Double Your Pleasure: Hawks vs. Dallas and Hawks vs. Colorado Wraps

Wow, three in a row, and all against Central Division teams, which is mighty handy.  What's more, the special teams have actually been kinda special, the PP going 2/7 and the PK a perfect 8/8 over these three wins. We're approaching uncharted territory now, folks.  
I'm just catching up after watching each of these games a day late so enjoy this two-fer at no extra cost.

Thursday - Hawks 5, Stars 2

There were a few wee issues, nothing that they didn't get right eventually, and The Hawks benefitted from DAL fighting the puck a lot of the time but, ultimately, they were good enough and I'll take that gladly. 
Cam Ward Was Excellent.  Evidently, Wardo called the team out after the blowout loss to SJS and all respeck to the guy for walking the walk after talking the talk.  He was maybe a little soft on the second Stars goal but hey, if he's the one kicking these guys into action he can have that one.
Breakouts were not as tight as against NSH but the failed attempts did not, at least, result in goals against. Keith again struggled to clear the zone efficiently, notably on the first PK when he gacked two pretty standard clears, making me wonder if he's losing his mind or if he needs glasses.  It's a fair and serious query.
Some Soft Play preceded both DAL goals.  I was gonna call out Dahlstrom, who I think has been a great add BTW, as he was on the ice for both goals against.  On both goals Big Carl failed to contain Radulov but, hey, hardly anyone ever contains that guy.  The greater sins, as it turns out, were Kane failing to cover Seguin on the first and the second goal was a weird one off a squirted-out puck.  Maybe Saad had a chance to check Fedun, maybe not.  Let's just say The Hawks could have been tighter in the net front.
Dylan Strome Wasn't Great, either, due more to poor decision making than lack of trying.  He can and will be better, I think, and I'm sure he's gonna take the shot the next time he's on a two-on-one like the one he squandered in Dallas.
Standouts In This Match: Anisimov was making things happen all night, getting and creating chances.  Sikura played his best game this season, earning an assist on a subtle little play, and I was impressed with his puck patience, never rushing and never giving the puck away.  Finally, I thought Forsling bounced back well after a bit of a wobbler vs. NSH, moving his feet and playing with more determination than usual.
The Power Play is possibly stirring from its long nap.  They haven't all been gems but, in recent games, we've seen more movement, faster, than we've been getting for, oh...three or four years?  Gustafsson, who also played a solid game, on the first unit is going well and the umbrella scheme he, Kane and DeBrincat have been employing has been working.  Sure, they got a PPG on what was essentially a gift five-on-three when a Stars guy broke his stick but they actually managed to exploit that opportunity, a minor victory unto itself.

Friday - Hawks 2, Avalanche 1

Not as close as it looks at a glance, The Hawks had the stars align for them somewhat to pull this one off.  Outshot by eight but, what's this, The Hawks blocked a mammoth twenty two COL tries.  Two goals that each had a whiff of opportunism, Collin Delia playing out of his head in his season debut,  on the second night of a back-to-back, and against the high scoring Avalanche... I'll take a road win in those circumstances anytime.
Collin Delia doesn't always make it look easy but the kid appears to know what he's doing.  Too soon to tell if he's the saviour Hawks fans need right now but I like what I've seen.
Murphy and Dahlstrom played a lot of hard minutes against The Avs ridiculously good top line and did a fine job.  Their Corsi stats in this one are not pretty but they mostly kept COL shooters on the margins and gobbled up what few rebounds Delia allowed.  These two are the pure-defense pairing we've needed for ages and, under the new regime, are actually getting a chance to take on some high-responsibility tasks.  
Dominik Kahun is just a stupidly good passer.  
Only Two Minor Beefs in this game which, as I suggested, was a great team result.  First, if Brendan Perlini cannot be arsed to pick up a man, any man, fucking ever....he needs to go.  I'm also growing weary of his chucking.  Has he made a pass on a rush since arriving in CHI?
Second, and this is nothing new, Seabrook took all the momentum out of the Power Play after the first unit did a great job keeping the puck and their bodies in constant motion.  Once ol' Seabs arrives, though, it's like watching Pong™ as he plays slow catch with the right wing and other d-man.  Zzzzz.

