Full disclosure - my broadcast was interrupted many, many times, so I missed large chunks of this one, so all I'll do is note a few observations.
Track Meet Trick. As they did vs. CAL The Hawks were lured into playing a bit more wide open than they should or can do. Witness Arvidsson's frequent bolts from the NASH zone one of which was executed perfectly, not only resulting in a goal but, coming mere seconds after The Hawks had tied the affair at ones, set back our momentum for a spell. He got a bit greedy, though, and was caught well out of position on the sequence leading up to Large Arthur's late goal. Nevertheless, The Hawks might have been wiser to play it more cautiously and hope for a bounce, as they spent far too much time chasing down Arvidsson & Forsberg et al.
Better Off Without Seabrook? Scratched due to illness, Seabrook was replaced by Davidson, who had another decent outing, his last shift being his best as he made things very tough on The Preds forwards. I'd hoped we'd see the second PP unit a little more just to get a sense of what that would look like without Mr. Ponderous slowing things down to a crawl but it was not to be. I'd love to see Jokiharju get a crack at that gig, a low-risk proposition given Seab's zero contribution in that role, lately.
Newish Line Combos were trotted out and I mostly approved. DeBrincat moving up the order makes perfect sense, since all of his recent points have been gleaned on the PP and I was pleasantly surprised by the Saad - Kampf - Caggiula trio. I'm not sure that line has the hands to really shine but they were the only Hawks line entirely at or above 50% Corsi and, at the very least, The Preds failed to generate much against those three.
Duncan Keith had his best game in a month or more.
Dylan Strome, meanwhile, remains frustrating. For all the offense that he eventually provides the missed opportunities due to gacked passes that should be easy is pissing me off. With just a little more care he could be doubling his and his linemates' opportunities.
Next: At home vs. Vegas on Saturday and a shot at some redemption after being comprehensively roughed up when they last met.
Hanoi Rocks - A Day Late & A Dollar Short
Another catch-up post as I only sort of watched Sunday's game, otherwise occupied with snow removal and related bullshit, and racked out seconds after Monday's non-result.
Hawks 5, Penguins 3
A Close Game, but for weird reasons. The Hawks gifted PITT all three goals, with Toews trancing out instead of taking out Hornqvist, everybody being non-committal on Guentzel's tally (but especially Anisimov, who was simply terrible in this game) and Cam Ward, who was otherwise okay, getting leaky on Brassard's one-timer. Even Kane was a bit topsy-turvy inasmuch as his three helpies erased some defensive laziness and a heart-in-mouth drop pass to no one.
Meanwhile, The Pens suffered stretches in which they couldn't seem to find their legs, their defence were occasionally bewildered and their keeper, Casey DeSmith, struggled with some long shots eluding him. The Penguins' general sluggishness was compounded by them trying but failing to skate with The Hawks rather than plug up the middle and slow things down. If either team had their shit only slightly more together they could have run off with this one.
The Hawks' Special Teams were looking good, the PP just missing out on going 3-for-3 by mere seconds. The PK was perfect on the night with Seabrook and Dahlstrom pulling the most minutes there. Notably, Gustafsson was left OFF the PK entirely which was wise, I think. He can do a lot of things but straight-up defence...not so much.
Drake Caggiula finally debuted and I liked what I saw. We'd seen him when he was with EDM, of course, and all I could recall is his speed and hustle, which is pretty much what he brought in this game. The fourth line, along with Kruger and Kunitz, was energetic all night, laying hits and being nuisances.
Goals From Unlikely Sources sure helped as Keith and Kunitz scored their first goals of the season, both on long shots that probably should have been stopped (see DeSmith, Casey, above) but nevermind...
Flames 4, Hawks 3
In a bizarre reverso of the previous night it was The Hawks who were lured into a wide-open affair with similar results as, on the second of a back-to-back, they simply hadn't the necessary jump to pull it off. They came close and, but for a cocktail of dumb stuff in the final minute, very nearly got away with it.
