The Goalie Parade: Jets, Avalanche etc

I watched the Thursday and Friday games back-to-back so here's another of my generous two-fers.  Let's start with Thursday and The Hawks' entertaining win over Winnipeg.

Scott Foster, accountant by day and emergency backup goaltender by night, dominated NHL news and even managed to cast a shadow on MLB's opening night.  While it was strange, fun and really nice that it went so well for Foster, the whole story sorta underlines the massive problems The Hawks have had with netminding this season.  Since Corey Crawford became injured it really hasn't mattered a ton who is in net; on some nights the nominated Guy is okay but, in the main, they haven't been adequate, really.  Yes, The Hawks skaters have been defensively inconsistent and offensively impotent, but lemme point out that Crawford owns as many wins as the other five Guys combined, and he's played half as many games.
But Collin Delia was alright until he was stricken by dehydration cramps or fecal peristalsis or whatever was ailing him.  He showed good positioning, quick reflexes and appears to handle the puck pretty well.  More later...
We had our First Look at Dylan Sikura who was maybe slightly better than "alright" as he picked up a pair of helpies in his debut. He's smallish, quick enough and showed some good vision throughout the game.  He didn't win a lot of battles but he didn't back down, either.
Tomas Jurco and Eric Gustafsson both had fine games, with Jurcs enjoying his first two-goal game and Gus consistently pushing the puck north and generating mucho offense, even if he was a little passive in his own end some of the time. Despite The Hawks' fortunes as a group, lately, both of these guys are playing with increased confidence right now, a rare thing on this pretty beaten-down squad.
Duncan Keith was horrifying. He clearly cannot be arsed at this point.
An aside, apropos of nothing: I watched this game on TSN and had to endure The Jets "home" announcer, Dennis Beyak, who is just embarrassingly bad, mispronouncing names ("Ruttu") and spouting stats he seems to have simply made up on the spot.  He's not as bad as those guys who do the EDM games, but he's not far off.

In Denver, tonight, things started off well and The Hawks outplayed The Avs comprehensively up until that PPG late in the period.  Then the wheels fell off.
With a few exceptions, The Hawks just looked tired after that, and the more COL scored the more tired (of it) they got.  Once The Avs tasted blood their speed just stymied The Hawks, only a handful of which really applied themselves in the last 40 minutes.
Delia was less good than in his debut.  He started well and, while I'll rarely hold a goalie entirely accountable for a PPG against, I thought he was a bit soft on the first and third GA as well as Andrighetto's late goal.  So, one good game and one iffy game puts him in the same company as the other three members of his committee, but it's a small sample so far.  Let's not forget that tonight was still only his 36th professional game and that he started the season in The ECHL fer goodness' sake.  He's allowed to waver given all of that.
Particularly Poor: Keith who, once again, was missing passes galore, Ejdsell out of position and really just standing around a lot of the time and Hinostroza, still trying hard but somehow accomplishing nothing, lately.  For a month or two there, Hinnie looked as if he had found his game and could even challenge for a top six spot.  Lately, though, it's been all bobbled pucks and flubbed passes.  If he sorts himself out he can stick next season and will contribute, but if his timing or concentration or confidence or whatever continues to fail him it'll be back to The AHL for him.
Bright Spots included Gustafsson, moving the puck well albeit with the usual defensive indifference, Martinsen being a huge pain in the ass in The Avs zone, even if he lacks the vision or hand skills to contribute anything more, Jurco playing with more confidence in each game and Connor Murphy as The Hawks' most consistent defender the last two games.
Foley spoke of Coach Q deploying some players "out of their comfort zones", his example being DeBrincat on the PK.  That's fine, but Oesterle on the PK is far from MY comfort zone.  Didn't we see that movie already?
Blake Hillman debuted tonight and, to be honest, I hardly noticed him, which probably means he was just fine.
The Hawks have four days off before a possibly very fun home-and-home against STL and a chance to at least spoil The Blues' playoff hopes.  At least give us that, willya...

No Sleep 'til Brooklyn: Hawks 2½, Islanders 1

Since I watched this one a day after the event I'll keep it brief.

