As It Should be: Hawks 7, Ducks 3

Anything less would have been unacceptable, as The Anaheim Ducks are not-so-mighty these days with 5½ forwards injured, having to elevate several Guys into their top six.  To put anything over on The Hawks they would have had to lock down the middle of the ice, look for opportunistic goals and lean on their defense.  Well, The Hawks owned the puck tonight, rarely letting The Ducks touch the thing until the game was out of reach, and the Anaheim defense was pretty awful.  Let's get some Bits.
* The big story, offensively, was the third line finally breaking out, with Sharp and Hartman each notching their first points in November and Alex DeBrincat cashing in three times.  For Harts and Sharpie it was speed and determination with a side of feckless D on the part of The Ducks (how many times did Fowler gack a simple pass tonight?).  As for DBC, he had superb positioning and anticipation all night as he notched the hat trick. Two of his three goals were in the midst of line changes, with Schmaltz and Kane getting primary assists on two of those goals, but he had several good looks along with a goal while skating with Hartman and Sharp. DeBrincat is now third in Rookie Scoring, all while playing most of his minutes on the third and fourth lines.  And speaking of minutes, he's averaged three-to-five fewer minutes per game than the other rookies atop the scoring leaderboard.  Now imagine DBC in The Hawks' top six.

* Patrick Kane's passing mojo appears to be back with two of his three helpies being off laser-guided tape-to-tape passes through Ducks defensemen. On his opposite wing, Nick Schmaltz had another wonderful game, racking up three points and using his speed and superior puck control to create chances.  Who would have thought that this kid would be routinely succeeding with simple dump-and-chase gambits?
* John Hayden had another strong game.  One shift in the first period was particularly amusing, as he must have circled The Ducks' zone three times before being relieved of the puck.
* The Hawks' defense had an okay game.  Connor Murphy caused a turnover that soon resulted in a Ducks goal, although the goal itself was more the product of Seabrook choosing to tip the puck into his own net rather than cover either of the Anaheim forwards within his reach, but Murph was otherwise excellent.  Rutta and Forsling played two very good periods before coming a bit unraveled in the third period, while Keith and Franson were as advertised, Keith being solid but unspectacular and Franson having his usual good/bad moments.
* Not the best outing that Corey Crawford has had, lately, but one could forgive him for not being fully engaged in the game as he was only tested occasionally until the third period.

The Hawks will be halfway to Nashville by now with the third back-to-back of their season coming tomorrow.  One expects that Anton Forsberg will get the start and that, after taking much of the third period off tonight, The Hawks will still have the legs to keep up with the second-place Predators.