Back In The Saddle? : Hawks 5, Penguins 1

That's more like it.
Much was said during the broadcast about the Penguins being undermanned, and that's certainly true when one considers the current state of their defense corps.  Up front, though, there are very few gaps, with even their Guys being pretty darn good.  Regardless of these teams' relative strengths & weaknesses, The Hawks came out of the gate with the kind of fire they've been sorely lacking for a week or more.  More importantly, even when the inevitable let up occurred, it wasn't of the magnitude that we've been blessed to behold for much of the season.  And the two seasons before that, if we're honest.  I'm tired, so let's go:
Some crazy-good passing helped this look pretty easy.  Schmaltz, Hartman and Kane (twice, including a diabolically good redirect to Kruger) paved the way to four of The Hawks' five tallies with excellent set-ups.  Sure, The Penguins D is thin and often struggled to cope when The Hawks gained the zone and started tossing the puck around, but it's an encouraging sign, for sure.
Tanner Kero is not the answer where 2C is concerned but he'll have to do for now.  He managed to keep up with Kane & Panarin for the most part, even if his hands let the group down once or twice, and he even potted a nice breakaway goal.  A good effort from 67.
After being buried alive in Tampa, John Hayden looked much more comfortable on the fourth line tonight.  Away from Toews & Panik, Hayden was nowhere on Monday, but in this match he used his body and his decent hand skills to create some quality chances, leading The Hawks with six shots on goal.
Speaking of shots, The Chicago defense only hit for two SOG all night.  I know TVR shot and missed a couple of times but the usual shooty suspects, Keith & Seabrook were dishing far more often than usual.  This may bear watching in the upcoming games in case this is some new directive or merely a isolated incident.

The surly Swede thought well of Kane's performance, as well as those of Panarin and Kero (he is, despite all reports, a sentimental type who revels in the successes of the largely unsung) but, through the smoke and the flattering boxscore, Stormare sees Corey Crawford as the biggest of the Big Boys tonight.  NOW is as good a time as any to return to form, and Crow was as steady as anything.

If You Can Win It In One Period You Can Lose It, Too: Lightning 5, Hawks 4

After mounting massive comebacks in several games, recently, reserving most of their effort for the third period, The Hawks got a taste of their own medicine as Tampa Bay struck for three goals in the second period.  Even though The Hawks had their teeth kicked in possession-wise, without that ain't-give-a-damn second frame they probably cruise to an easy win.  I don't have a lot to say about this, so here we go.
Duncan Keith had a wonderful game, I thought, at least until the last minute or two of the third period, and it's a shame that he was on the ice for the game winner.
Speaking of the game winner, that was a cocktail of circumstances that just left a bad taste in The Hawks' collective mouths.  The breakout was good, with Kane fighting through the forecheck to hit Keith up-ice.  When Panarin accepted Keith's pass at the Tampa blue line he was a little close to Hedman, but it certainly wasn't a situation that he wouldn't normally stickhandle his way out of. Alas, Hedman executed a perfect poke check and the puck was heading downrange before anyone could react.  Of course, it would happen that it was van Riemsdyk that had just hopped over the boards, and we all know he couldn't catch a cold in a hospital ward room.
And what was TVR even doing on the ice in overtime, anyway?  The NBCSN colour man, I have no idea who it was, took a moment to make up a bunch of stuff on the spot about TVR, and how he's learned and improved so much this season.  Listen, NBC, spare us the "if it sounds good, say it" stuff. TVR hasn't learned a damn thing and, more importantly, neither have The Hawks' coaches where 57-Varieties-of-Bad is concerned.  His 30-odd seconds of stumbling around during the sequence in which Darling was forced to make several acrobatic saves should be enough evidence to have TVR dispatched...somewhere else, but yet...
The only Hawks line to crack 50% Corsi was the Hayden-Des-Tootoo trio, playing about half their shifts against the Tampa top-six, and really only undone on one poor shift that led to Drouin's first goal.