Every Dog Has His Day or Would The Real Anton Forsberg Please Stand Up: As bad as Bergie was in the brief amount of time it took for him to make a big stinky mess on Thursday he was brilliant in this one.  He was in full command, tracking the puck exceptionally well (which has previously been noted as a strength of his) particularly in close when The Isles had multiple whacks at the thing.  While I suspect the real Bergie falls squarely between the disaster on Thursday and the gem last night, it was very good to see him bounce back so emphatically.  And, hey, he didn't let in a softie!
The Islanders Big Line Were Where, Exactly?  In the weeds, mainly, absolutely kicked in while matched up primarily against the Schmaltz - Hinnie - Charlie Bucket line.  It's difficult to say how much of that was due to the effort of that Hawks trio or merely a complete lack of give-a-shit by John Tavares but, even though NYI sport two dangerous lines, as JT goes so go The Isles.
Lookit Jurco, Shakin' Off Checks: Well, there's a first, second and third time for everything, but when Jurc's is able to get around or through a check whatever line he's on is instantly 50% more effective.
Best Of All...with one minor exception I cannot say that any Hawks player stood out as being bad which, I have to say, is all too rare and a pleasure to report.  Only Gustafsson was noticeably naughty; his defensive work was okay but his breakout attempts were poorly executed and his passing a bit yippy.
That's enough high fiving for now and, to be realistic, this win was against a team that is one loss away from being mathematically eliminated from a playoff berth.  Next up are The Sharks, who still need a few wins to seal their playoff berth, so let's keep it real, keep it steady and try to do this again.

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Blows 5, Hawks 4

Once again, The Hawks snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and this time it was despite The Blues doing their level best to hand the win over.  How about a few quick bits and we'll put this behind us and never speak of it again?  Deal.
* Oddly, neither team played especially well but both teams had a couple of players that had crazy-good games.  For STL, Alex Pietrangelo had himself a night, as did his apparent protegé, Vince Dunn, both driving The Blues' offence from the back end and taking it to the net themselves when they found their forwards not up to the task.  Best STL forward?  Kyle Brodziak.  How's that make ya feel?
* For The Hawks it was 80% Alex DeBrincat as he chalked up his third hat trick of the season.  A few other fellas played alright in fits and starts; Toews, Jurco (but guilty of a few brutal shifts to even things out) and Hinostroza each had some excellent moments but no one apart from DBC really blew me away.

* The Naughty List is longer.  Gustafsson was horrible, seemingly under the impression that playing good defence begins and ends with standing nonchalantly in front of your own net until "something happens".  Keith - iffy, at best and Oesterle was pretty poor, but he got the goal line scramble correct this time, at least.  Berubé fell back to earth after a couple of okay outings by serving up a stinker, today.
* It should have been over in regulation but for a dim call in which the referee blew the whistle for no reason apart from confusion.  The deflation that The Blues experienced after the goal review let The Hawks back into it, briefly.  The Blues seem a bit fragile, having lost a bunch of games that saw them tumble down the standings, a decline that seems to coincide roughly with Paul Stastny being traded to WPG.  With Tarasenko and Hutton both injured and the confidence level in The Blues' room probably mighty low and emotional, come-from-behind victory was just the thing they needed.
Happy to oblige, I guess...

Close Enough: Hawks 2, Lavalantulas 1

There wasn't much to choose in this one but, given that The Hawks have made a habit of losing close games, or even games in which they had 60%+ of the chances, I'll gratefully take the win.  It's just nice to be on the right side of it for a change.  Let's get after it.

Toews + Kane + Saad took the handful of good shifts they had in the Anaheim game and spun it into an almost complete effort.  We even heard Foley say something he hasn't had occasion to utter in a long time, something about "Saad" and "power move".  I like these eggs in this particular basket so, more of that, please.
Schmaltz + DeBrincat + Hinostroza were not so far behind in chances and general effectiveness but they did barely survive being penned-in The Hawks' zone on two far-too-long and fraught with peril shifts.  While those couple of panicky shifts are not ideal I still really like this trio together.  What they lack in size and strength is mostly made up for by their speed and fitness.  Schmaltz and DeBrincat are obviously the greater scoring threats on this line but, lately, Hinnie has been the straw stirring the drink.  His lightning-fast zone entries, demonic backchecking and surprisingly adept passing have been a most welcome surprise.  The kid is playing like his life depends on it because IT DOES (it doesn't).
It's a Good Thing the top two lines were so good 'cos the Anisimov and Kampf lines had a rough night.  There are a couple of guys there that are dragging things down: Jurco knows what he wants to do but can't pull it off 'cos he gets knocked off the puck so easily, while Duclair has ample size and skill but no plan whatsoever.