Next: Back home on Sunday for FLA.  Luke Johnson is back in Rockford in exchange for Jacob Nilsson, a guy who played for Coach Colliton in Sweden so I expect we'll see him at 4C.  Whatever and whoever, The Hawks just need to keep on doing what they've been doing, keep that pedal down....

A Double Pleasure is Waiting For You....

Green Like Kryptonite: Stars 4, Hawks 0

Aaaand The Hawks were less than super, anyway.  What do they have to do to beat these Green Bastards?  Crawford has allowed 4+ goals on only three occasions this season and twice it's been to Dallas.  How is that they have The Hawks' number?  Let's see....
* Three Days Off, for whatever reason, has not done The Hawks any favours this season.  It's as if they need to lose one (or more) after a bit of a layoff just to get their sea legs back.  Of course this is ridiculous and should never be the case, but do check it out - their record after 3+ days off is 1-4, and they were not IN any of those losses.
* Little Urgency: puck movement was okay, the shots and shot attempts were there, but positioning was off, there was zero effort to create traffic in front of Ben Bishop and, paradoxically, they allowed The Stars to move through the neutral zone unopposed far too often.  The Hawks just seemed unengaged mentally too much of the time.
* The Goal Against late in the first really seemed to swing the momentum.  After a pretty decent first period, really, that unfortunately concluded with The Stars scoring just as a Hawks penalty expired, The Hawks were done, son.  They didn't even do anything particularly wrong there, either, as Murphy did what he should have done in blocking the cross-slot pass, only to have the puck bounce right back onto Elie's stick, giving him a second chance at getting that pass right.  Just some poor puck luck that emboldened The Stars. Once that kicked in The Hawks didn't really respond appropriately.
* Small Mistakes Cost Big: Seabrook found himself on the wrong side of Seguin twice and the previously-in-a-goal-drought Dallas sniper made him pay each time.  Take those instances away and Seabs actually had a pretty good game.  However....
* Outworked In Their Own End: Dallas actually spent precious little time in the CHI zone yet, when they did, they had their way with The Hawks.  Meanwhile, at the other end, The Hawks had loads of zone time but thanks to the aforementioned failure to obstruct Ben Bishop and an awful lot of indiscriminate, ineffective shooting had literally nothing to show for it.

That's it, that's all.  I'll catch y'all on Saturday for the NJ game in which Sharp, Franson & Rutta will all return to the lineup, the latter two displacing a couple of guys who were not the worst Hawks d-men tonight.  But that's the way she goes, right?

Better Get Used To It: Stars 3, Hawks 2

Here's the thing: with the announcement today that Corey Crawford will miss "about a week" with an LBI, the reality is that Anton Forsberg will be The Man.  Because he has to be.  Because JF Berubé is awful, historically speaking.
So what do you do if you're the coach, with a super-short turnaround for tomorrow's game?  Forsberg on nearly zero rest, and after a loss that kinda points to him, or Berubé, who is awful?  Historically.

Anyway, tonight saw a better effort from the skaters, at least.  They had moments of greatness and some of utter fecklessness, but so did Dallas.
The Anisimov line was deadly all night but were stepping on the puck a bit, their passes being just a tad off when they most needed to be spot-on.  The same was true for DeBrincat; generally excellent but slightly out of sync, somehow, at the most crucial moments.
Tonight's Corsi numbers were not flattering for Forsling & Rutta but I'll suggest that they were better than what that indicates.  Not at all perfect as they both had little bobbles that spun off into Dallas chances (and a GA for Faksa when Goose's failed stick check had him badly out of position) but they made their share of great plays, too, and Rutta was heroic in OT.

