[A] Hawks Sharp Against Sharks: CHI 3, SJS 2 (OT)

[Ton]

Maybe not so sharp in the first two periods, but the Blackhawks dominated the final frame along with OT and pulled together and get another home win (9-2-3).



Ray Emery was able to hold to fort, making 31 saves on 33 shots in the first two periods (35-for-37 overall) while the Blackhawks were able to turn things around by steamrolling the Sharks in the 3rd period by out-shooting them 16-3, tying the game in the final minute and putting them away in OT.



Marian Hossa was another key factor in the win in primarily assisting on the game-tying goal as well as the game winner. Sharp grabbed his 2nd game-winning goal in a row (4 total) for his 16th of the year.



Although they weren't the only factors tonight, it's only appropriate that all three of them are recognized as the Blackhawks Stars Of The Game for the 2nd night in a row.



Marcus Kruger tipped his 3rd goal of the year off a Nik Hjalmarsson shot and Andrew Brunette grabbed his 7th of the year by tipping Marian Hossa's shot near the final minute of the 3rd period to tie the game.



Kruger has seen his ice-time spike in the last 15 games and finally rewarded himself with a goal, breaking his drought of 17 games. Although his production has been sparse, his effectiveness in all three zones certainly has been noticed and rewarded with a promotion to the 2nd line.



KEYS TO THE WIN



Oh baby! It's a girl: The baby poppers have continued to dominate, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp both becoming fathers this season. Must be something to do with skipping the pre-game naps. MOAR BABIES PLZ!



Back-upset: Ray Emery is not only outplaying current Blackhawk goaltender Corey Crawford... but he decided to put together a solid performance against the former Cup winning goaltender - Antti Niemi - as well and upset the offensively gifted Sharks by limiting them to 2 goals.



Defense! (clap clap clap): Oh, I forgot this was about good positive things. Nope, the Blackhawks defensive game was not impressive by any means... but they say the best defense is offense. Taking over the third period with their puck possession game had Blackhawks fans reminiscing about the 2010 Cup year.





BLACKHAWKS STARS OF THE GAME



1. Marian Hossa

2. Patrick Sharp

3. Ray Emery



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[howcho]

Hardly sharp in this game but we will take the win. Hawks bailed one out that they should have lost.

 

[Ton]

Wasn't a 60 minute effort but I thought they dominated the 3rd period and OT.

 

[howcho]

They salvaged a very poor effort in my opinion. Emory should have been first star the way he kept them in the game. Wow did we look sluggish. SJ totally outworked us on the boards, the team had very little fight in them. Do you think maybe they had a few too many pops with Sharpie celebrating the newborn? I was thinking it has to be that or they all have the flu. We did dominate the OT which I was obviously happy to see.



And once again, TCD and I see things about the same, Lepisto looked very poor out there, hell he fell down twice without reason.



Why didn't Clowe get a penalty to start OT? I thought a roughing minor was justified. He needs to be tuned next time we meet.

 

[Tater]

They salvaged a very poor effort in my opinion. Emory should have been first star the way he kept them in the game. Wow did we look sluggish. SJ totally outworked us on the boards, the team had very little fight in them. Do you think maybe they had a few too many pops with Sharpie celebrating the newborn? I was thinking it has to be that or they all have the flu. We did dominate the OT which I was obviously happy to see.



And once again, TCD and I see things about the same, Lepisto looked very poor out there, hell he fell down twice without reason.

Yeah, I really want to like the guy and hope plays well but tonight he looked brutal.



Why didn't Clowe get a penalty to start OT? I thought a roughing minor was justified. He needs to be tuned next time we meet.



He needs the John Scott/Winchester treatment. How many punches did he throw with a glove on with no call?

Shit officiating, they just didn't want to call much on the Sharts.

 

[Tater]

At this point, I'd rather see Montador with Toews/Kane over Stalberg.



Good game by Emery.



Great game by Hossa and Mayers.

 

[mikita's helmet]

Still can't believe that Clowe didn't get a penalty to start the OT. Nice for the Hawks to get 2 points when they were a minute away from getting 0.

 

[mikita's helmet]

Hardly sharp in this game.

Sharp was sharp.

 

[mikita's helmet]

Why didn't Clowe get a penalty to start OT? I thought a roughing minor was justified. He needs to be tuned next time we meet.

Multiple punches with his glove on and drawing blood. unbelievable that there was no call.

 

[Pez68]

They salvaged a very poor effort in my opinion. Emory should have been first star the way he kept them in the game. Wow did we look sluggish. SJ totally outworked us on the boards, the team had very little fight in them. Do you think maybe they had a few too many pops with Sharpie celebrating the newborn? I was thinking it has to be that or they all have the flu. We did dominate the OT which I was obviously happy to see.



And once again, TCD and I see things about the same, Lepisto looked very poor out there, hell he fell down twice without reason.



Why didn't Clowe get a penalty to start OT? I thought a roughing minor was justified. He needs to be tuned next time we meet.