Defensively, it was a mixed bag.  The Hawks got a quality start from JF Berubé and okay efforts from the D-corps, with no one being especially great nor especially awful.  At least Oesterle was better than in ANA, even if he was still way too soft in his own end.  

Okay, it was a good result from an uneven effort against a team that is battling for a playoff berth, and we get to see another team in that position on Thursday when Carolina visits.  Let's hope The Hawks can be miserable, contrary pains in the ass again.

We Now Return To Our Regular Scheduled Program: Blue Jackets 3, Hawks 2

It's true that all three CBJ goals were made possible by breakdowns on the part of The Hawks, and that Chicago once again got stuck on two goals-for...but I can't even get mad about it anymore.  At this point I'm looking for silver lining moments, just to ward off the disappointment.
So let's look at those bright spots.

Take away Toews' poor clearing attempt, Hinnie's horrible pass and Forsberg allowing his obligatory softie and The Hawks actually played a pretty solid game.  True, only two goals-for, yet again, but they had the shots and the chances, plus a couple of goalposts.  Mere inches away from flipping this one to a W, but that's the way it's been this season.
It's a small sample but the current forward lines are actually working not too badly. Each line had their share of dominant shifts, particularly the Kampf line (!) and the Schmaltz trio enjoyed a scorcher in which they penned the Jackets in their own end for over a minute.  Despite Tomas Jurco finding twine for the first time in forever, I thought L2 was the weakest unit, and that's mainly on Jurco.  Kane is kinda being wasted while Q fools around with this combination, whether they're showcasing Jurco or simply because Q is a dope.
Regardless, all four lines have scoring potential and I would think that's making it a little harder for the opposition to deploy adequate checking.  
I still think Wingels on L1 is silly at this point but I'll say this: when he's on the power play at least The Hawks are less predictable than usual.  He's a wild card!  An X-factor!  He doesn't know what he's doing!
Ryan Hartman: took a really bad, poorly timed penalty and then spent the remainder of the match sitting in front of Coach Q.  It was an idiotic thing for Harts to do but, thinking back, this is the kind of crap that Andrew Shaw pulled on a regular basis and, at worst, missed a shift or two.  For whatever reason, Q just does not seem to like Hartman, which is a tough, tough thing to overcome in this organization.
The NBCSNCH (I think?) post game show poll asked "Which player do The Hawks miss the most?"  The consensus was that Hossa's absence has been the hardest to make up for, but they didn't even mention Corey Crawford.  I know that Crow could not have done a thing about The Hawks' offense going in the pooper but, damn, you know he would have eked out more than a few wins just by not letting in one or more soft goals, night in and night out.  Review The Hawks' record since Crow went on the DL and tell me it's not true...

Approximately Good Enough: Hawks 2½, Sharks 1

Once again The Hawks defy logic.  After losing a lot of games in which they crushed the opposition in shots / attempts / chances, tonight they were outshot and just below break-even in possession, yet won the game.  Statistics are lies, I guess.
It was an untidy game for both sides but maybe a bit messier for The Sharks.  Neither team hit a pass in the Danger Zone™ in the entirety of the first period and, really, it didn't get a lot better later on.  Would it be damning The Hawks with faint praise if I said The Sharks wanted this less?
* All that aside, if Wingels could shoot or pass even a little bit The Hawks could have had this salted away a lot sooner.  He, Toews and Saad buzzed The Sharks zone all night yet came up empty when they could have used a crisp pass on the tape or a shot on net.  Please, Q, this is ridiculous.
* On that tack, Jurco lined up with Kane and Anisimov again.  Tonight he was muscled off the puck countless times, lost the handle on a couple of rushes and, somehow, missed an open net.  This choice is even more silly than Wingels playing on L1, because Jurco has yet to contribute anything to this team.  There are no past successes to suggest he belongs this high up the order.  He tries, I'll grant him that, but he accomplishes nothing.

* Even though he was probably only in the lineup because The Hawks are shopping him for trade day, Duclair had a fine game, his best as a Hawk.  He was on the move all night, had a strong forecheck going and was one of a very few Hawks forwards making a pass now and again.
* Rutta returned after missing eight games and was fine.  Better offensively than defensively but okay, overall.
* Oesterle was bad again.  Keith was refraining from giving him the puck deep in their own end because, I assume, he's well tired of having it weakly pushed back toward him a few seconds later when Oz is under pressure by a forechecker.  He's been better, it just seems like he's underthinking almost every aspect of his game right now.
* JF Berubé was good.  He didn't get that much work tonight but he did survive a handful of sustained attacks by The Sharks and a few goalmouth scrambles.  Now let's see him do it again.