Speaking of first goals, Tomas Jurco finally potted one.  That's great, but given the time & space he had there, he'd better have scored.  He seems to want to play a Hossa-style game, often trying to simply force the puck past opposing defenders, but he hasn't the strength nor the guile to pull it off. Unfortunately, that goal will almost certainly earn him a start in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
This Seabrook + Oduya thing ain't working, 'cos one or the other always seems to be getting beaten to the outside.  It sure hasn't helped that Seabrook has been yippy with clearing attempts, either, often surrendering the puck with little or no effort to look for a play.

Ah well, onwards & upwards...

Tomorrow's Trip to The Beach is Cancelled: Panthers ALL, Hawks NONE

Blackhawks Postcard Home: 
Went to Florida and spent three hours in The Panthers' litter box.

Oh, so much yapping, pushing & punching and other assorted bullshit, but precious little else.  When the fourth line are the only guys to turn in consistently good shifts you're going to be up against it.
As disinterested and, eventually, distracted as the bulk of the forward corps were, the D were even worse, caught standing still or nearly so on most of the Panthers' goals.  The only exception that springs to mind is the fourth FLA goal, in which Soupy jumped up on the rush, leaving no responsible adults guarding the store and a Panthers two-on-oh. Okay, it was a two-on-one, but the "one" was TVR and his one-man tragic-comedy that I will spoil the ending of: he fucked it up.  Even if TVR knew that he has to take away the pass he hasn't got the tools to pull it off, anyway.  What NHL defenceman allows a gap like that?  Spoiler #2: None.

But it's not on TVR.  The Panther's first three goals were all scored from the same spot, give or take six feet, and all on a sharp pass from the opposite circle whilst The Hawks' D moved only their heads & necks to observe the puck whizzing through the slot.  "Hey, that's our play," they might have said, yet Panarin had only a single chance from his usual shooting area and he topped the puck, anyway.

We also saw all of John Hayden's shortcomings on display and none of his good qualities, as he struggled mightily to keep up, often resorting to a desperate lunge to try to close a gap, only to lose more ground as his speedy prey easily eluded him.

                           Yeah, well, I made that face just watching the game, pal.

Now that we have this mini-meltdown out of the way can we please get serious again? I expect that Coach Q has their full attention now and at the inevitable 0800 hrs skate.

March. Midweek. Meh. : Hawks 3, Stars 2

In a series of games which The Hawks really didn't deserve to win, this one felt like the least deserved.  While there were flashes of competency and brief periods of inspired play, the home side failed to apply themselves any more than absolutely necessary.  Did they need to try harder? Probably not.  Does it matter?  Well, maybe.  I'd hate for them to forget how to do hockey properly just in time for the playoffs.
I'll spend about as much time on this as most Hawks made an effort.
I cannot say that any particular Hawk was terribly bad tonight, but very few were good for more than a few shifts.  Toews played a pretty determined game that was wasted by Hayden & Panik floating too much of the time.  Hoss had a goal and a few more good looks, but could not be arsed defensively. Panarin seemed disinterested in getting into a good shooting position and Schmaltz can abandon that reverse-and-reset thing he keeps trying along the boards, 'cos it ain't working.
TVR is so comically bad it would be entertaining if it weren't so frustrating.  While this idiot stands motionless for much of the game, reacting only after something has already happened, Michal Kempny sits in the press box wondering if he really is a worse defenceman than van Riemsdyk.
Corey Crawford was quite good, making a handful of A+ saves, many of which wouldn't even have materialized if the guys in front of him gave a crap, but that's not for now.
The first couple of power plays were interesting, with The Hawks moving the puck well and keeping their feet moving.  The weird thing is that they failed to generate any great chances.
I dunno about Hartman at 2C and, if this is gonna be a thing, can we get Schmaltz back on Toews' line, please?

ONE Blackhawk played consistently well even if, too often, he was reduced to playing keepaway while his linemates failed to find good shooting lanes and, too often, held the puck only long enough to get it back to Kane.  88 was the best of a mediocre lot, tonight.

