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.
No comments:
Post a Comment