Partial Effort, Full Result: Hawks 3, Senators 2

Wouldn't it be cool is The Hawks could, or would, play a complete 60-minute game more than once a month?  Tonight, The Hawks started off with an utterly dominant first period but, as is so often the case, took their foot off the gas for much of the rest of the game.  That's a simplistic view, of course, as the Senators upped their game for the second and third, but that's when a good team responds rather than accepts, y'know?
The Hawks were a bit lucky, then, to pick up two points, being unable to maintain a lead but sucking slightly less in the shootout.  Anton Forsberg was instrumental in both of these aspects, as he made several tough saves in the five minute overtime, yet was also guilty of allowing a couple of dribblers into the net.  Whatever, he's doing the best he can, I assume.

The last time these teams met I typed a lot of stuff about The Senators, which I won't do today except to add that they are in tough, tough shape, even more than usual with the trade deadline rushing up and The Sens organization saying nothing to deflect or dispel the legion of trade rumours surrounding them.  The only notable Senator that I have not heard mentioned is Mark Stone and, perhaps by omission rather than action, it appears that every other player is potentially up for negotiation, even Erik Karlsson.  Apart from Stone, maybe Craig Anderson and the handful of "I'm just happy to be here" Guys, the message is that they're all mere commodities at this point.  That knowledge is sure to inspire a will to succeed.
I'm actually surprised that this isn't happening in Chicago, too, 'cos there are plenty of guys who should be worried about their gig.

Back to the game, I was aggravated by some odd deployment choices.
Oesterle played, on the back of possibly the worst game I've seen a Hawks defender foist since, well, I was gonna say David Koci, but you could also pick almost any outing by TVR in the last two years.  Oz was slightly less bad last night but he did demonstrate precisely how not to respond in a one-on-one shooting situation on Matt Duchene's goal.
Jurco on the second line.  At least there was the fun of counting the seconds every time Jurcs carried the puck and never getting past "three" before he surrendered the damn thing.
This Wingels on the top line thing is a bit ridiculous.  Sure, sticking him in there to shake things up and maybe make a point is all well and good, but to persist with that well after the shaking up and point making is done with, well that's dumb.
Meanwhile, Hinostroza has been ripping the arse out of everyone, all while dragging the likes of Baby Huey Kampf and Bouma along behind him.  But no, let's move a couple of plodders from the fourth line and the damned press box to the top six...

Anyway
The next few days will be interesting and I am preparing my wish list of players I hope The Hawks successfully rid themselves of.  I don't even care what they get in return, anything to shake this group out of their vegetable torpor will be welcome.
Oh, and who wants to take wagers on whether Stan, Q or both Stan AND Q get the old heave ho when this merry-go-round stops?

Give It Away Give It Away Give It Away Now: Lightning 2, Hawks 0

Let me just mention the worst offenders to kick off the fun.
Toews.
Keith.
Oesterle - twice.
Gustafsson - and that one was spectacular.

Passes to no one, or even nowhere, most of the time with no particular pressure 'pon them. 
Only one of these egregious turnovers actually resulted in a goal against but all of the others, at best, slowed The Hawks attack, caused them to regroup and took away their momentum.

With the many changes in the lineup I guess I'd concede that at  least the coaches are trying stuff, but  the fact that guys like Kampf, Jurco, Gustafsson and even Hinostroza and Oesterle are A) in the lineup and B) granted the amount of icetime they've received tells you everything you need to know about how fragile and....ordinary The Hawks have become.  From time to time Gustav Forsling looked as if he would be a player who had made a giant step forward - now he's in Rockford.  Ditto for John Hayden.
The fact is that it doesn't really seem to matter who suits up.  We'll get some good games from some of these Guys just as we'll get stinkers from The Core, but the results end up the same.
Toews and Oesterle each played 23+ minutes tonight.  Were either of them any better than Hinostroza or Kempny?  I'd argue that they were not.
And I don't mean to take anything away any of The Guys when they do have a good outing.  Jurco and Hinostroza both had a good game, but the fact remains that even when Jurcs and Hinnie play out of their skin it's still never going to be enough.