Maybe It's Better This Way: Canucks 5, Hawks 4

It's time for another The Good, The Bad and The Ugly post.  This won't take long.
The Good
- Great possession stats, a gaudy shot count and a rare night in which The Hawks won the faceoff game.  How do you lose a game with numbers like this?  I'll get to that.
- There were some very good individual performances: Hartman, obviously, and Hossa put together a solid game after a bit of a haphazard start.  Panik was strong on the puck all evening, and both Hayden and Rasmussen made excellent plays at both ends of the ice.  
The Bad
- Two goals against were precipitated by The Hawks' forwards bolting downrange before they had established control of the puck.
- Five goals against on fifteen shots. While three of the four allowed by Crawford were on odd-man rushes or deft redirections, the poke check attempt on Sutter's first goal was clumsy and maybe a little impatient.
- The penalty call on Toews in overtime was as soft as they come.  Maybe they felt that Toews embellished the shove from Edler that propelled him into Ryan Miller?
- Where was Kane for the first 45 minutes of the game?  
The Ugly
- Duncan Keith: six giveaways.  Soupy, another three.  Jurco, two giveaways in a mere seven minutes.  I've seen quite enough of Jurco, now.
- Seabrook simply could not keep the puck within The Canucks blueline.
- TVR and Jurco gave up on the second Sutter goal.  Unacceptable.

So, yeah, maybe it's a good thing to have lost this one.  The game came pretty easily to The Hawks, yet they really only applied a full effort in the last ten minutes or so.  Again.  Losing to a team that's basically senior citizens and Guys, after pummeling them in all regards except the score, might be just the thing to create some urgency and perhaps inspire The Hawks to bring their A Game in the first two periods.  I'd be embarrassed and I rather hope The Hawks are, as well..

Ten Minutes In Heaven: Hawks 6, Avalanche 3

...preceded by fifty minutes of sloppy, disinterested hockey.  Still that last ten minutes was pretty fun.
I'll kick this off by addressing the offside review that arguably shifted the momentum in The Hawks; favour; all those opposed can suck it up.  The Hawks were on that side of one of these "inconclusive" reviews a few weeks ago, so balance has been restored.  Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar summed up the non-importance of the call:
"That give them a little life," Bednar said. "It's what we do after that that bothers me.
Quite right, sir, quite right.
It's late, so here are just a few Bits:
It wasn't that The Hawks were down and out for much of the game but they did appear to lack any willingness to see their plays through.  There were a lot of poor passes, fumbled passes, guys just slightly out of position and lackadaisical defensive assignments.  Scott Darling also let past two goals that, most nights, he stops.
Until the last ten minutes The Hawks' best line was Kruger - Hartman - Jurco even though, just like last night, they had zero finish.  Jurco sure tried hard, and had his best game as a Hawk, but he simply cannot close.
Not to take anything away from John Hayden's two assists tonight but, sometimes, I think a German Shepherd could rack up 40 points in a season playing alongside Toews.
Once again, The Avalanche chose to pit their top two lines against The Hawks' top six with disastrous results, partly because the Avs' top six are really only four good players and a couple of Guys.  On the other side of the tracks, though, The Hawks' fourth line had their heads kicked in for the entirety of the 15 seconds of ice time they received, for whatever that's worth.
Without the offside review coming out in their favour would The Hawks have mounted their comeback, anyway?  Maybe, maybe not, but in the second game of a back-to-back against a team that no one gives a shit about, I'm not sure that it matters.  It is good to know that they can and will occasionally go nuclear when it suits them.

Because that ten minute outburst began and, apart from the empty-netter, ended with him, Jonathan Toews is tonight's darling of the Swedish glitterati.  Or something.

Set The Wayback Machine to 2008: Hawks 2, Maple Leafs 1

What a fun game.  It wasn't always pretty or well executed, but it was close, fast and entertaining. Let's Go:
More about John Hayden, who scored his first NHL goal and point tonight. That was actually a heck of a goal, what with the puck even or slightly ahead of his body, where it's tough to get much power behind a shot.  It could be that he kind of knows what's going on with the puck, but I wonder about his skating. His turns and sudden direction changes are about on par with B. Mashinter, and he charges around like he's breaking out of jail, but it's early days yet and it could still be jitters causing this dartiness.  
Freddy Anderson was fine but Crawford was better, stopping fewer shots but making the tougher saves, including a pair of breakaways by players who know what they're doing.