Collin Delia was again impressive, and this is with him still figuring out positioning, rebound control and puck handling. His reflexes and athleticism are incredible so, if/when he comes to grips with the other details of netminding, he's going to be tough to beat. He did allow his first bad goal of the season when he let Gaudreau's second goal trickle through him but, hey, just one of those in five starts....I'll take that.
Dylan Strome's Timing isn't great. I was actually going to type some stuff about Strome's passing being just a tad off a lot of he time, either slightly late or slightly early, but in light of his taking three dumbass penalties last night I'd say the timing of that rubbish is somewhat worse. They were all needless, lazy, selfish acts.
Quietly Excellent: I thought Perlini (!) and Kahun each had strong games despite having nothing to show for it and Brandon Davidson has surprised me these last two games. Every stride he takes looks as if it's a massive effort but, unlike his smooth-skating colleague Forsling, he's getting the job done. He didn't commit any turnovers, was even for the two games and was quick to defend his teammates without being stupid about it. If you can get that from a depth Guy that's a win, every time.
That Final Minute: A shambles. The first and worst sin was Anisimov shooting from where he did because he's not Patrick Kane and of course he missed the net and when you miss the net from that angle it is always coming back your way in a hurry. Empty net, there, Artie...
And Gustafsson's seemingly half-hearted attempt to track down Hathaway bearing down on the empty net was disappointing, getting turned inside-out and settling for a final desperate swipe with his stick rather than skating. Caggiula came from a lot farther back and had a better go than Gus did. Maybe dead legs, maybe overconfidence, maybe just a poor decision, but not at all good.
Next: At home Wednesday vs. NSH who shut out TOR on Monday.
Roster Stuff: Sikura and Martinsen were quietly dispatched to Rockford while Hank Jokiharju was activated after his gold-medal winning stint on the Finnish Junior team.
Too many times in recent years have I typed one of these in which the message is this: The Hawks carried the play, yet still lose. Here's another one.
Costly Errors: After a head-turning start to the season Erik Gustafsson has been ordinary or worse in the last few games. Twice he messed up keep-ins, one of which ended up costing The Hawks a goal. We've seen what he can do....now he has to get back to doing that.
And then there's Manning, getting the puck the hell away from him as fast as possible as is his custom, this time right onto Draisaitl's stick. I guess the difference here is that Gus can do better but I'm not sure Manning has it in him. If Schmaltz was scratched for, essentially, one horrible pass, so should Manning, but we'll see, we'll see.
Cam Ward wasn't bad but he failed to make any phenomenal saves on a night when The Hawks could have used a few. Maybe he could have been sharper on Chaisson' s goal but, by then, it was already all over but the crying.
Kane was merely at half-speed, which is fair enough given that he was sick enough a day earlier to miss a game. Maybe he gave whatever he's had to DeBrincat, 'cos The Cat turned in another poor effort in which his passes were trash and his decision making dubious.
Anything Good Here? Well, take those four goals against out of it and maybe most of the third period while we're at it and The Hawks played a pretty sound road game. I wasn't pumped to see Martinsen in for Kampf but the big fella actually played pretty well, credited with five hits, which is probably a conservative estimate. Yeah, yeah, big deal, but on this night it actually created some opportunities as Martinsen had frightened Klefbom sufficiently that he straight up gave the puck away rather than be crushed again, and he made a nice chance out of basically nothing just through force of will. It's just a shame that the one hit he shouldn't have made (and really, he was just out of control) became an Oilers PP and, of course, a goal against. Davidson was actually decent - not perfect but far better than expected. Once again he found himself crossed up during a fast break but, otherwise, a surprisingly good two-way effort.
Big game tomorrow, The Hawks' last chance to salvage something from this so-far quite disappointing road trip. There are a handful of Hawks who, if they don't deliver something, anything, are going to be sliding down the order, some into the press box.
Clapton - Got To Get Better
Thought we had a good one going, for 35 minutes anyway. Even then I was confident that The Hawks would regroup after those few rough minutes at the end of the second period and resume having their way with The Canucks. Alas, The Canucks stormed the gates right off the trot in the third, while The Hawks failed to respond.
These west coasties always have me a day late so let's not muck about.