The Hawks laid a beating on Tampa in the possession dept. tonight, but what does that matter when it generates almost no quality chances?  Jeff Glass lost the game yet made five or six saves that were tougher than any shots Vasilevskiy faced.  Two A+ chances and a goalpost - that's what The Hawks mustered up in 60 minutes.
Toews entire line had the puck in their feet all night.
Sharp was late to almost every attack and couldn't hit water if he fell out of a damn boat.
Oesterle's fall-back tactic whenever he was out of options or ideas was to pass to Keith, regardless of where Keith was, which direction he was facing or whether he had a forechecker bearing down on him.
Etc.

Yeah, The Hawks got screwed when the officials failed to catch the glove pass leading up to Kunitz' goal but, even discounting that, they still lose 1-0.  Outside of Kane and the occasional player who gets hot for a short while, they've got nothing.
And I fear that things will get worse before they get better if there is no significant change, and the change that needs to made most does not revolve around a player.

Insufficient: Wild 2, Hawks 1

It's a full day removed from this lackluster disappointment, now, so I'll be quick about it.
Once again, The Hawks played one tremendous period and then packed up & left town.
This, in a so-called four point game versus a team with whom they are in direct conflict with for a playoff berth.
We had the shots and we received an excellent performance in goal from Forsberg, yet no joy.
Shot selection, positioning and timing were all mediocre, at best.

With the new guy, Duclair, drawing in I expect we'll see significant reshuffling of the forward lines.
And possibly Keith & Seabrook reunited.
And maybe even Tomas Friggin' Jurco.
Please, no, not Jurco.

Preseason III: The Preseasoning

Just a few quick notes to keep things current.

Saturday: The Hawks were goalie'd, pure and simple, and at both ends of the ice, with CMB's Korpisalo turning away 50 shots and The Hawks' JF Berube allowing three softies. That, barring disaster, will likely be the last time we see Berube in a Chicago jersey.

Lines 1-3 each had several excellent shifts, although all three units struggled with consistency.  There was some nice puck movement with Kane-Schmaltz-DeBrincat, but also plenty of occasions in which Schmaltz and DeBrincat skated themselves into trouble and couldn't find their way back out.  Only Kane seemed to have any consistent awareness of where his linemates were.  It's early days yet.

Toews worked hard along the walls but hardly exerted himself otherwise, which is fine.  Richard Panik did his thing - dynamite when it works but kinda silly to watch when it doesn't, and it didn't work a whole lot in this game.  Saad was a sledgehammer.

Sharp and Anisimov are already signaling some significant chemistry which, with Hartman re-inserted, gives The Hawks a damn good third line.  Somebody get Dr. Terry to wrap Sharpie's head in Bubble Wrap™, stat.

As much as I like the idea of John Hayden stepping in and being a versatile big body, I don't think it'll be happening this fall.  Hayden either goes all-out, crashing around with no apparent plan, or he stands around, watching, and there's rarely anything in-between.  A few months in Rockford would do him good, I think.

The fourth line gonna be the fourth line and, with so many Guys still in camp, could "feature" any number of spare parts guys.  I was going to type a few sentences about Alexandre Fortin's obvious skill mitigated by him having no clue how to employ it, but he's been dismissed to Rockford, so maybe another time.  Riddle me this, though: what, exactly does Tomas Jurco do?  He's not especially quick, hasn't much of a shot and all it takes is a stern look to separate him from the puck.  Yeah... I'll pass on that.

As for the defense, it's hard to say much about last night's group of guys, as they really weren't troubled much.  I thought all three of the guys who are competing for a spot played well enough. Rutta is maybe a little quicker than I gave him credit for and Pokka played a simple but effective game.  Either guy could likely step right into the third pairing, maybe higher for Rutta.
The competition is very much ON, too, as I still believe Rozsie will pack it in sooner than later, and it looks as if Cody Franson has been released from his PTO? (I can find no mention of this but he no longer appears on the team roster) The Hawks have options and they aren't all terrible.

Postscript: well, it's Monday and Cody Franson is in The Hawks' lineup, so I dunno why he's not on the active roster.  Of course, tonight's roster insists that Luke Johnson is playing and that Jordan Oestrle is not, so who knows what the hell's going on...