The Maple Leafs, I believe, will be an outstanding team very soon, providing no bad luck befalls them with major injuries or free agent signings that go awry.  They're building a core of extremely talented young forwards that, once they begin to hit their stride in anywhere between one-to-three years, will dominate to the tune that Kane-Toews-Sharp once did. They have a decent enough group of complimentary forwards, too, and even if someone like James van Riemsdyk sets sail elsewhere they should have little trouble attracting free agent talent while they still have some money to throw around. (In fact, I'm betting that John Tavares ends up in Toronto sooner than later...).  They have only a couple of goofs wasting roster spots among the forwards, so they're not far off from having three lines stacked with 20+ goal-scorers.  Their defense, however, is very much a work in progress, with really only one fully-realized D-man in Jake Gardiner, although Rielly and Zaitsev will likely be very good, very soon.  As long as they persevere with the likes of Polak and Hunwick, though, they're not going to get results that are indicative of the team's potential.  ANYWAY, the stage is set, Mike Babcock & Lou Lamoriello know what they're doing, and all Brendan Shanahan needs to do is stay out of the way and let Mike & Lou handle things.  I can't see how they'll fail to excel, and probably for a long time, at that.

Yeah, maybe it seems too easy to pin a medal on the guy who scores the game winner, but Ryan Hartman had a solid game regardless of his last-minute goal.  I was unexcited by the prospect of a Kruger - Hartman - Jurco trio, but they put together several solid shifts in which they could have scored if not for Kruger's hands and Jurco's damn near everything being found wanting.  I loved the subtle little hitch that Hartman employed to shake off a check late in the second. It was a good game in less than ideal circumstances for no. 38.

 

Whatever Works: Hawks 2, Senators 1

Okay, so it was another game in which The Hawks were outshot, albeit not as badly as the last couple of games, and were batted around like a cat toy in the possession department.  While that's a little worrisome, they're getting away with it, by dint of superior goaltending and the guys who need to be great being great at just the right time.  I doubt that this model is sustainable on the long-term but, for now, it's working. I guess that, even though The Hawks have failed to play to their potential this week, there's always the fact that this is The Hawks underachieving and still winning.  When and if they get their asses and heads back into gear they could be a steamroller.
If the goaltending holds up.
Buckle up for ya Bits.

Meet John Hayden, who The Hawks signed this week, presumably on the proviso that he get into some games this season, thus using up one season of his entry-level status.  He's sure big, not terribly quick but not a slug, either.  Could be just A Guy but that's what I thought of Hartman during his first audition, so who the hell knows?
I'm happy to say that no Hawks player was especially bad tonight, although Seabrook's two unforced giveaways late in the match were not ideal and Panarin struggled to complete a pass for the first half of the game .  On the flip, though, none of the skaters really shone, either.  It was kind of a beige effort, overall, as they played just well enough to win and not an iota more.  Sure, a few guys had some great shifts, but even the usual go-to guys had extended quiet periods.  Just another Thursday night in Ottawa...
Have we seen the end of Tomas Jurco?  More to the point, does anyone care?
The forward lines were in constant flux tonight, with Toews skating with almost every other forward at one time or another.  That's going to happen when the coaches are cherry-picking zone starts for Hayden and Tootoo.  Kruger & Kero started a lot of shifts and beetled off the ice right after the face off which scrambled things up even more.
Schmaltz played mainly 2C in Anisimov's absence and was fine, I thought, except for his faceoffs. All of the Chicago centers struggled at the dot tonight but Schmaltz was glaringly ineffective and clearly needs to spend some time with Yanic Perrault, ASAP.

I'm still not sure what I think of the swapping around of the top four D.  I cannot point to any instance in which Seabrook/Oduya failed in any significant way, and the Keith/Hjalmarsson duo is a known quantity, but I kind of envisioned Oduya and Hjalmarsson assuming the shut-down role that they performed so well in days of yore, allowing Keith & Seabrook to face weaker opposition and maybe run a bit wild.  I expect we'll see more experimentation in this area but, for now, this feels like a missed opportunity.
I don't care how nice a guy Jamal Mayers may be - he has to stop saying "Jarmalson".

