It'll always be a tough row to hoe when your top line, which was excellent two nights ago, rock a collective Corsi below 20%. The second line, also good recently, wasn't much better and the entire defense group struggled all night long.
That left the bottom six to get it done and, while they made the effort, couldn't quite close the deal.
JF Berubé was heroic, if a little scrambly, but certainly made this game closer than it should have been.
Jan Rutta returned and was The Hawks' steadiest defender which, on this night, was otherwise a five-way tie for last.
Anthony Duclair was good enough to show up for this one and even managed to bully a puck out of Scott Darling's pads to set up the Sharp goal. Later, he set the table for Baby Huey Kampf who was subsequently denied by Darling. Kampf, incidentally, was the sole Hawks forward to crest 50% Corsi tonight. That's great for Baby Huey but doesn't reflect very well on the rest of the team.
I cannot point to any particularly evil plays or egregious errors, but rather a general lack of give-a-damn. The Hurricanes only needed to plug up the middle and that was enough to stymie the majority of The Hawks' breakout attempts.
Buckle up for the upcoming back-to-back afternoon delights vs. Boston, 'cos I hear they're pretty good.
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