Better When I'm Not There: Hawks 4, Panthers 1

So, I got home with about three minutes remaining in the first period and immediately hear Steve Konroyd remark "this is probably the best period The Hawks have played all season." Well, I missed it, and the rest was....okay, I guess.  But that's the way it goes, isn't it?  I hesitate to say that The Hawks let up when they have a lead, but rather that they don't always continue to press the point once they're ahead.
Not that it mattered tonight; The Hawks did what they had to do and not much more, which is entirely appropriate given the busy week ahead of them.  I have a few Bits for yis.

* The Toews line kinda ran wild with The Panthers' brain trust choosing to pit their best all-around line and top D-pairing against the Anisimov trio.  As I said, I dunno what went on for most of the first period but, once they were behind by a couple of goals, the Trocheck - Bjugstad - Haapala line weren't checking a whole lot as they tried to mount some offense.  How did that go, you ask?  How about a goal and a pair of helpies for Toews, a couple of points for Saad and, while he failed to make it to the scoresheet, Panik crushed a whopping 86% Corsi.  The cherry on top was Toews' goal - maybe not the prettiest but certainly one of the most fun goals I've seen in awhile, with the captain backhand swatting a puck out of the air past Roberto Luongo.  

* Despite the high shots against The Hawks' defense were decent enough, with Keith, Rutta and Murphy putting forth solid efforts.  Forsling and Franson each had a few not-so-good moments, but nothing ruinous.  Hardly noticed Seabrook, which I'll chalk up as a positive.
* The Hawks' fourth line had an...interesting night, consistently generating chances (or almost chances?) and somehow capitalizing on their effort only once.  What am I saying - Bouma and Wingels, for all their hard work, will only score the odd opportunistic goal.  Hayden has okay hands and is very determined in front of the net but often struggles to keep up with his speedy if unfocused linemates.  Konny quipped that this trio have been playing more or less third line minutes lately and, if that's the way it's going to be, one hopes that they could cash in a little more often.  That said, these guys were +1 and all three sported Corsi numbers north of 60% so, ultimately, I have nothing to complain about.

* Crawford had yet another near-perfect outing, with only a kinda soft goal against to detract from a an overall great game.  He actually worked harder than he should have, with FLA mounting several brief but intense attacks in which he was forced to make two or three saves in rapid succession.  

The Hawks now face a week in which they'll play five times over seven days with two back-to-backs, so we're gonna see Anton Forsberg at least once, maybe twice.  Like I said last week, it's felt like it's only a matter of time before the Toews line busts out, and this would be the perfect time to do it.