No Kane looked like No Problem for awhile. Kunitz was an odd choice to fill 88's boots but Saad was so good that it could have been anyone on the left wing. Saad was a beast all evening with a goal, a shot off the post and an optimistic kick-in that was called back. All his game seems to lack, when he's switched on like this, is precision - he could stand to be slightly more patient and choose his shot locations more carefully rather than just shotgunning the puck.
The Hawks Third Line was a nightmare. Schmaltz's errant pass led directly to VAN's first goal, annoyingly scored by a guy who, had he not stumbled onto that interception, would have been hollered at for lazy-dogging it back to The Canuck's zone. Fortin did little more than chug up and down the wing, rarely involved, probably just hoping for a long pass and a scoring chance. I didn't mind Johnson on the PP, actually. He'd got some poise and he appears to know what to do and where to do it, even if he lacks any finish (which is still left to be seen).
Brandon Manning: I'll partially violate my standing order to not discuss this lump unless he's anything except bad, but only because he was well beyond merely bad last night. As usual, his first pass was rotten all night and, on Virtanen's second goal, he was absolutely pantsed by Granlund. Why was he standing still at his own blue line with three Canucks entering The Hawks' zone? Tipping Roussel's shot past Crawford was just the icing on Manning's shit cake. He might have gotten away with fucking up the Granlund thing had Davidson not been paralyzed by indecision. Maybe if Davidson had committed to Virtanen he could have closed the gap and prevented the shot, or maybe the shooter was always gonna be out of reach. We'll never know.
Crawford had a so-so game, mighty in many ways but three of the four VAN goals were nothing special. That's partly on the guys in front of him, allowing so many mano-a-mano chances, but Crow did lose all of those duels.
DeBrincat wasn't super sharp, either, whiffing on passes and having the puck bounce off his stick a bit. He's going to have off nights like anybody else but his timing kinda sucked, what with Kane being ill and half of his teammates not showing up for the third period.
Dominik Kahun is in a precarious spot right now. That line has been great, generally, but his contributions have been infrequent. If that trio fails to get going in EDM and CAL I expect Kahun to find himself in the bottom six next week.
Trooper - 3 Dressed Up as A 9
Yes indeed, The Hawks got away with one tonight, with an "effort" that was 80% vintage Corey Crawford and 20% opportunism. But sure, we'll have that, 'cos it makes up for being on the wrong end of it against The 'Yotes on Thursday, right?
This should be rather concise, as the headlines are quite broad & simple.
It looks like Crow needed all of one warm up game to find his feet. Great positioning, few juicy rebounds and outstanding puck-tracking made it appear as if he's fully prepared to go as long this year as his teammates allow him to. Hopefully not a mirage.
The Possession Game was a near mirror image to Thursday's loss in which PHX hardly touched the puck yet walked away with a kinda easy win. Tonight it was The Hawks who struggled to gain any traction but, given a few plum chances, were able to beat a team that largely outplayed them. It helped that CBJ's typically all-world netminder Sergei Bobrovsky struggled.
Nick Schmaltz had his grittiest game that I can recall in some time. Why he even took a few shots! If Nicky-Boy continues to suggest that he's willing to do something other than defer, defer, defer Kane's going to find the going a little easier in the offensive zone.
Passing was a big problem for The Hawks tonight. In the skates, out of reach or, most often and most annoying, too soft and easily picked off by alert Blue Jackets. All but one of the many CBJ solo rushes were made possible by a guy attempting a lateral pass that simply lacked the oomph to make it to its destination. Could have been bad ice but more likely a collective failure to apply oneself (oneselves?).
Brandon Davidson made his Hawks debut in lieu of B. Manning tonight. Ehhh...he's slow, he flails a bit and he was demolished in possession but, on the few occasions he found the puck he made calm, safe outlet passes which I see as a slight upgrade from Manning. Worth another look, I guess.
So, with karmic balance restored, we reset for a back-to-back at home vs. Tampa. Cam Ward is likely getting the start, so The Hawks' D had best get their house in order.
Jane's Addiction, Been Caught Stealing
