Well, after two periods, The Hawks looked as if they might be able to hang onto their slim lead and maybe eke something out.
However...
They stopped doing what was working. Breakouts got sloppy, the D found themselves too far up-ice when they prolly should have more conservative and the forwards lapsed into the frantic "we have no plan apart from flailing at the puck" schtick that's been their M.O. for the last couple of weeks. For Two Periods they kept up with VGK, a team that is by and large quicker than The Hawks, and then the bottom dropped out.
Individual performances were a study in extremes: Kane kept his feet moving on every shift, moreso than he's done in recent games. The whole third line were pretty good, with DeBrincat being thereabouts all evening and Sharp putting in a surprisingly gritty effort. Kempny and Keith had strong games and Gustafsson had a mostly good game, apart from a few pinches gone awry. I'm pleased to say that Saad finally had a game in which he wasn't just going up and down the wing and Tommy Wingels played with previously unforeseen confidence. Tomas Jurco won a board battle! Some good things happened.
Meanwhile...
Dahlstrom and Murphy were making it up as they went, Anisimov was late on every play, Schmaltz's timing was poor the entire game and Glass....oh boy. While the whole 32-year old rookie perseverance story is fun and all that, there's a reason why Jeff Glass took 13 years to get some NHL games in. (Just caught Coach Q's brief post-game chat and it sounds like J.F. Berubé will be along, soon enough.)
With The Hawks' playoff chances all but over with, I suspect we'll see more roster shuffling, with guys who are possible trade bait playing north of their normal station, as well as a steady parade to and from Rockford with even more Guys getting a look. The next six weeks are gonna be strange.
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