[A] Hawks Downed in Toews' Return: CHI 2, PHX 3 OT

[Ton]

Jonathan Toews got the Blackhawks going early with a crappy backhander that happened to squeeze past Mike Smith, but the pressure was not sustained for long as the Coyotes battled back with a bit of help from the officials on a missed TMM call.



Look, I'm not going to sit here and complain about the officials because things happen; however, that was a blatantly missed call that did lead to the Blackhawks getting pinned in their own zone ultimately resulting in a Niklas Hjalmarsson brain fart that ended up in the back of the net. Of course if the game wasn't so close (taking half an overtime to decide) everything I've said would be moot point. But it was close; the call did matter, and it certainly cost the Blackhawks.



Regardless, the Blackhawks had their own troubles they need to sort out before game two. The Coyotes were able to sustain stretches of pressure by pinning the Blackhawks in their own zone for a good portion of the game, forcing the Hawks to ice the puck several times. Corey Crawford received the brunt of the load with multiple save efforts in a matter of seconds but his net presence still wasn't enough for the offense to muster another goal.

Random thought: Why did Joel Quenneville play Dylan Olsen for 25+ straight games to end the season, only to opt for Sean O'Donnell in the playoffs? I get it though, both are physical, both are slothy, and there is only one difference between them and it's experience.



Although there were certainly plenty of negatives in the game to harp on (ermm, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa... hello?) there were also plenty of positives that the Blackhawks can take from this one. For one, we already mentioned Jonathan Toews returning and scoring a goal. Brent Seabrook also had a stat sheet stuffing night and rocked the entire night with 1 goal, 7 shots, 6 hits, 2 blocked shots, plus-1 rating, and just over 30 minutes of ice-time. That's half the game folks. Andrew Shaw was another huge factor in the Blackhawks loss, although he was unable to gain a point the kid was involved in all areas of the ice, which is always nice to see from the rookie. On the left side, Patrick Kane was able to contribute with 2 assists on the night... a move that was questioned by many in Chicago that has seemed to have worked out for the time being. The question now, can Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp get going?



Pre-Game Prediction: CHI 2, PHX 4

Post-Game Outcome: CHI 2, PHX 3



BLACKHAWKS THREE STARS OF THE GAME



1. Brent Seabrook

2. Jonathan Toews

3. Andrew Shaw



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[the canadian dream]

get em on saturday.



cant dwell on that one there is no time.

 

[roshinaya]

Phoenix with the more structured and consistent play is what made them the winner tonight. Hawks shot a ton, but very little quality in them, otherwise they looked like a disorganized bunch. Running around in their own zone, making dumb decisions and forcing plays causing Phoenix to get sustained pressure in their zone and causing havoc and a goal. Those icings they kept doing towards the end is just sign of the players not thinking and maybe not even having an idea what to do.



Oh well, get them next game. Glad Toews got that goal early on so he can build of it. That line was unsurprisingly the best one and had the best looks. Shaw also had a good game being in the middle of every little thing that happened over the game. He'll pot a few goals I'm sure.

 

[Pez68]

Brunette and OD dressing was a total fail. If they are dressed Saturday, they need to check Q's blood alcohol level. Though, I would assume he's smoking CRACK at that point, and give him the full arsenal of drug tests. This team is so poorly coached.

 

[Rex]

Brunette and OD dressing was a total fail. If they are dressed Saturday, they need to check Q's blood alcohol level. Though, I would assume he's smoking CRACK at that point, and give him the full arsenal of drug tests. This team is so poorly coached.

Brunette on the 4th line is just Special person to me.



Brunette on the PP is even worse.

 

[roshinaya]

Brunette on the 4th line is just Special person to me.



Brunette on the PP is even worse.

How can it be worse?!

 

[Pez68]

Brunette 3:27 of PP time. Kruger 3:33 of PP time. Bolland eleven seconds. Stalberg zero. Something is very much wrong with this situation, especially when you consider the fact that Kruger can't win a draw to save his life. I don't understand the lineup tonight at all. I really don't.



How is Hayes not infinitely more useful than Brunette? How is Olsen not infinitely better than OD? **** Q.

 

[Rex]

Brunette 3:27 of PP time. Kruger 3:33 of PP time. Bolland eleven seconds. Stalberg zero. Something is very much wrong with this situation, especially when you consider the fact that Kruger can't win a draw to save his life. I don't understand the lineup tonight at all. I really don't.



How is Hayes not infinitely more useful than Brunette? How is Olsen not infinitely better than OD? **** Q.

I didn't have any issue with the first three lines, first two defence pairings, and the goaltender.



That said, you can replace OD with Olsen, and Brunette with Hayes or Frolik any time now.



hate on Frolik all you want, but he has speed, and works in the corners. What more could you ask from a fourth line guy? Those are two things Brunette is lacking at this stage of his career.

 

[the canadian dream]

Stalbergs not much of a set play style forward. Hes better off the rush and with ice to skate around. Im not shocked he doesnt get pp time at all.