If You Can Win It In One Period You Can Lose It, Too: Lightning 5, Hawks 4

After mounting massive comebacks in several games, recently, reserving most of their effort for the third period, The Hawks got a taste of their own medicine as Tampa Bay struck for three goals in the second period.  Even though The Hawks had their teeth kicked in possession-wise, without that ain't-give-a-damn second frame they probably cruise to an easy win.  I don't have a lot to say about this, so here we go.
Duncan Keith had a wonderful game, I thought, at least until the last minute or two of the third period, and it's a shame that he was on the ice for the game winner.
Speaking of the game winner, that was a cocktail of circumstances that just left a bad taste in The Hawks' collective mouths.  The breakout was good, with Kane fighting through the forecheck to hit Keith up-ice.  When Panarin accepted Keith's pass at the Tampa blue line he was a little close to Hedman, but it certainly wasn't a situation that he wouldn't normally stickhandle his way out of. Alas, Hedman executed a perfect poke check and the puck was heading downrange before anyone could react.  Of course, it would happen that it was van Riemsdyk that had just hopped over the boards, and we all know he couldn't catch a cold in a hospital ward room.
And what was TVR even doing on the ice in overtime, anyway?  The NBCSN colour man, I have no idea who it was, took a moment to make up a bunch of stuff on the spot about TVR, and how he's learned and improved so much this season.  Listen, NBC, spare us the "if it sounds good, say it" stuff. TVR hasn't learned a damn thing and, more importantly, neither have The Hawks' coaches where 57-Varieties-of-Bad is concerned.  His 30-odd seconds of stumbling around during the sequence in which Darling was forced to make several acrobatic saves should be enough evidence to have TVR dispatched...somewhere else, but yet...
The only Hawks line to crack 50% Corsi was the Hayden-Des-Tootoo trio, playing about half their shifts against the Tampa top-six, and really only undone on one poor shift that led to Drouin's first goal.

Speaking of first goals, Tomas Jurco finally potted one.  That's great, but given the time & space he had there, he'd better have scored.  He seems to want to play a Hossa-style game, often trying to simply force the puck past opposing defenders, but he hasn't the strength nor the guile to pull it off. Unfortunately, that goal will almost certainly earn him a start in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
This Seabrook + Oduya thing ain't working, 'cos one or the other always seems to be getting beaten to the outside.  It sure hasn't helped that Seabrook has been yippy with clearing attempts, either, often surrendering the puck with little or no effort to look for a play.

Ah well, onwards & upwards...

Maybe It's Better This Way: Canucks 5, Hawks 4

It's time for another The Good, The Bad and The Ugly post.  This won't take long.
The Good
- Great possession stats, a gaudy shot count and a rare night in which The Hawks won the faceoff game.  How do you lose a game with numbers like this?  I'll get to that.
- There were some very good individual performances: Hartman, obviously, and Hossa put together a solid game after a bit of a haphazard start.  Panik was strong on the puck all evening, and both Hayden and Rasmussen made excellent plays at both ends of the ice.  
The Bad
- Two goals against were precipitated by The Hawks' forwards bolting downrange before they had established control of the puck.
- Five goals against on fifteen shots. While three of the four allowed by Crawford were on odd-man rushes or deft redirections, the poke check attempt on Sutter's first goal was clumsy and maybe a little impatient.
- The penalty call on Toews in overtime was as soft as they come.  Maybe they felt that Toews embellished the shove from Edler that propelled him into Ryan Miller?
- Where was Kane for the first 45 minutes of the game?  
The Ugly
- Duncan Keith: six giveaways.  Soupy, another three.  Jurco, two giveaways in a mere seven minutes.  I've seen quite enough of Jurco, now.
- Seabrook simply could not keep the puck within The Canucks blueline.
- TVR and Jurco gave up on the second Sutter goal.  Unacceptable.

So, yeah, maybe it's a good thing to have lost this one.  The game came pretty easily to The Hawks, yet they really only applied a full effort in the last ten minutes or so.  Again.  Losing to a team that's basically senior citizens and Guys, after pummeling them in all regards except the score, might be just the thing to create some urgency and perhaps inspire The Hawks to bring their A Game in the first two periods.  I'd be embarrassed and I rather hope The Hawks are, as well..

