Back in the Saddle? Hawks 4, Kings 1

Now that's more like it.
This felt like the first game in a month, though my memory may fail me, that The Hawks looked like they were in 100% control throughout an entire game.  Passes were mostly crisp, rebounds were mostly cleared away and the bad guys' lanes were mostly covered.  "Mostly" is quite acceptable to me; even though The Kings may or may not make the playoffs they're still the defending champions, and that counts for something.  What else?
- Once I deduced the line combinations and had a mini tantrum I had to admit that three of the four lines looked just fine.  I'm still not a fan of Shaw at center, but his line (with Saad and Bickell) were dangerous all night.  Likewise, I'm not mad for Vermette not playing center, but he, Richards and Sharp generated more chances than the rest of the league in this match.  Hell, Sharp outchanced The Kings all by himself.  Surprisingly, Kruger-Teravainen-Desjardins were pretty good as well; each of these guys did the thing they do very, very well.  And that's without anyone being entirely clear on what, exactly, Desjardins does.  Only the Toews line disappointed me.  Hossa was a beast, but Toews was invisible and Versteeg was, sadly, all-too visible.  What has he done in the last three weeks to deserve a first-line assignment?
- Patrick Sharp: I don't know if I've ever seen a guy play so well yet contribute nothing.  When he gets on the other side of the inch it's going to be cataclysmic.
- Brandon Saad is Luke to Marian Hossa's Ben Kenobi.

Tough call for this one, a game in which almost everyone played very well but no one really stood out as being larger-than-life.  Saad and Hossa were both very impressive, but this guy was also good and has been outstanding most nights since returning from injury a few weeks ago.  Look at this as recognition for a month of excellent work.

                                                      It's Johnny's belt, bitches!