Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Something-Somethings: Hawks 4, Wild 3

The NBC crew were eager to pitch this match up as "The Hawks' most important game of the year" which, at first, sounded pretty hyperbolic to me.  Given the outcome, it was an important game, but more important for Minnesota than for The Hawks.
Much was said about The Wild having caught and passed The Hawks in the divisional standings, as well as their eight-game winning streak vs, Chicago so, yeah, on the surface it could appear like a must-win situation.  The truth of the matter, I believe, is that having failed this test will have greater impact than a Wild win would have had on either team.
Hawks lose: it's another midwinter game where they didn't give enough of a shit.  Business as usual, really.
Wild lose: their eight game streak of dominance ends and, with playoffs only two months away, The Wild receive a reminder that, when it really matters, The Hawks have their number.

Anyway, here are The Bits.
The Hawks had a little trouble with the officiating tonight. It's not on purpose, of course, and it's just going to happen, sometimes, but they could not get a break from those guys until the final moments. Parise's goal...I don't know.  I understand the explanation in relation to how the rules on goal reviews work, but come on - they peered at this play for nine minutes and still declare it "inconclusive"?  I wish they would just have the stones to make a decision and not have this "inconclusive" option.  Or, better yet, trust the on-ice officials to make the call and stand by it.  It was good enough for the first 90 years of the league, after all.
Additionlly, the call on Rasmussen was soft, as was the lack of a call when Staal fouled Hjalmarsson just prior to Haula's goal (without mentioning Keith and Anisimov making a mess of their coverage).  Only the call on Suter in OT went The Hawks' way, and they probably wouldn't have made that call had Suter not gone overboard with his molestation of Hossa, 'cos you know the officials really aren't too keen on calling penalties during the bonus round.
I complained about Schmaltz's positioning in the last game but, tonight, if only just for an instant, he was exactly where he needed to be.  It's possible that Kempny's deep pinch had some Wild players thinking that he was one of the forwards, 'cos there were no green sweaters anywhere near Nicky-Boy while he slipped downrange to redirect Toews' pass.
Coach Q pretty much rolled four lines when he didn't have a spot wasted by Tootoo, so no line juggling to worry about.  It helped, also, that The Hawks didn't take many penalties and therefore did not upset the line rotation much at all.
That said, Hinostroza wasn't great.  His pass to set up the first goal was excellent but, apart from that, he played like he always seems to after he's been a healthy scratch - frantically and desperately - which is usually not productive.  
Kempny was his usual mixed bag of very good with a dash or two of WTF?  Still a better choice than Forsling at this time, though.
Anisimov struggled, gacking passes, turning the wrong way at the wrong time and seemed to have the puck in his feet a lot.  He posted 34% Corsi at ES which is about how it looked, but what's weird is that Kane and Panarin had 53% and 62% Corsi, respectively.  They couldn't have been playing apart from Anisimov that much, to end up with a 20-30% spread, could they?  I would gladly inspect the shift chart to confirm on deny this but NHL.com is still a piece of crap.  He seemed to be up against Koivu a lot of the time but NHL.com is still a piece of crap.

At the end of it, The Hawks played alright - not perfect by any means, and they got slapped around a bit in the possession game, but they had roughly the same number of quality chances that The Wild did.  Similarly, the best Hawk tonight didn't have a perfect game either, sometimes not quite having the hands to finish what he started, but he never stopped digging, never stopped trying.  Tonight, Stormare's steely glare falls upon Johnny Toews.

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.

One Period Does Not A Game Make (Unless You Happen to be in Arizona): Hawks 4, Coyotes 3

Aaaand we're back after taking the last three games off which, as it turns out, appears to have been just as well since The Hawks took those games off, too.  Bygones - there's plenty to complain about tonight, even with the W.
The Hawks limped into PHX, licking their wounds from three straight losses, their longest streak without a point this season, with an opportunity to regain some confidence and maintain their place in the standings.  The Coyotes are woeful, really, really bad, with what amounts to a second a line and three fourth lines.  The last time these teams met it was a landslide for The Hawks, so another slamdunk game could have been the necessary tonic for the guys to get their mojo back.
Yet, the only success I can see is that The Hawks came away with two points.

The first period was wonderful, but it's just a memory, now.  The Hawks rolled four lines and all four units generated great chances.  Goals by Kane, Hartman and Hossa staked Chicago to a 3-0 lead after the first,  outshooting PHX 14-6 along the way.
Then the wheels fell off.