Surely a frustrating night for the team and especially for Anton Forsberg. The Faksa goal was possibly savable and he was schooled in the shootout by a couple of super-smart & extremely deceptive players but, otherwise, he outplayed his highly-rated counterpart, Ben Bishop.  Yet, no result.
Stick him back in there tomorrow, give him a crack at getting it right.  If it starts badly, well, there's always JF Berubé.  Even if he is awful.

Ten Good Minutes Does Not a Game Make: Stars 4, Hawks 3 (OT)

Aaaand that about sums it up.  The Hawks had a shift here, a shift there and a solid ten minutes to kick off the third period where they threatened, and occasionally scored, but otherwise looked tired a lot of the time.  Not physically tired, either, just worn out mentally.
They displayed zero creativity on the power play, which was unfortunate given the number of opportunities The Stars gave them, there.  Bad passes, no pass at all and a handful of ill-conceived passes when a shot seemed the obvious choice.  There were a lot of lazy decisions made and, really, they were lucky to keep this thing as close as they did.  
There are but a few Bits:
* The power play was awful.  As noted above, they struggled with this for almost the entirety of the game, yet did little to change their approach.  The Stars did a good job of taking away the middle of the ice but that was when a team that's fully invested in the game adjusts their plan to get looks from different areas and not be so utterly predictable.  They really made it easy for The Stars' PK units.  Keith played a whopping seven minutes on the PP and failed to make a clean pass the entire time.
* Corey Crawford made many fine saves yet was beaten on a couple of rather pedestrian shots.  It happens, and he'll be better next time out.

* Cody Franson was brutal and it's time to take a break. I'm unconvinced that Forsling is a better option on the power play but, for tonight, the less Franson, the better.

* The best Hawks tonight, I thought, were Kane, Schmaltz, DeBrincat and Forsling.  None of them were without fault but they were the best of a mediocre lot.  Things sometimes look grim, lately, but consider the experience level of three of those guys and we can agree that the future looks somewhat bright.
I'm still waiting for Coach Q to get DeBrincat into the top six, full time.  Why is this even a debatable issue, for all that Panik, or especially Saad, have accomplished lately?

March. Midweek. Meh. : Hawks 3, Stars 2

In a series of games which The Hawks really didn't deserve to win, this one felt like the least deserved.  While there were flashes of competency and brief periods of inspired play, the home side failed to apply themselves any more than absolutely necessary.  Did they need to try harder? Probably not.  Does it matter?  Well, maybe.  I'd hate for them to forget how to do hockey properly just in time for the playoffs.
I'll spend about as much time on this as most Hawks made an effort.
I cannot say that any particular Hawk was terribly bad tonight, but very few were good for more than a few shifts.  Toews played a pretty determined game that was wasted by Hayden & Panik floating too much of the time.  Hoss had a goal and a few more good looks, but could not be arsed defensively. Panarin seemed disinterested in getting into a good shooting position and Schmaltz can abandon that reverse-and-reset thing he keeps trying along the boards, 'cos it ain't working.
TVR is so comically bad it would be entertaining if it weren't so frustrating.  While this idiot stands motionless for much of the game, reacting only after something has already happened, Michal Kempny sits in the press box wondering if he really is a worse defenceman than van Riemsdyk.
Corey Crawford was quite good, making a handful of A+ saves, many of which wouldn't even have materialized if the guys in front of him gave a crap, but that's not for now.
The first couple of power plays were interesting, with The Hawks moving the puck well and keeping their feet moving.  The weird thing is that they failed to generate any great chances.
I dunno about Hartman at 2C and, if this is gonna be a thing, can we get Schmaltz back on Toews' line, please?

ONE Blackhawk played consistently well even if, too often, he was reduced to playing keepaway while his linemates failed to find good shooting lanes and, too often, held the puck only long enough to get it back to Kane.  88 was the best of a mediocre lot, tonight.

