Backbreaker: Canucks 4, Hawks 2

Chances are good that we'll look back on this game with no small amount of regret.  Elsewhere tonight, The Avalanche, Stars, Predators and The Blues all increased their point totals while The Hawks somehow managed to lose, again, to the feckless Canucks.

How do they do it?  Well, let's start with crap passing.  How many passes were off target, in feet instead of on sticks?  I don't believe Duclair has made more than a handful of clean passes in the O-zone since he arrived in Chicago.  Then there's poor pass reception; too often when a pass was on the tape it was bobbled.  Hinostroza fumbled passes twice when in primo position.  Finally, just poor shooting.  Toews, Wingels and Kampf all missed on point-blank opportunities.

Unbelievably, The Hawks dominated The Canucks in practically every statistical category except, as usual, the only one that really matters.  Granted, three of the four GA were tipped in or deflected in, but when a goof like Brendan Gaunce scores 40% of his career goals against you in a single night and outmuscles and outhustles the guy who is ostensibly your #2 defenceman, trouble is afoot.

Good news?  Sure.  Keith played a great, nervy game while the others stood still, and Saad had two pretty good shifts.  That might not sound too stirring but that's two more effective shifts than he's provided in the last seven or eight games.

Buckle up folks: The Hawks play some good teams in the coming week.