One Hawks player was not beige tonight.  Scott Darling wasn't tested much in the first half of the game but he earned his keep and then some in the early part of the third period alone.  No Darling = no win tonight, and the best backup in the league keeps rolling...

The Difference-Makers: Hawks 4, Canadiens 2

Looking at the box score one could surmise that tonight's win in Montréal was a rerun of Sunday's game vs. Minnesota.  Same score, same lopsided possession stats, outshot by the same margin, yet The Hawks came away with two wins.  I spotted a few significant differences but, yes, on the surface, this too was a game The Hawks could easily have lost, if not for some brilliant efforts from some of their key players; players who need to matter did matter, which is more than one can say about Les Canadiens.  Price was just okay and, not to disparage the handful of good skaters they have, as Price goes so often go The Habs. I'm going to do something a little different, tonight, and just focus on the players and factors that I saw as Difference-Makers.
Corey Crawford turned in another gem tonight, only faltering slightly in the late going when The Habs got desperate and the guys in front of Crow had already packed up the tent and were struggling to set it up again. For much of the game, and for all the shots Montréal launched, Crow hardly looked troubled, and it wasn't until the last ten minutes of the game that he was called upon to make some really tough saves.  It's got to be exciting for Crow to post a game like that in his hometown, on the opposite end of the rink from the alleged best goaltender in the world.
Seabrook bounced back mightily after a dodgy one on Sunday.  he had a great stick, blocked a zillion shots and looked completely comfortable alongside Oduya as Coach Q veered off script with his D pairings.
Speaking of Q, I thought he managed the forward lines very well after Anisimov's injury in the first period, managing to keep everyone somewhat involved and resisting the easy path of merely sitting Rasmussen and Tootoo.
Unexpected defensive work by Schmaltz & Panik was a welcome sight, as they both got busy on the forecheck and the backcheck on several occasions.  I won't take back anything I typed regarding Schmaltz early in the season 'cos it was all true, but he's not the player now that he was then.  He just seems so much more mindful, now, as well as a great deal more confident.  Would he have had the presence of mind to spot Panarin and then rifle that pass to him back in November?  As for Panik, his forechecking has always been there but he's often lazy about getting back and picking up his man, which was not the case this evening.  It's just a pity that he got yippy with that open net and iced the puck in the dying moments...
The shot differential was again brutal, but this game didn't feel like Sunday's game that much to me. The Hawks controlled the puck a great deal more, I think, but were perhaps more selective with their shooting.  Maybe they were trying to place their shots a little more carefully...I don't know, but it really didn't feel like The Hawks were dominated as they were vs. The Wild.

Let me count the ways in which Patrick Kane was the major difference in this game:

1) A pure shooter's goal on his first period tally, deftly banking the puck off the iron and in.

2) Relinquishing his stick to a d-man without one and then getting off the ice ASAP.

3) Patient and subtle passes to set up the Panarin and Toew goals.

You Know Who You Are? Hawks 4, Wild 2

Five minutes in and up 2-0 on their first two shots, The Hawks had chased Devan Dubnyk and had a pretty good saunter going.  By the time Eric Staal scored to get Minnesota within a goal, The Wild were already beginning the full-court press that they would maintain for almost the entire game.  You don't have to squint to envision a different result.  Yet, The Hawks never trailed and, what's more, without a couple of errors in judgment, The Hawks could well have blanked The Wild.  It's a funny old game, ain't it?  To The Bits:
I don't when I've seen The Hawks lose the possession contest this badly before, only commanding a 37% share, overall.  You know things are goofy, too, when TVR leads all Hawks in Corsi (55%, BTW).  It certainly showed, too, as Minnesota piled on shot after shot and seemed to out-chance The Hawks about 10-0 during the middle part of the contest, while The Hawks only managed occasional forays into The Wild's end of the rink.
Seabrook wasn't entirely awful today but there were those two shifts in which he should and could have been better.  On the first goal against he was furious and completely distracted after an apparent high stick that wasn't called.  He was essentially spinning around in front of The Hawks' net and allowed Charlie Coyle to get between himself and Corey Crawford, and ultimately preventing Seabrook from sweeping away the puck before Staal slid it past Crawford.  The second goal against was set into motion by Schmaltz's failed attempt to chip the puck, while stationary, past Mikael Granlund, but Seabrook made only a token effort to intercept the Minnesota speedster, allowing him to launch a perfectly-aimed shot past Crawford.  Not at all acceptable.
As for Schmaltz, it wasn't entirely surprising that he was benched briefly after his botched play that enabled Granlund's goal.  I appreciate, though, that he didn't have to pay too high a price for his indiscretion, as I'd much rather he at least be trying stuff in a situation that, in the autumn, he would have just tossed the puck downrange as quickly as he could, and I expect he'll take greater care in the future.