What's Old Is Old Again (or Just Still Old?)

                                     NEWS! NEWS!  NEWS!

Proving once again that even a broken clock is correct twice each day, The Hawks buckled under the pressure of my mighty mind and reacquired Johnny Oduya from Dallas.  Two contingencies are addressed with this deal, the first being a potential reunification of The Swedish Brothers From Different Mothers, Oduya and Hjalmarsson.  This would scramble the defensive pairings slightly but totally in a good way, as it could well result in Keith & Seabrook being partnered up again. Hopefully The Swedes can be deployed against the opposition's top units and relieve some pressure from Keith, especially.  

The second is that, with Hjalmarsson being moved to the disabled list today, The Hawks at least have a steady hand to fill in, if need be.

I suppose the third pairing will be Campbell & TVR, at least until the latter makes a mess of things.  I realize that Oduya is another two years along since he last sported the Indian Head and has struggled with injuries this season, but he knows what the drill is in Chicago and can hopefully recapture the chemistry he and Hjalmarsson enjoyed in the past.  Great depth move.

And then there's Maude.

The Hawks also took a moment to re-up Rozsival and Tootoo to minimum-wage one year deals.  It was explained to me that this is almost certainly to ensure compliance for the upcoming expansion draft, as each team needs to have a certain number of players exposed for said draft.  Regular readers may recall that I have no use whatsoever for Tootoo but I've always kinda liked Rozsie.  That said, he's been 38 for the last 10 years...when is this going to end?

Somebody Please Tell 'em When The Games Starts: Hawks 5, Stars 3

Just watched this one this afternoon so, yeah, a bit late on the draw, so I plan to keep this brief.  Let's see how that goes.  Straight to The Bits:
First, I thought The Hawks played pretty well.  Not perfect, which you can bet I'll break down below, as all three Dallas goals can be pinned as least partly on bad or lazy play by The Hawks.  Take those away (you can't!) and The Hawks dominated in a thoroughly enjoyable, fast-paced affair.  Hey, maybe they won't sleepwalk until mid-March like they sometimes do.
Kane was named First Star by the Dallas Media, which isn't totally unexpected.  When the home team loses they often seem to just mail in their picks, frequently pinning a medal on the opposing goalie, maybe to suggest that "if it wasn't for THAT guy we woulda had 'em, yup". Sure couldn't say that in this game as, while Crow wasn't awful, a couple of the goals against were soft-ish, so they were left with pin-the-tail-on-the-first-star to make their choice. Anyway, Kane scored a delightful goal and, while he wasn't awful by any means, he wasn't great, either with a few bobbles and a brace of crappy pass attempts.
The Hawks actually got better as the game progressed, something that can only be said for a handful of games this season.  When this occurs it suggests to me that they're actually invested in the game and paying attention, which is great, but...
...two goals against in the opening moments of the second & third periods is unacceptable.  The first was a combo of Seabrook still warming up his motor, apparently, and one of the aforementioned soft goals to get past Crawford.  The second goal was down to lackadaisical coverage by Anisimov & Hjalmarsson.  Keep doing that stuff and you're going to get jumped, especially by a motivated team that probably feels they're better than their record suggests.
Gustav Forsling was bad.  Yeah, I saw his goal, but I also witnessed him being muscled off the puck numerous times and everyone saw his gaffe that set up Seguin's score.  I'm quite used to TVR getting all the rope he wants no matter what shenanigans he perpetrates, but Forsling not paying for such a dumb mistake is a new one.  If Kempny did what Goose got away with his night would have been done, son.

Speaking of 57 Varieties of Whatever, he wasn't a nightmare in this one, scored a goal and was +2. Since I've already started to flatter him I'll add this: his reversals are actually rather good.  Against all logic & expectation they're tight, quick and have gotten him out of trouble more times than I can count.  It's a little thing that he does well, although I would still prefer that he would do at least one BIG thing well, like skate, or think.
Jordin Tootoo: Possession Beast.  All kidding aside, this was probably his strongest game, all 5:40 of it, in which he at least tried to do something other than plod up and down the wing.  Sure, his passes were poor and his timing was bad, but he wasn't straight-up giving the puck away, either.

