Alright, catching up after a busy couple of days and two more games done & dusted.
It could have been worse, right? Oddly, I feel like The Hawks had the Toronto game slightly more in-hand than the Detroit game even if they did appear to dominate The Red Wings.
Statistically, there was virtually nothing to choose between the teams in both games, with Corsi coming up pretty much dead even for both matches and shot totals almost identical, as well.
On Wednesday The Hawks got a decent game from Jeff Glass, beaten only by a deflection, a PPG on which Keith and Oesterle kinda pooped the bed and a penalty shot, which is basically a coin flip. Downrange, though, The Hawks had lots of trouble mounting any offence to speak of. We hear endless chatter about netfront presence, and that's all fine & good, but does that have to mean all three forwards standing in or around the crease? Can't they be a little bit old fashioned and spread out a little bit? At least the latest New Look Power Play was working, hitting for two out of four chances.
Don't Trust The Stats #71: Officially, Oesterle led all Hawks in Corsi with a 62% share, but he was rubbish in his own end. Keith was slightly better in general but was culpable on two TOR goals. It happens.
With the consolation point salted away it was off to Detroit to meet the usually toothless Red Wings who nevertheless shut out The Hawks a couple of weeks ago. Goaltending was the main difference here, as Jimmy Howard was touched up for three GA in nine minutes of work, while Anton Forsberg had hisself a fine game in The Hawks' nets. It's true, also, that The Hawks eased up after the halfway point of the game, allowing The Wings to get some looks that they really needn't have had.
On the plus, though, we got goals from someone other than Kane. Maybe this was thanks to The Red Wings deploying what passes for a checking line against the Schmaltz - Kane - Saad unit, allowing the Toews - DeBrincat- Duclair mob to basically go nuts.
That opportunity wasn't wasted, with DBC notching his second hat trick of the season and Duc potting his first goal as a Hawk, to go with a pair of helpies.
So, maybe a bit unlucky to get one the single point vs TOR and maybe gifted the win against DET by Jimmy Howard being just bad enough and The Wings not being deep enough to counter if The Hawks could get more than one line clicking (which is never assured). It kind of evens out, I guess.
What else?
Loving Hinostroza, lately. It often seems like he has no plan but the energy and determination he brings gets him by. Eleven points in nineteen games, all while averaging 12:45 per night, is a welcome contribution.
Saad was virtually invisible in both of these games.
Seabrook made an ass of himself bitching about the non-call on the icing play vs TOR. He's got to be less casual than that and had no one to blame but himself.
Glass was a bit lucky that Van Riemsdyk bowled him over and The Leafs' apparent goal called back, 'cos interference or not, he wasn't making that save.
Let's face it, Jordan Oesterle has no business being on the PK unit - he's just not that good defensively and lacks the strength to handle any opposing forward who chooses to camp out in front of The Hawks' net. I like the rest of his game but he's often a mess around his own net.
Similarly, as dramatic as his first game in almost two years was, Erik Gustafsson has otherwise been pretty bad; decent enough offensive instincts but a disaster in The Hawks' zone.
The Hawks are now "only" four points out of a playoff berth but have four teams to catch and pass. Corey Crawford has apparently been sighted around The United Center so maybe, just maybe, The Hawks might have a shot at this thing.
What I really wanted for the headline, here, was a shot of Oesterle somehow falling under Duncan Keith, sending them both sprawling to the ice whilst Hank Zetterberg neatly dished to a streaking Anthony Mantha. Alas, it was not to be, but y'all can see what I'm driving at.
This rubbish effort was against a team that ain't making the playoffs, no way, no how and facing arguably the weakest starting goalie in the league. Yet, The Hawks came away with nothing but embarrassment and a touch of sunburn on Jeff Glass' neck.
They made it easy for Wings starter Petr Mrazek, not forcing to him make any especially tough saves and virtually no second saves. We couldn't even get lucky enough to get a cheapo tip-in goal 'cos there was really only one shift in which The Hawks had traffic in front AND got some shots on or toward the net.
Glass was not great. The odd thing was that he actually made a clutch of saves tougher than anything Mrazek faced, but he also let a few savable shots past him...
The refrain is largely the same: poor shot selection/timing, sloppy positioning and no one getting to the danger zone at the right times. Don't they practice this shit? What's even happening here?
The Hawks are in 10th place right now but, with five days off, they're sure to fall to 12th by the time they reconvene on Saturday. The Wings weren't the only non-playoff team out there today.
Yup.
Well, that was less than special.
The short version, as I see it, is that The Hawks' top six were nowhere as good as they needed to be. Aside from a shift here and there they were overrun by their Detroit counterparts. Yes, Kane set up a dandy for Panarin, but those two were also on the ice for all four goals against, with Kane being directly responsible for two of those GA. Panik and Anisimov were, for the most part, nowhere to be seen.
The Hawks D struggled somewhat; Kempny alternated between good play/bad play with alarming regularity, while Campbell and van Riemsdyk were observed standing still far too often, particularly when the puck was sailing into The Hawks' net.
On top of that, Crawford kinda waved at a couple of the goals against although, to be fair, The Wings' goal scorers could not have been in more primo shooting positions on three of their tallies.