Being shorthanded consecutively on three delay of game calls was a bit fluky, as were the two of the three goals The Hawks surrendered in the second period, I'll grant them that, but the lack of response to the tide turning as it did was pretty pathetic.  Only a couple of nifty plays by Kane and Anisimov enabled Panarin to score the eventual game winner, and even that was made possible by the eternally feckless Ryan White.  The spate of penalties completely upset The Hawks' rhythm, as they were no longer rolling all four lines and, with the game as close as it had then become, Coach Q shortened the bench, anyway, seemingly forgetting the handful of excellent shifts that the Dez - Kero - Hartman trio turned in during the first period.  And to what effect?  The players that did play generated fewer shots in two periods than they did in the first.

A Few Bits:
While Nick Schmaltz is not lacking skill he simply has no idea where he needs to be.  His positional play is abysmal and, aside from a couple of occasions in which he was carrying the puck, really set back his linemates.  As it was, he, Toews and Panik were buried possession-wise.  I hope and expect that this experiment is nearing its end.
TVR was a disaster, yet again.  My "favourite" TVR moment was when a linesman waved off an icing call, probably under the impression that TVR wasn't making enough of an effort to chase down the puck when, in reality, Mr. 57-Varieties-of-Awful was moving at what is, for him, pretty much full chat.  Sickening.
Kruger, at least, had an inspired night, with a great stick on the forecheck and I loved his unexpected shot on net after he won a faceoff by pushing the puck forward.

I guess I have to do this, eh?  Alright, by dint of scoring the game winner and for his sharp pass to spring Hossa for his excellent PPG, Small Arthur gets the grudging nod.

Despite the victory I cannot help but feel this was a missed opportunity, as I'm not sure that The Hawks got that injection of confidence that they so desperately require right now.  Let's just hope that such a close-run game against the league's worst team doesn't have the opposite effect.

Probably Not The Right Place Midwinter Break

In a perfect world this week's activities would have coincided with The Hawks' midwinter break but, alas, The NHL Scheduling Dept. failed to respond to my request.

As it is, I'm busy with my father's 80th birthday celebrations this week.  I didn't even realize The Hawks played last night (and, by the looks of the boxscore, perhaps that's just as well).

We'll catch up, soon enough.

One Minute Away From a Proper Trouncing: Hawks 4, Canucks 2

Alright, before anyone gets too excited, let's just remind ourselves that this was The Canucks and that they're garbage.
On the other hand, results aside, Jonathan Toews having a dominant performance this evening IS pretty exciting.
I'll offer one other point / counterpoint before I rack out: Corey Crawford wasn't great.  Not awful, but far from tip-top, and he was fortunate on a few occasions, such as when one of The Creepy Twins missed the net with 4+ feet of mesh in full view, as well as a couple of pucks that he failed to track but hit him, regardless,
On the other hand, Kempny had a few minutes that were exactly what has sometimes kept him on the outside looking in and, tonight, had him benched for much of the third period.  On the flip of his unarguably dumb penalty and being completely pantsed by Horvat, he had an otherwise pretty good game.  As a Very Smart Guy I once knew used to say, though, "It takes ten 'attaboys' to make up for one 'oh shit'", and that's what went down for Kemps tonight.

Well, duh.