The Other Fourth Liners, Kero and Hartman were excellent, sporting 79% and 83% Corsi, respectively, even while lugging Tootoo along half the time.  It might be time to reactivate Hinostroza who, even on a bad night, will provide a ton more drive than Tootoo or Dez.  I was pretty hard on Kero those first couple of weeks after his call up but, in his role, he's been incredibly good as of late.  I stand corrected.

Anyway, I rambled on about Kane and the first star, so I'll sort of finish that thought.  It's a tough call as to who the strongest Hawk was in this match since no one was obviously THE difference-maker.  TVR scored a heads-up and very timely goal, and both Hossa and Anisimov  notched a pair of assists, but I liked Hartman, with a goal, consistent forward momentum and, best of all, that diving stick-check in the last couple of minutes.  Great stuff.

Take It When You Can Get It: Hawks 3, Stars 1

It wasn't always pretty but The Hawks managed to overcome injuries and dopey roster decisions to dominate The Dallas Stars and earn two points against their division.....well, they're in the same division.
After a first period which both teams spent feeling out the other with no results, Dallas opened the scoring early in the second when Devin Shore swatted in a goal on The Stars' third try on the play.  It was the only time The Stars would lead as, 43 seconds later, Marian Hossa's hard shot oozed through Kari Lehtonen to tie the match.  Midway through the second The Hawks would take the lead as Ryan Hartman, having just left the penalty box, drove hard to the net and, though Hartman's attempt was foiled, Stars defenceman Stephen John's clearing attempt bounced off Artem Anisimov's shinpad and into the cage. Artemi Panarin would provide an insurance goal at the midpoint of the third period, a power play marker from a ridiculous angle made possible by a smart, hard pass from Keith.

Finally, The Hawks won a game in which they won the possession game and outshot their opponent. The world makes sense, for tonight, at least.  The Arthurs Line ran amok for much of the game and, while they were not always completely smooth, were inches away from another couple of goals.  
Kruger, Hossa and Hartman did not have as consistently dominant a game as they had in the previous few games but were still very good, especially considering that this trio played the last half of the game opposite Benn and Seguin.  This assignment was likely the catalyst for Dallas swapping Spezza out for Eaves as they sought to spread out their attack and try for the equalizer.  
Gustav Forsling had a night to forget, coughing up the puck a few times and making a mess of his coverage leading up to the Dallas goal.  It's frustrating but I recall the same stuff happening to Nick Leddy some years back, and he didn't turn out too bad.
TVR wasn't a complete nightmare but he sure doesn't belong on the power play.  I just about plotzed when Edzo praised the goof to the moon for heading off a Dallas forward at the boards when, let's face it, lacking the great stick that Keith or Hjalmarsson possess, the play could just as easily have resulted in a breakaway for Dallas.  I had been wondering if Kempny is slightly on the limp after missing some shifts late against Phoenix (I think) but the way Coach Q has been deploying TVR has me thinking otherwise; it's probably just business as usual, unfortunately.
Scott Darling has delivered exceptionally in Corey Crawford's absence, playing his four best games in the last five starts, even though he has only two wins to show for it.
I took the piss on the post-game report the other night, not because The Hawks didn't deserve some kind words, but more out of disappointment and fatigue.  Being without three of their most vital players when the lineup is already somewhat thin, they're hanging in alright.

Peter The Great and I are going a bit off-script tonight.  Darling was great, Panarin was darty and exciting and Hossa was vintage Hossa, but Ryan Hartman gets smoke in his eyes for his pinpoint pass to Hoss and his dash-deke-shot that led to Anisimov's goal.  Hartman is still kind of a blunt instrument in many ways, with inconsistent finishing skills and an annoying habit of shooting from stupid places but, of the four Young Fellas, he's been by far the best.

