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.
I hoped it wouldn't happen but I kinda thought it would - The Hawks lost the focus they'd had the last few games. While they were okay in fits & starts The Panthers were sharper, more alert and better able to pounce on the opportunities that arose. The Hawks seemed tired....not physically, really, but it often looked as if they were acting on the first impulse that occurred to them and not bothering to take a second look to see if a better avenue was available.
Cam Ward didn't have his best tonight, not especially mindful of his positioning and he made a mess of things on Hawryluk's first goal, letting himself get caught in-between.
Carl Dahlstrom wasn't super sharp either, blowing a tire (maybe with some help, hard to tell for sure) on that first FLA goal and apparently unaware that McCann was heading to the net to score the decisive, momentum-killing goal.
Toews' Line Was Out Of Sorts, skating hard enough, trying stuff, but their timing was all messed up, gacking passes, whiffing on shots...
The Only Plus Players For The Hawks were Murphy and Strome which is exactly how it looked to me in real time. Granted, Strome's first assist was a right-place-right-time deal but he was there, right, and his pass to Murph was tremendous. As for Murph, a couple of points and four hits makes for a good day at the office.
Is John Hayden Hurt or did he commit some terrible mischief to be scratched in favour of used-up Chris Kunitz and shoot-first-from-anywhere Brendan Perlini? I've been generally in agreement with Coach Colliton's deployment but these two, buddied up with Nilsson making his NHL debut tonight, made for a rather weak fourth line, even by fourth line standards.
Oh well, we weren't going to win the next 40 games but it is disappointing to see The Hawks backslide so soon, and against some low-hanging fruit like FLA. I guess they just started their holiday-days-off a day early.
Next: At home vs. Minnesota on Thursday, in an attempt to reclaim their recent mastery over Central Division foes. Can't wait to see Seabrook sweating gravy.
The Cruel Sea - The Honeymoon Is Over
I can't even get angry anymore. I expect little and The Hawks deliver exactly that. At this point I think I'm just hoping to be surprised.
The Same Old Same-Same. Another slow start, possibly the worst first period The Hawks have played this season. The Jets had three goals on fourteen shots before The Hawks recorded their first shot on net. This is after a lot of chat after Monday's practice about coming out of the gates hard, matching The Jets' intensity. Just shut up, guys. Do something, then talk about it.
The Middle 30 Minutes looked pretty good on The Hawks, although it was about 50% CHI bearing down and 50% WPG not giving a damn until The Hawks scored a few. Once Perreault put WPG up 5-3 The Hawks kept skating but began missing passes, making poor decisions....all the stuff they do in the third period when they're still within a goal or two.
And that's it. Nothing we haven't already seen over a dozen times this season.
The Rockford Shuffle has begun, with Alex Fortin going north while Dylan Sikura and Carl Dahlstrom will be the next young ones to have spirits crushed in the 312. Not sorry to see Fortin's tail lights as he remains far from ready for The NHL. Dahlstrom replaces Forsling, who was placed on IR a day or two ago, while Sikura The Younger fills Arthur The Large's roster spot as he is sidelined with "concussion protocol" (which is seriously how they articulate this now).
Can We Call Time on Chris Kunitz Now? He's accomplishing nothing except embarrassing himself. Just end it, now.
Next: Penguins, I think. Does it matter? Right now, what I look forward to the most where The Hawks are concerned is Trade Deadline Day, our last best hope to unload Seabrook and/or Keith, providing a contending team or two need a second-pairing guy and have some money to spend AND either of those guys are willing to leave. That's a lot of Ifs but, hey, I'm an optimist...
Johnny Cash - No Expectations
#105: Don't Cost Your Team a Chance At a Win By Doing Thoughtless Things That You Know Better Than to Do
What an utterly disappointing attempt at hockey that was today. Despite making the worst giveaway in recent memory, gambling and failing on an all or nothing pinch against a much faster opponent and failing to make any passes today, it wasn't all on Keith.
The Hawks outshot Philly, slayed them on faceoffs and, apparently, crushed them in Corsi....yet they never looked like winning this game after the first period. Lots of shots, lots of zone time, but we can count the number of true quality chances they earned on one hand. Even then, the best looks they did get were each compromised in some way. Seabrook charges hard into the slot but is off balance just as he sets to shoot. Manning (!) is unable to snare a skipping puck as he too barges in on the rush. Toews loses the handle momentarily when in primo position. Schmaltz hits a post... and that's about it.
There Were No Second Chances. I don't believe a single rebound was collected & converted by The Hawks in this game. Nobody apart from the puck carrier was driving the net.
The Power Play is Complete Garbage. We saw some light at the end of a long, dark tunnel back in early-mid October, but what happened to the quick puck movement, the brisk one-timers and always having a guy there for tip-ins or rebounds. How has this all been forgotten? They even trotted Kunitz out on the PP, he of 0 G, 2A on the season, presumably to provide some presence in front of The Flyers' net....yet he was never there.
That's about all I have the stomach for. It's still the early days of the Colliton administration but he'd better get busy kickstarting this crew, 'cos they're free-falling right now, and Colliton's first two games were no different than Quenneville's last five. Last season's excuse was not having the goaltending to compete night-in, night-out. Well, the goalie is back, and playing pretty well, so what's that leave? Colliton had better prepare himself for some extreme remedial work with these guys 'cos, right now, the culture on this team is terrible.
QotSA: The Fun Machine Took a Shit & Died