Wicked Something: Hawks 1, Bruins 0

Once again, The Hawks were outshot, outskated and struggled mightily at the dot, yet came away with a fortunate victory.  In contrast to their usual scheme, though, which is to start alright, have a crap second period and see what happens in the third, The Hawks got marginally better as the game wore on.  I'm not sure that's important.
As has been the case so many times in games in which The Hawks struggled to compete it was a series of "small" plays, base hits rather than home runs, that led to their one and only goal; a turnover forced by a defenseman, followed by a hard charge up-ice, two short, accurate passes and the trailing winger has most of the net to shoot at.  Sounds like a vintage Keith-to-Kane-to-Toews-to-Hossa kind of play, doesn't it?  Well, part of that is right, as this play began with Michal Kempny pinching off Frank Vatrano and chipping the puck ahead to Vinnie Hinostroza who made The Bruins blue line in about a second, swerved around a Bruin or two as well as his linemate, Kero, who somehow ended up ahead of Vinnie Hinnie to the right of the net.  Hinostroza hits Kero with a short pass and Kero quickly goes cross-crease to Hossa.  Bingo.
Of course this is not suggesting that Kero & Hino are the next Kane & Toews - it just pleases me immensely that, in a game in which the Old Boys couldn't get much done, it was the young fellas putting on a tribute act that got them the win.  They're not always going to be able to pull that off so let's just take it when we can get it.
Da Bits:
Tanner Kero has had three pretty good games in a row.  I'm not ready to say he's The Answer, but he may be better than I had at first envisioned, and certainly greater than the sum of his parts.  Overall, he didn't have the best night, as his line was trounced possession-wise, but he still managed to do some good things.
The Bruins appear to be in a similar position as The Hawks in that they have a handful of dependable veterans, a couple of very fine Young Fellas and a bunch of Guys.  On this night our Guys were better than their guys and almost everyone else was incidental.
Kane & The Arthurs were an utter non-event for the second game running. They held the puck a lot, actually, but didn't create much in the way of quality chances.  Apart from on the power plays they weren't hitting their passes very well and, even then, they weren't great in that department.  It felt like a lot of cycling, cycling, cycling and then no one open or in position for a pass.  One more game like this and I'll bet we see this line shaken up.
Michal Kempny had an eventful evening, with a roughly equal amount of solid plays and WTF plays. About once each week, it seems, he floats a pass to absolutely no one.  Happily, that and a couple of other goofy things, did not get him stapled to the bench, as he had a very solid second half of the game and, as mentioned, started the play that resulted in the goal.
Ryan Hartman is doing just fine, in general, but he HAS to stop it with the shots from on or behind the goal line.

Hossa was there when he was most needed and Vinnie Hinnie and Kero did some neat stuff to set him up, but a handful of decent shifts is not enough to impress our Swedish friend.  Think back to the first period when Boston was chucking like mad and The Hawks D couldn't clear a rebound to save their lives....Scott Darling kept The Hawks in it with a chance to win it.

A Couple of Young Men, Running Wild In The Mountains: Hawks 6, Avalanche 4

Oh, good gosh, that shouldn't have been so difficult.  LUCKILY, Coach Q tinkered with his forward lines a little and found THE ANSWER.
Well, that's probably not true, but it worked tonight, barely.
Real Quick BITS:
Corey Crawford made a few very good saves and, I believe, played better than his stat line suggests.  No chance there on Duchene's tip-in, maybe a bit too deep in the net for Comeau's and Duchene's second (although he had a recovering Kempny confusing matters) and, although Nieto's tally was probably savable, if Seabrook doesn't cough the puck up in the first place....
The Second Period continues to be The Hawks' nap time as, yet again, a strong first was followed by an indifferent effort in the middle frame.  As frustrating as it is for viewers to behold it's probably causing Q ulcers, spastic colon, etc.
The Avalanche made what appeared at first to be some odd deployment decisions, pitting their top two lines against The Hawks top two units whenever possible, it seemed.  Mistakes and power plays aside, Colorado only really saw those lines get their chances when they were not facing the Toews or Anisimov lines.  Meanwhile, however, The Hawks' bottom six absolutely kicked in the teeth of their Avs' counterparts, with the Moose - Dez - Schmaltz trio dominating to the tune of 80%+ Corsi.  I guess, then, that this is all Colorado has; if their bottom six are gonna get pummeled like this by The Hawks' "Guys" it's sure to be even more of a mess if it's left to them to try to shut down Chicago's scoring lines.  They did what they could with what they have.
That said, Kane and The Arthurs could only put together intermittent bursts of pressure and Toews' line was rather haphazard, creating occasional chances on mainly individual efforts, yet not really working as a unit.
Hossa only seemed to warm up to his new linemates in the second half of the game, just kind of doing his own thing until then, and he managed to tally three secondary assists, but...

...the heavy lifting was done by Tanner Kero and Vinnie Hinostroza.  Kero scored his first on merit of good positioning and being quicker on the rebound than Iginla (who was brutal in every way tonight - take note, Stan Bowman) and, later, made an outstanding pass to Vinnie Hinnie to give The Hawks the lead for good.  For his part, Hinostroza was at his charging, darting best, and managed to combine that with some great finish.  In a dead heat for St. Stormare's affection, Vinnie edges out Kero.