Sometimes The Cream Rises Even Though It's Gone Sour: Hawks 3, Panthers 2

They didn't really deserve it but The Hawks eked out two more points tonight.  The Panthers outshot The Hawks and made fewer mistakes, but Chicago had just a couple more players be really good at key times.  Corey Crawford outplayed Panthers' netminder Reimer and, while Vincent Trocheck was far and away the best skater on the ice tonight, Kane and Saad were just good enough, just often enough to steal the win.

* Enough Blackhawks fell somewhere between flat-out bad (Forsling, Hinostroza, Bouma) and merely ineffective (practically everyone except Crawford) that most of the game was an uphill battle.  Those that did play well did so only occasionally but, thankfully, had those moments of inspiration at opportune moments.

* I just about plotzed when I saw that Oesterle would play. While he wasn't as terrible as he was on Sunday he still wasn't very good.  It's difficult to have much confidence in a coach that scratches a player for over a month and suddenly gifts the guy with 20+ minutes despite the player wavering between "dogshit" and "laughable".  Imagine how Michal Kempny feels about all this.
* Speaking of Kemps, regardless of how Q feels about him, I guess we might see him soon enough, unless Franson & Rutta make quick recoveries.