Tootoo had another decent outing.  After his big night against Nashville he's played with infinitely more confidence, looking for plays when he would previously just mash the puck somewhere, anywhere.  He's still extremely limited in what he can accomplish but I'm glad his head is in the game a lot more than anytime all season, and his willingness to fight through Ryan White's check created the loose puck that Kruger fed to TVR for the eventual game winner.
While Panarin appears to be getting back on track, with five points in his last five games, Anisimov remains in the wilderness, with only a single assist in his last five.  What do you do, though? Schmaltz was okay filling in at 2C, briefly, but I like him a lot more with Panik & Toews, and neither Kero nor Kruger are up to the task.  I think we just have to wait out whatever's going on with Arthur The Larger.

No question here.  After a series of just-okay outings Corey Crawford was solid today, only narrowly missing Staal's tally and I cannot fault him on Granlund's impeccable shot.  It was a nice bounce-back game for Crow, and with no further back-to-backs this season, it's possible that Crow can hold the fort on his own until Scott Darling returns.

So, yeah, we got the right end of the stick that I mentioned a couple of games ago.  You know what that makes The Hawks....?

                                                      EVEN STEVEN.

Move Along, There's Nothing To See Here: Red Wings 4, Hawks 2

                                                         Yup.

Well, that was less than special.
The short version, as I see it, is that The Hawks' top six were nowhere as good as they needed to be. Aside from a shift here and there they were overrun by their Detroit counterparts.  Yes, Kane set up a dandy for Panarin, but those two were also on the ice for all four goals against, with Kane being directly responsible for two of those GA.  Panik and Anisimov were, for the most part, nowhere to be seen.
The Hawks D struggled somewhat; Kempny alternated between good play/bad play with alarming regularity, while Campbell and van Riemsdyk were observed standing still far too often, particularly when the puck was sailing into The Hawks' net.
On top of that, Crawford kinda waved at a couple of the goals against although, to be fair, The Wings' goal scorers could not have been in more primo shooting positions on three of their tallies.

                                          Smackdown: Chump Division

I suppose someone might point to Hjalmarsson & Oduya being scratched in favour of the Czech Wrecks, Kempny & Rozsival, but those two were hardly the problem.  
Anyway, a disappointing result from a lackluster effort that I don't need to comment on any more than this.  Gotta be better than this on Sunday.

About Last Night: Ducks 1, Hawks 0

Isn't it interesting that the last time The Hawks lost it was right after returning from an extended break?  It's water under the bridge, now, but I'm still compelled to peck out a few notes on last night's match.
The Hawks had plenty of jump, I thought.  The legs & lungs were working fine but they weren't always sharp with the puck.  They may have eased off a bit in the second period but there was no sluggishness worth complaining about.
They couldn't complete a play around The Ducks' net, however.  The "plan" revolved around point shots, for the most part, precious few of which made it as far as the net.  There were very few attempts to make a short pass in The Danger Zone and even fewer that succeeded.  Again, just not sharp, in terms of vision, positioning and execution.  Ducks' goaltender J. Bernier faced a load of shots but remarkably few that were truly difficult.  In fact, The Hawks' best scoring chances were attempts that missed the net.
Anisimov was, again, not very good, and it would have been nice if Toews could have won a draw vs. Kesler.  
Oduya's return was about as I'd expected; not spectacular but good enough.
Overall, The Hawks were the better team, far eclipsing The Ducks in shots and possession, but just could not close the deal.  The goal against was a good one, made possible by a greasy hand-off by Logan Shaw and a great shuffle-and-shoot by Corey Perry.  Sure there were Hawks fumbling all over the place and Kruger changed his mind on who he wanted to be checking, but it was as legit a goal as you want to allow.  Maybe if Jurco & Kero didn't linger around in The Ducks' crease after Hossa's near-miss someone could have tracked down Perry, but I doubt it.