Smackdown: Chump Division
I suppose someone might point to Hjalmarsson & Oduya being scratched in favour of the Czech Wrecks, Kempny & Rozsival, but those two were hardly the problem.
Anyway, a disappointing result from a lackluster effort that I don't need to comment on any more than this. Gotta be better than this on Sunday.
Since I won't be watching tonight's game vs. Dee-troy-it until late tomorrow I'm not counting on typing anything about the game.
Unless something truly alarming occurs, of course.
Like, I dunno, Tootoo makes himself useful, or something.
Until then...
In a reversal of the previous match between The Hawks and The Wings it was The Hawks who iced a slightly more representative lineup, a group that ran wild on a largely inexperienced Wings squad. The talent disparity was most evident when comparing their respective defense corps, and it didn't help that Jimmy Howard was brutal, either.
The Good
- We saw the best outings from Hinostroza, Hartman, Panik and Fortin, so far. Hino' appeared to slow things down a little and it made him more effective, as he took that extra fraction-of-a-second to look for a play rather than simply storm toward the net. Hartman had a strong game, but I'm still unsure that he's among the dozen-best forwards available who aren't Tootoo or Mashinter. Panik was Panik, and it worked in this case, but let's not get too excited; his goal was an absolutely perfectly placed shot, which might occur once in 200 tries for the hardworking forward. The hockey media is, somehow, still talking Panik up as a potential linemate for Toews but, if that's even remotely a good idea, then why not Desjardins? They each fill a similar role and Des', as impossible at it sounds, may have the better hands. Panik works at a higher speed but are they really all that different when you look at what they each accomplish? I am not advocating for Des' to end up on Toews' line, but picture Desjardins on Toews wing and tell me if Panik really belongs there, too.
Fortin has spent the preseason buzzing around, looking industrious as hell, but too often trying to do it all himself. His infrequent pass attempts have been poor, his vigor has often left him out of position after his solo charges down the wing & behind the net fail, and he's been a chucker of the highest order. One can see the urgency with which he's approaching his duties and, if what he's doing works, that's great, but when it fails to provide a result it just appears...I dunno...desperate. Last night he tried to do a little less and accomplished a little more.
- Gustav Forsling is just so damned poised. I'm unsurprised that Gustafsson was dispatched to Rockford, as Forsling provides everything Goose brings, but better. He's quicker, more precise and makes far better choices. Goose is a little bigger but has played as if he were a smaller man, anyway, so he'll get no credit for size. Forsling belongs in the lineup, every night, but more on that in a little bit.
The Bad
- Jordin Tootoo. I guess there's way to get out of this, is there?
- TVR. Oh I wish, how I wish, I could believe that The Hawks will play their six best defensemen on opening night...and beyond. I keep telling myself that I need to understand that TVR will stick, he'll play, and there's nothing I can do about it, but it's not easy when he just sucks nine nights out of ten. This is the reason Ville Pokka isn't getting a longer look...not Forsling or Kempny, but The Hawks wasting a lineup spot on that slug, TVR.
The Indifferent
- Nick Schmaltz. Yes, I do see that he tipped-in a goal last night but, apart from that, what's he done? I like his puck control and his apparent confidence, but I have to say that he's being outshone by Motte, Hino' and even Fortin.
- The Hawks packed a tour bus with guys heading to Rockford. As mentioned, above, the only sorta surprise there was Pokka, but it is pretty crowded on defense, he's not going to supplant TVR or Rozsie, so he may as well get busy in Rockford. Well, at least there's no longer any sign of Kero, Baun or Svedberg. The only remaining fellas with no apparent shot at the lineup are Mark McNeill and Ivan Nalimov.
Other News
- Cody Hodgson, age 26, retired from hockey. There was a time that I would have taken gleeful delight in any scenario in which the Canucks fail, but this is actually a pretty sad story. Thanks to an alleged misdiagnosis of a back injury and subsequent nerve damage, Hodgson was compromised physically and in terms of his confidence at arguably the worst possible time in a young player's career. The guy shoulda coulda been great.
- Barrett Jackman. I couldn't be more pleased that this mouth-breather's long con has come to an end, as I'm pretty sure the Best Before date on this goof reads "2009".
Like it says, I have other things I wanna do, so just some quick points.
- Shots were even and chances seemed close, but The Hawks were simply finishing better, thanks to Petr Mrazek being less-than-average in The Wing's net and The Wing's D-corps leaving The Hawks unchecked far too often. I wonder if Ladd's shot had not gone in how many more whacks they would have let him take.
- When Goose makes passes like the one he sent to Seabrook on the game's first goal it's hard to believe he's ever a healthy scratch.
- Christian Ehrhoff made his Hawks debut and I like what I saw. No red flags thus far.
- Looking ahead, Dale Weise is expected to play in Boston tonight and I assume Scott Darling will start.
Oh, those feckless Red Wings made several Hawks look positively heroic in this one, but the tie breaker gives Seabrook the nod due to last night at least being something other than him standing around looking bewildered. Oh, and he had three points, both assists being actually very fine plays. Also, I stole this image ages ago and have been dying to use it.
They do? I think he looks like a homeless Eddie Munster, but I'm no lady...