Ten Minutes In Heaven: Hawks 6, Avalanche 3

...preceded by fifty minutes of sloppy, disinterested hockey.  Still that last ten minutes was pretty fun.
I'll kick this off by addressing the offside review that arguably shifted the momentum in The Hawks; favour; all those opposed can suck it up.  The Hawks were on that side of one of these "inconclusive" reviews a few weeks ago, so balance has been restored.  Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar summed up the non-importance of the call:
"That give them a little life," Bednar said. "It's what we do after that that bothers me.
Quite right, sir, quite right.
It's late, so here are just a few Bits:
It wasn't that The Hawks were down and out for much of the game but they did appear to lack any willingness to see their plays through.  There were a lot of poor passes, fumbled passes, guys just slightly out of position and lackadaisical defensive assignments.  Scott Darling also let past two goals that, most nights, he stops.
Until the last ten minutes The Hawks' best line was Kruger - Hartman - Jurco even though, just like last night, they had zero finish.  Jurco sure tried hard, and had his best game as a Hawk, but he simply cannot close.
Not to take anything away from John Hayden's two assists tonight but, sometimes, I think a German Shepherd could rack up 40 points in a season playing alongside Toews.
Once again, The Avalanche chose to pit their top two lines against The Hawks' top six with disastrous results, partly because the Avs' top six are really only four good players and a couple of Guys.  On the other side of the tracks, though, The Hawks' fourth line had their heads kicked in for the entirety of the 15 seconds of ice time they received, for whatever that's worth.
Without the offside review coming out in their favour would The Hawks have mounted their comeback, anyway?  Maybe, maybe not, but in the second game of a back-to-back against a team that no one gives a shit about, I'm not sure that it matters.  It is good to know that they can and will occasionally go nuclear when it suits them.

Because that ten minute outburst began and, apart from the empty-netter, ended with him, Jonathan Toews is tonight's darling of the Swedish glitterati.  Or something.

Whatever Works: Hawks 2, Senators 1

Okay, so it was another game in which The Hawks were outshot, albeit not as badly as the last couple of games, and were batted around like a cat toy in the possession department.  While that's a little worrisome, they're getting away with it, by dint of superior goaltending and the guys who need to be great being great at just the right time.  I doubt that this model is sustainable on the long-term but, for now, it's working. I guess that, even though The Hawks have failed to play to their potential this week, there's always the fact that this is The Hawks underachieving and still winning.  When and if they get their asses and heads back into gear they could be a steamroller.
If the goaltending holds up.
Buckle up for ya Bits.

Meet John Hayden, who The Hawks signed this week, presumably on the proviso that he get into some games this season, thus using up one season of his entry-level status.  He's sure big, not terribly quick but not a slug, either.  Could be just A Guy but that's what I thought of Hartman during his first audition, so who the hell knows?
I'm happy to say that no Hawks player was especially bad tonight, although Seabrook's two unforced giveaways late in the match were not ideal and Panarin struggled to complete a pass for the first half of the game .  On the flip, though, none of the skaters really shone, either.  It was kind of a beige effort, overall, as they played just well enough to win and not an iota more.  Sure, a few guys had some great shifts, but even the usual go-to guys had extended quiet periods.  Just another Thursday night in Ottawa...
Have we seen the end of Tomas Jurco?  More to the point, does anyone care?
The forward lines were in constant flux tonight, with Toews skating with almost every other forward at one time or another.  That's going to happen when the coaches are cherry-picking zone starts for Hayden and Tootoo.  Kruger & Kero started a lot of shifts and beetled off the ice right after the face off which scrambled things up even more.
Schmaltz played mainly 2C in Anisimov's absence and was fine, I thought, except for his faceoffs. All of the Chicago centers struggled at the dot tonight but Schmaltz was glaringly ineffective and clearly needs to spend some time with Yanic Perrault, ASAP.

I'm still not sure what I think of the swapping around of the top four D.  I cannot point to any instance in which Seabrook/Oduya failed in any significant way, and the Keith/Hjalmarsson duo is a known quantity, but I kind of envisioned Oduya and Hjalmarsson assuming the shut-down role that they performed so well in days of yore, allowing Keith & Seabrook to face weaker opposition and maybe run a bit wild.  I expect we'll see more experimentation in this area but, for now, this feels like a missed opportunity.
I don't care how nice a guy Jamal Mayers may be - he has to stop saying "Jarmalson".

One Hawks player was not beige tonight.  Scott Darling wasn't tested much in the first half of the game but he earned his keep and then some in the early part of the third period alone.  No Darling = no win tonight, and the best backup in the league keeps rolling...