Ah, well, we've been on the other end of this stick enough to know that it happens.  Let's call it a warm up and hope The Hawks come out sharper tonight in Murdertown, USA.

Read One, Get One Free: Hawks Sweep Weekend

Since I watched both tonight's game and last night's game today I'm rolling this all into one post.  It's sort of handy, then, that both games felt sort of similar to me, with The Hawks performing well in spurts, not so great other times and, even when they were controlling the play, often just slightly out of sync.

It's not surprising, though, what with the chaos written all over their lineup cards, with injuries and illness forcing some guys to draw in and others to be bumped up in the lines. The solutions were not perfect, really, but good enough, which indicates something about the depth The Hawks enjoy.  I'm going to struggle to separate my thoughts for each game so it'll be straight to The Bits.
- Scott Darling hurt himself during practice, evidently, and will be out for approximately three weeks. One hopes, then, that Coach Q is willing to give Crawford a break now and again as, with playoffs starting in just over a month, he'll be playing a lot of hockey from here on in.  Jeff Glass is ostensibly the backup at the moment but, unless he is outstanding, I expect that Lars Johansson will be summoned at some point in the coming weeks.
- Anisimov missed Friday's game but was back for Saturday's.  He needn't have bothered, as he was slow and not at all sharp around the puck.
- After four games with Tomas Jurco I've seen enough.  He's the most brittle 6'2" 188lb I think I've observed.  Maybe it's a center of gravity thing, but it's remarkable how many times per game he is sent spinning after incidental contact.  I see now why he washed out in Detroit.
- Not to get after Ryan Hartman, 'cos I mostly like what he brings, but Toews & Panik missed the creativity and finesse that Nick Schmaltz has been providing, lately.  They played well enough, but would have been better served with Schmaltz rather than Harts.
- Despite somehow finishing the weekend at +1, TVR always seemed to be standing around whenever The Hawks were scored upon.  I swear, if hockey pants had pockets in them TVR's hands would be in them all the time.
- Never mind cherry-picked zone starts and favourable match-ups, Rozsival and Kempny were the possession kings of the weekend.
- Crawford was mostly very good after missing a couple of games with a jippy tummy or something, with only the third Nashville goal being a softy.  
- On that tack, I really hate, hate HATE when The Hawks cough up a goal in the final minute of a period, which is something they've done alarmingly often this year.  In motorsports they say "race back to the line" and "the race ain't over until the last lap is run." Yes, do that.

It was about time that Artemi Panarin got back to business, as he seemed to forget to come back to work after their week off.  On Friday we saw Panarin shooting more, although he still struggled to reliably hit the net from his usual shooting area, as even his goal was not exactly from his Happy Place.  It's starting to come together, though.

Every dog has his day and, tonight, Jordin Tootoo was a doberman.  His seemingly pointless tilt with Cody McLeod actually kicked The Hawks into gear after they were thoroughly dominated for the early part of the first period, and he drew the penalty that led to Kane's PPG ten minutes later.  He drove to the net consistently, very nearly orchestrated a goal by Kruger and, finally, potted his first goal as a Hawk when he scooped up some loose trash in the Nashville slot.  It pleased me that his teammates were so excited for him, and even the Nashville crowd seemed briefly happy that Tootoo scored again in the building where he played the first zillion years of his career.

The Hawks get another mini-break, not playing again until Thursday, which gives Hjalmarsson, Oduya, Anisimov and Schmaltz ample time to get healthy, as well as an opportunity for Crawford and Keith to get some rest.  Hopefully these days off don't set Panarin back like the last break appeared to.