I really had little issue with od's game tonight. He wasnt even close to the worst blueliner out there. He actually made a great play to get the puck to craw for the whistle befor hammer fucked it up and gave pyatt the goal. Not saying i want od in as i would much rather see olsen but not sure why the od hate tonight when guys like hammer and oduya were much worse. Looking for excuses to hate the coach can get pretty stretched sometimes. Q made some errors tonight but far less than half the players on the team. Q doesnt lose faceoffs and ice the puck or turn it over. Thats what beat the hawks tonight..it wasnt much on qs head at all.



The only issue i had with q all night was sometimes when the play was opening up and both teams were playing run and gun he didnt utilize stalberg enough. But what can you do when sharp is playing so bad as a linemate?



Anyone see hossa tonight? I didnt.



Maybe a bit of a shift there would have helped a bit? But god forbid q change his lines to get players going. You all throw him to the wolves when he juggles...if anything tonight q might have failed by not doing it when he should have. 3 left handed shots upfront on one line never works. It was evident. Hossa was out of the game as soon as the puck droped. That top lines not going to work with that structure.

 

[Pez68]

The PP is only a set play when the Hawks are on it. You watch other teams, and they are constantly skating around, circling, and shifting around. Stalberg would be useful for puck retrieval, and for getting in front of the net. Anyone is better then Brunette, and Kruger is no PP specialist either.



OD fucked up constantly. I'm not sure what game you were watching, but he threw the puck away the entire game. He got beat to loose pucks the entire game too, and had ZERO physical game. For a guy that played only 10 minutes, he ended up on the ice for two goals against, and was VERY noticeable to me for how poorly he played. A whole shitload of players didn't exactly play well, but come on already with the lineups. The PP units were horseshit, as was the decision to dress OD and Brunette.



Oduya and Hammer were total horseshit too.

 

[equator180]

912 between the pipes will not win a quarter final let alone semi final. The problem all season which hasn't been addressed is between he pipes! I admit he looked better than most games but not good enough

 

[Ton]

Niemi won the Cup with a .910... are you serious right now? Can't tell.

 

[Rex]

Niemi won the Cup with a .910... are you serious right now? Can't tell.

sad thing is, he is being serious. He's putting this loss on Crow.



Just like he does every loss, and doesn't post when we win.

 

[CLWolf81]

sad thing is, he is being serious. He's putting this loss on Crow.



Just like he does every loss, and doesn't post when we win.

This loss in my eyes was partially on Crow when it mattered... That second Phoenix goal could have prevented us from this entire mess... I mean, how can you not block a slapper you can see from the blue line? That's almost up there with the good ol "Beachball", and that's not a reputation I want Craw to have.



Sure that second goal was also on Q's line changing crap, which has already been mentioned, so I won't bring that one up.



Sure, the refs didn't help matters, either, with that non-TMM call which lead to the first Phoenix goal. That crap needs to be called, especially when there are literally 1 ref and 1 lineman near the benches at the time. If you're not going to call that, then get a ref that can make the right call.



All in all, we didn't do as bad as I'd expect, but geezus, these refs were as blind as bats... At least 4 non-calls that I saw tonight.

 

[roshinaya]

Crawford was the least of the Hawks problems and I wouldn't call the second goal a "beachball" type goal. It was a hard accurate slapper that not many goalies could take.

The game showed the difference between a team that has a great system in play and one that doesn't. Even if the going gets tough and the other teams seems to dominate and haven a shooting gallery, having a system to fall back on will most of the time end up winning the game. Phoenix has a style and system that they play, meanwhile the Hawks looks really disorganized and sloppy and just the superior skill is what makes them a threat. Think of how good they could be if they had a proper system that they employed and could execute it to a tee.

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

that sucked

 

[Tater]

Brunette 3:27 of PP time. Kruger 3:33 of PP time. Bolland eleven seconds. Stalberg zero. Something is very much wrong with this situation, especially when you consider the fact that Kruger can't win a draw to save his life. I don't understand the lineup tonight at all. I really don't.



How is Hayes not infinitely more useful than Brunette? How is Olsen not infinitely better than OD? **** Q.

FTW

 

[Chief Walking Stick]

FIRE Q SO WE CAN GET SOME REAL RESULTS IN THESE HERE PLAYOFFS!



**HISSSSS***

 

[whiteevo]

doan...doan...doan. can he be any more deliberate in knocking toews head around? used to like that guy, but the last few seasons all i notice is the bullshit he pulls. maybe i'm just paying attention to him more, i could be wrong.





hawks in 6.

 

[supraman]

Brunette 3:27 of PP time. Kruger 3:33 of PP time. Bolland eleven seconds. Stalberg zero. Something is very much wrong with this situation, especially when you consider the fact that Kruger can't win a draw to save his life. I don't understand the lineup tonight at all. I really don't.



How is Hayes not infinitely more useful than Brunette? How is Olsen not infinitely better than OD? **** Q.

Isn't Bolly typically a rockstar on PP in the playoffs? Also stop having him play D on the PP (that's where I noticed him last). You want Bolly down low in the thick of it, rat thrives on that shit.

912 between the pipes will not win a quarter final let alone semi final. The problem all season which hasn't been addressed is between he pipes! I admit he looked better than most games but not good enough

Did you not see all his big saves??





The hawks had a lot of good offensive plays that just didn't connect for one reason or another.