Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good: Hawks 3, Blue Jackets 1

Y'know, despite their record-setting season and glowing record & all that, The Columbus Blue Jackets are going to live and die with Sergei Bobrovsky.  They have two very good but very young D-men in Jones and Werenski, as well as a handful of useful forwards but, past that....a pretty average group.  Get to Bob and down they'll go.
And down they went.  CMB launched a furious attack in the third period, in which The Hawks had only one really great shift, but we've heard this song before.  Maybe they shouldn't always circle the wagons in a close game but this tactic so seldom backfires, so there's no impetus to change, is there?
That said, and despite CMB outshooting The Hawks and pulling ahead in the possession department during their full-court-press-third-period, Corey Crawford wasn't called upon to make any highlight reel saves.  Yes, the one goal against looked a little soft from this angle but, without Hjalmarsson having a blowout a few seconds earlier, The Jackets don't even get that chance. Meanwhile, at the other end, Bob made several fantastic, point-blank saves.  This game wasn't as close as it looks on paper.
The Hawks moved the puck exceptionally well in the offensive zone for much of the game, with lines one through three all mounting sustained pressure at various times throughout the first two periods. Only the Kruger-Hossa-Hartman line managed to get something going in the third but, regardless, there was some excellent passing and creativity on display, early on.  
Nik Hjalmarsson sure took a thrashing tonight, getting a stinger off the foot in the second and clipped with a stick in the third.  He Never Goes Down, though, just like that black knight in the Monty Python film....
Meanwhile, what the hell was TVR doing?  How do you lose every puck battle, fail to break up any plays and still remain in the lineup?  
I wasn't crazy about The Hawks trying to set up Kane at all costs while the CMB net was empty, 'cos some of those failed attempts to get him the puck ended up coming right back at them.  Let's not put the horse before the cart there, lads.

Despite my irritation over The Hawks trying too hard to pad Kane's stats, he was the best Hawk out there tonight.  How many times did he hit Panarin and create a shot attempt?  His puck control was crazy good, particularly when he found himself cycling out to the point, expertly corralling uncontrolled pucks and finding a passing lane in an instant.  And this was all with a fourth-liner as his center.