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Cue Chelsea Dagger, the Blackhawks have nearly clinched their 4th straight playoff berth* after another goalie peppering, this time against the St. Louis Blues.
The Blackhawks outshot the Blues 40-20 in the game and eventually beating the #1 team in the league in a 4-2 shootout win.
Corey Crawford was able to keep the puck out of the net on all four Blues attempts in the shootout with a little bit of help from his goal posts. Although he was only challenged with 20 shots in the game, he was able to come up large when it counted by making key saves at the right time. Another interesting stat: Corey Crawford's career .792 SV% in the shootout (38-of-48) leads all active NHL netminders. However, the real story of the game came at the other end of the rink where Jaroslav Halak weathered the onslaught of pucks that the Blackhawks fired towards him, but could not come up with the final save in the shootout.
Unlike the Devils game, the Blackhawks line of Sharp, Kruger, and Stalberg dominated the game on another level, while the rest of the team was able to dominate in their own right throughout the game. More specifically, Sharp and Stalberg showed moments of brilliance and possibly one of their best games as a duo together. They were able to generate 13 shots as well as 3 hits and plus-2 rating between the two of them. To put that in perspective, they accounted for 32.5% of the shots generated by an entire team of 18 skaters.
On the negative side, the power-play saw it's struggles once again, but they finally fired a shot on goal after their destruction of eight straight power-plays without a single shot hitting the net. On the other end of the spectrum, the penalty-kill has continued to do an excellent job shutting down opportunities while shorthanded.
The most spectacular play of the night did not result in a goal, or even a shot on net. Marian Hossa stripped the puck on the forecheck and slid his way behind the net for a centering pass that found it's way back to Hossa, hopped off his stick and he got off a clean backhand attempt picking it out of the air that just missed the net wide. Had it gone in, it probably would have been the play of the year.
Although Shaw is not one of the Blackhawks three stars for the game, he also had a memorable game that deserves an honorable mention. His 5 hits on the night led the team while also blocking 2 shots and gaining a plus-1 rating. Regardless, statistics do not do justice to explain his contributions.
Another honorable mention related to the Blackhawks turnaround has to be Joel Quenneville. Despite the criticism Quenneville has received with the Blackhawks 9-game losing streak and throughout the season, he has adjusted the system and turned around the Blackhawks woes into positives.
As mentioned before, Stalberg and Sharp also had their magical moments of the night including on the Blackhawks third goal. With a 2-on-0 break, Stalberg centered the pass to Sharp where he ripped it past Halak top shelf.
Dave Bolland's shootout winner was also a beauty to be seen after he has gone 0-and-7 for his career shootout attempts.
*Although the Hawks have not mathematically clinched a playoff spot tonight, it is nearly impossible for them miss the post-season. Due to the schedule, the Stars, Sharks and Kings must win out and the Blackhawks must lose out the rest of the season. The reason this is impossible is because the Sharks play the Kings twice as well as the Stars, which means none of these teams can win out the rest of the season.
BLACKHAWKS THREE STARS OF THE GAME
1. Patrick Sharp
2. Viktor Stalberg
3. Dave Bolland
Click here to view the article
The Blackhawks outshot the Blues 40-20 in the game and eventually beating the #1 team in the league in a 4-2 shootout win.
Corey Crawford was able to keep the puck out of the net on all four Blues attempts in the shootout with a little bit of help from his goal posts. Although he was only challenged with 20 shots in the game, he was able to come up large when it counted by making key saves at the right time. Another interesting stat: Corey Crawford's career .792 SV% in the shootout (38-of-48) leads all active NHL netminders. However, the real story of the game came at the other end of the rink where Jaroslav Halak weathered the onslaught of pucks that the Blackhawks fired towards him, but could not come up with the final save in the shootout.
Unlike the Devils game, the Blackhawks line of Sharp, Kruger, and Stalberg dominated the game on another level, while the rest of the team was able to dominate in their own right throughout the game. More specifically, Sharp and Stalberg showed moments of brilliance and possibly one of their best games as a duo together. They were able to generate 13 shots as well as 3 hits and plus-2 rating between the two of them. To put that in perspective, they accounted for 32.5% of the shots generated by an entire team of 18 skaters.
On the negative side, the power-play saw it's struggles once again, but they finally fired a shot on goal after their destruction of eight straight power-plays without a single shot hitting the net. On the other end of the spectrum, the penalty-kill has continued to do an excellent job shutting down opportunities while shorthanded.
The most spectacular play of the night did not result in a goal, or even a shot on net. Marian Hossa stripped the puck on the forecheck and slid his way behind the net for a centering pass that found it's way back to Hossa, hopped off his stick and he got off a clean backhand attempt picking it out of the air that just missed the net wide. Had it gone in, it probably would have been the play of the year.
Although Shaw is not one of the Blackhawks three stars for the game, he also had a memorable game that deserves an honorable mention. His 5 hits on the night led the team while also blocking 2 shots and gaining a plus-1 rating. Regardless, statistics do not do justice to explain his contributions.
Another honorable mention related to the Blackhawks turnaround has to be Joel Quenneville. Despite the criticism Quenneville has received with the Blackhawks 9-game losing streak and throughout the season, he has adjusted the system and turned around the Blackhawks woes into positives.
As mentioned before, Stalberg and Sharp also had their magical moments of the night including on the Blackhawks third goal. With a 2-on-0 break, Stalberg centered the pass to Sharp where he ripped it past Halak top shelf.
Dave Bolland's shootout winner was also a beauty to be seen after he has gone 0-and-7 for his career shootout attempts.
*Although the Hawks have not mathematically clinched a playoff spot tonight, it is nearly impossible for them miss the post-season. Due to the schedule, the Stars, Sharks and Kings must win out and the Blackhawks must lose out the rest of the season. The reason this is impossible is because the Sharks play the Kings twice as well as the Stars, which means none of these teams can win out the rest of the season.
BLACKHAWKS THREE STARS OF THE GAME
1. Patrick Sharp
2. Viktor Stalberg
3. Dave Bolland
Click here to view the article
