seen. The last month we were treated to Gus being defensively ambivalent AND he couldn't make a breakout pass no way, no how. His OT goal tonight was nothing special, just a well-placed shot but, if we're lucky, it might be the confidence booster Gus desperately needs.
David Kampf had his first taste of NHL Overtime about two weeks ago vs. Carolina, and that didn't go super well. Tonight, though, he dominated at the dot, winning 70% of his faceoffs including the final draw of the night. That and his impressive goal to start the second period highlight Baby Huey's best NHL game thus far.
Other Good Stuff: Gustav Forsling has been given a lot of icetime and a lot of responsibility for a lad who kinda curled up & died last winter. Quite right though, on this night anyway, as he was the best Hawks D-man in this match. John Hayden finally got to play more than five shifts and, while nothing came of his efforts, he was creating opportunities.
Meanwhile, this is what I suspect goes through Brandon Manning's head when he's out on the ice, doing whatever the hell he thinks he's doing.
Next: The strangely erratic Golden Knights who seem to either win big or lose big. Here's hoping they've shot their bolt with their 6-0 drubbing of The Sharks tonight.
(Be sure to listen to the song. The horns really complement the emotional release....)
Boz Scaggs - Why You Make It So Hard?
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