Don't Break Your Neck or Anything: Hawks 4, Stars 3

Alright, take Toews & Seabrook out of it, and a handful of shifts from a handful of other players, and this was an awful effort by The Hawks.  Luckily, most of The Stars seemed equally disinterested.  For much of the game both sides looked as if they were just going to do whatever seemed easiest, whatever required the least thought, and just get the thing over with.  Some quick, pointy Bits:

Hoss did score the winner, of course, but 20 seconds earlier he nearly sprung a Dallas player by flubbing a pass.  That kinda summed up The Hawks' effort, for me: the guys are certainly capable of making good decisions and taking some care in what they do but, on this night, a lot of them couldn't be arsed much of the time.
Keith was dogshit.  I've never typed anything to that effect before and I hope I never do again.
Seabrook, meanwhile, was outstanding, which I also don't think I've typed before.  Spooky.
Schmaltz on the top line didn't result in anything concrete, with #8 turning in a pair of pretty good shifts and looking overwhelmed the rest of the time.  Still, I wouldn't mind if he took another spin with Toews & Kane in the next game, y'know, after practicing with them a time or two.
Eleven Game streak, now, for Large Arthur.
Scott Darling played about as well as one would expect a guy who hasn't played in two weeks to play. He made some dandy saves, especially late in the game, but he made it look hard a lot of the time, earlier on.
Goose Forsling: I'm pleased that Coach Q has given Forsling the chance to play (just not in the last ten minutes, apparently) despite having some iffy moments in each game since he returned from injury.  It's clear that the kid is skilled as well as smart, but has occasionally gotten into jams of his own making, some of which he was able to skate away from or make a pinpoint pass to avoid trouble, but sometimes he just gets pantsed.  And, while I'm impressed with the patience Q has shown while Goose figures out what he can and cannot pull off, I know in my dark little heart that Goose had better get sorted out before TVR gets well.

Not flawless, but very nearly so, Jonathan Toews is just regaining his stride and logged another fine game tonight.

Deep in The Heart of Texas: Hawks 3, A Bunch of Guys 2

Just finished watching last night's game a short while ago so, as usual with these late posts, I'll try to be brief.
Despite cashing in only 11 seconds in The Hawks endured a pretty patchy first period, in which Keith and Campbell struggled, often preventing the line they were backing up from getting any forward momentum going.  Perversely, the best sequence of the period was back-to-back demonic shifts from the third and fourth lines.  A great second period followed and the thing was wrapped up with the final frame, one in which each team had every chance of winning or handing the win over, with key players on both sides taking sloppy penalties in the late going.  Here are The Bits:

Ryan Hartman had himself a good game, even with a don't-get-ahead-of-yourself-pal bodyslam from Jamie Benn that cannot have felt good.  
Hit Parade: While Pat Foley yet again droned on about hits, I wondered if he has ever considered that, if The Hawks are playing like they can and should, they could probably go an entire game without throwing a hit.  And, while I like Steve Konroyd, that stuff about half of Panik's hits being made while he is carrying the puck is total crap.  Yes, a couple of times he has squared himself up to deflect a checker, but come on...  I'm also pretty sure that the scorekeepers aren't calling those things hits, either.
Large Arthur's short pass to Kane for the winner was great, but even better was Small Arthur's no-look pass just prior to that, in which he had The Stars completely sold on a pass to Keith.  Simply outstanding.  Ten game points streak, now, for Large Arthur, by the way.
Jordin Tootoo "made" a pass!  (I think he was trying to ice the puck, but whatever...)
PK: Earlier this week TSN asserted that when Crow referred to "PK" in a post game interview he was referring to Patrick Kane.  That's apropos of nothing except that I delight in mocking TSN, but The Hawks' PENALTY KILL continues to roll on, denying three chances in this match.  Dennis Rasmussen once again led all forwards in PK ice time.
The Stars did really well, I thought, when one considers how demolished their lineup is, with third liners playing in the two-hole and another third liner skating on their undisputed top line.  That leaves six or seven forward spots filled with Guys, some of whom are not yet NHL-ready.  Spezza is out for tonight, apparently, so things are going from bad to worse in The Big D.
Tonight: Andrew Desjardins was activated from the Disabled List and may draw in for tonight's game.  Oh, please let it be Tootoo's spot...