Too Late In the Day For A Clever Title: Hawks 4, Penguins 1

So late and so tired, so no recap tonight and straight to breakin' it down.

It seemed that right after The Hawks went up 1-0 The Penguins began to open things up.  Not panicking, exactly, but they were pressing harder and, crucially, their defense were joining the play and carrying the puck pretty far up-ice before making their first pass.  That might fly when Letang, Daley & Maata show up to work. but they didn't make into the office today, so all that daring stuff was left to what amounts to a bunch of kids.  And also Ron Hainsey.  They did get their chances, that much is true, but they also left the doors swinging open, just daring The Hawks to have a go.
Large Arthur is hurt again.  No word yet what ails him but, obviously, we gotta hope he was just shaken up.  In his absence, Coach Q took the unusual step of inserting Nick Schmaltz into Anisimov's spot.  Schmaltz was a disaster at the dot but dynamite between Panarin & Kane, to the tune of two assists, one of which should be framed and hung on the wall.  This improvised trio were not terribly special in their own end but, man, they were so exciting once they got downrange, it just feels good to know that option is available and viable.
Meanwhile, Ryan Hartman jumped from Line Four into Schmaltz's usual spot, giving that line a different dynamic that was less about finesse and timing and more about beating guys to the puck, bullying them off said puck and getting the puck to Panik, who seemed to be cruising through the slot all night.  This was the only Hawks forward line with positive Corsi digits, and I expect Panik's exciting game winner in the second period will liberally pepper the highlight packages for the next 24 hours.

The rest were kind of disjointed, a too-fluid ball of confusion.  Hossa-Kero-Hartman looked fine early in the game but, after the line shuffling, it felt as if Hoss was with different guys every shift. Jurco put forth a good effort without accomplishing anything, usually losing the puck just before getting into a shooting position, and Rasmussen struggled to keep up all evening.
The Hawks D had their ups and downs, playing mostly ok but with the usual WTF moments.  Best overall, I thought, was Kempny, although I don't think he started many shifts in The Hawks' end while, on the other end of the stick, Campbell had several icky moments and one mystifying decision to pass and not shoot.  Seabrook and Keith teaming up to stymie Crosby was pretty cool, too.
Scott Darling had a second consecutive start and played well...maybe not as well as his posts & crossbar, and he benefited from a few teammates sweeping the puck out the crease while he searched for it, but good enough to win, anyway.

Are you kidding me?  Seven goals in the last three games, and even his empty-netter tonight was a skill-fest.  Pat Kane is shooting the puck with authority, right now: hard, accurate and decisively.

What's Old Is Old Again (or Just Still Old?)

                                     NEWS! NEWS!  NEWS!

Proving once again that even a broken clock is correct twice each day, The Hawks buckled under the pressure of my mighty mind and reacquired Johnny Oduya from Dallas.  Two contingencies are addressed with this deal, the first being a potential reunification of The Swedish Brothers From Different Mothers, Oduya and Hjalmarsson.  This would scramble the defensive pairings slightly but totally in a good way, as it could well result in Keith & Seabrook being partnered up again. Hopefully The Swedes can be deployed against the opposition's top units and relieve some pressure from Keith, especially.  

The second is that, with Hjalmarsson being moved to the disabled list today, The Hawks at least have a steady hand to fill in, if need be.

I suppose the third pairing will be Campbell & TVR, at least until the latter makes a mess of things.  I realize that Oduya is another two years along since he last sported the Indian Head and has struggled with injuries this season, but he knows what the drill is in Chicago and can hopefully recapture the chemistry he and Hjalmarsson enjoyed in the past.  Great depth move.

And then there's Maude.

The Hawks also took a moment to re-up Rozsival and Tootoo to minimum-wage one year deals.  It was explained to me that this is almost certainly to ensure compliance for the upcoming expansion draft, as each team needs to have a certain number of players exposed for said draft.  Regular readers may recall that I have no use whatsoever for Tootoo but I've always kinda liked Rozsie.  That said, he's been 38 for the last 10 years...when is this going to end?