Beginning with a steal to manufacture the first goal and finishing by pounding home the winner, Patrick Kane bookended his game with excellent plays and receives Stormare's Icy Endorsement.

Antti, hey Antti, didja hear the one about...

I Swear I'm Not Being Lazy: The Catch Up Post

Too busy, too tired to post after the last bunch of games,  Distracted by things that I'm supposed to think are more vital, like selling a car (failing, so far) and fixing a snowblower (succeeding, mostly).
Anyway, I feel it necessary to peck out a few observations from the last three games.

- The All Star Break­­™ seemed to do a few Hawks a world of good; with nearly a full week off Jonathan Toews returned champing at the bit and played his best three games in forever. Marian Hossa has looked re-energized, as well and we can all agree that Corey Crawford certainly needed a rest.

- Post ASG break, The Hawks kicked things off with a 2-1 victory in Colorado, which was only as close as it was because Calvin Pickard made a whopping 40 saves.  Oh, good, another Avalanche goalie that "gets up" for games against Chicago.
- Jiri Sekac played his first game in 11 days and failed to set the world alight so, naturally, he hasn't played since.  I don't know if he has bad breath, fecal incontinence or moldy shower shoes, but seems as if this kid is up against it when it comes to gaining Coach Q's trust. Whatever it is, it has to be bad if Sekac is eating popcorn whilst Brandon Mashinter does...well, nothing.

- Next, a 5-4 OT win in Phoenix, in which The Hawks once again outshot their opponent handily. This one was a bit screwby due to iffy officiating but it kinda came to a logical conclusion at the end. Crawford was unexceptional but Toews and Hossa were beasts.
- Oh, man, the new NHL website is a piece of crap.  Half the links don't work, I am usually unable to scroll to the bottom of the page and the info that used to be easy to locate is now scattered to the four winds. That last one may actually be a time saver; if I give up on looking for what I want I won't be disappointed when the link fails to work, right?

- On to Dallas and a fun 5-1 win.  I was astonished to learn that The Stars held the edge in shots, 37-26, as it never seemed to me that they were sustaining any pressure to speak of. Large Arthur starred, Toews and Hossa were again dominant and Corey Crawford bounced back with a solid game, undone only by a strange bounce off the goalpost to Tyler Seguin's stick.  
- Dallas captain Jamie Benn said "They embarrassed us in front of our own fans in our own building", which gives The Hawks too much credit, really.  That going-out-of-business-sale that The Stars call a goaltending duo had a bit to do with it, as well.

Clash of the Titans: Hawks Win Keepaway Game and some Big Boy Stuff

Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.  Neither The Hawks nor The Stars were particularly great in this one and The Hawks were downright lucky to finish the third period tied, on merit of a hail-mary shot by Brad Richards that should never, ever work in an NHL game.  Right? 
Still, it was an entertaining, if a bit frustrating match.  The ten or so seconds preceding Saad's goal was all about Toews being All-World, yet again, with two take-aways and a sick pass to set up the goal.  On the other end of the spectrum, well, take your pick of any number of botched breakouts or Crow's sweet pass up the middle, there.

There were a few Hawks that caught my eye; Richards with a couple of points, Keith's outstanding slap-pass in OT and Toews had a few simply outstanding shifts, but a great pass in the second period and the game winning goal in OT earn The Sharp Dressed Man the Belt.

              First star but didn't hang around to talk to Dan Roan.  Should we be worried?