Poor 40 minutes, but the Hawks absolutely dominated the 3rd period and OT. If not for Niemi, the Hawks probably score 4 goals in the third. They earned the win with how badly they outplayed the Sharks to finish the game.

 

[the canadian dream]

I thought both teams defensive games were bad tonight. Emery and Niemi were both difference makers for their teams. I also think the Hawks were outplayed on the physical end but hey they came out with a big 2 points scoring when it mattered most.



I don't like Lepsito's game at all from what I have seen so far. He's not good at either end of the rink (maybe it's being benched for so long then playing here and there?). Montador needs a better partner.

I am starting to have my Stalberg concerns a bit more during this slump of his. I have LW concerns. If this team at any point this season loses Sharp we are in trouble (touch wood). I still like Stalberg but he needs to finish glorious chances like he had tonight. Please Stan go pry Ruutu out of the Canes hands. He is the LW we need.

Q's line juggling actually worked in the 3rd period.



Now that the Mule has signed up for IHN my life is ruined!!!

 

[Ton]

I'm not frustrated with Stalberg as much as I'm frustrated with Q.



Why did he start taking him off the 1st line in the last 4-5 games? As soon as he started fucking with his ice-time and playing musical lines with him, he started slumping...



In the last 2 games Stalberg has played the majority of his ice-time on the 4th line. Then the PHX game he played mostly with TK (gets an assist). The two games before that again he was on the 4th line for the majority of the time.



Way to put out the fire on a hot player.



You can't keep fucking with the LW's by switching their lines every period - in this case Carcillo was the LW with TK for the majority of the game (18%) with spades of Stalberg (8% of the game at even-strength), Sharp (3%), and Smith (1%). If Q gives consistency, they will follow! The fact is, the times Stalberg was with TK they were creating so many chances, it's bound to go in... but nope. Take him off that line and put Carcillo in there to kill it, I can't remember any chances that Carcillo was involved in. Stalberg creates space and the chances flow when he is out there -- and if I'm not mistaken Hossa is notorious for missing great opportunities (I can come up with numerous examples) as well but no one says anything about him. The important thing is that the opportunities are there and the more chances created means more chances the puck will go in.

 

[mikita's helmet]

Poor 40 minutes, but the Hawks absolutely dominated the 3rd period and OT. If not for Niemi, the Hawks probably score 4 goals in the third. They earned the win with how badly they outplayed the Sharks to finish the game.

The Sharks got worn down. Them playing last night didn't hurt the Hawks any, either.

 

[PatrickSharpRules]

Have a shit ton of work with finals and couldn't find a link so I missed this game, but I'm being reminded of a couple of years ago with this team. We are still winning games when its seems we have no business doing so. To me thats the mark of a very good team, right now we just need to find our stride and keep it there.



Also, I change my name after 5 years of holding onto Patricksharprules to the acronym, and Sharp immediately pots two OT winners. Start changing your names *******.

 

[the canadian dream]

I want to like Lepisto too Tater. Maybe he needs more constant games in a row to fully grasp the Hawks game and fit himself in? Could be the case. He was horrible tonight though in my opinion. Messy even. btw him and O'Donell I am not sure which one I prefer at the moment. Probably O'Donell but not by much. Lepisto does look like he needs more games but he hasn't really done much to earn them. I don't mind Scott but he can't play enough minutes.



I would love a constant partner for Montadore though. I think it would help our defense and Montadore himself if there were a consistent #6. So who ever they choose to play there I hope they keep him there for a good handful of games. OR...It's a spot I think the Hawks could sort out via a trade rather easily and cheaply.

 

[roshinaya]

Hawks were outworked for 40 minutes, but put on their workingboots in the third and just barely managed to tie it up. Would it not have been for the strong play form both goalies the result would be many more goals. Hawks dominated the OT and deservedly got the win. Good job.

 

[Ton]

I want to like Lepisto too Tater. Maybe he needs more constant games in a row to fully grasp the Hawks game and fit himself in? Could be the case. He was horrible tonight though in my opinion. Messy even. btw him and O'Donell I am not sure which one I prefer at the moment. Probably O'Donell but not by much. Lepisto does look like he needs more games but he hasn't really done much to earn them. I don't mind Scott but he can't play enough minutes.



I would love a constant partner for Montadore though. I think it would help our defense and Montadore himself if there were a consistent #6. So who ever they choose to play there I hope they keep him there for a good handful of games. OR...It's a spot I think the Hawks could sort out via a trade rather easily and cheaply.

This is why someone like Gleason would be a perfect fit. IMO he's a top 4 d-man (not a monster but capable of eating minutes) but if he's playing on our bottom pairing more power to us... the upside is if he plays well enough maybe we can slot Hammer in the 5-6 spot. Definitely would give us some options and really good depth.

 

[supraman]

I'm not frustrated with Stalberg as much as I'm frustrated with Q.



Why did he start taking him off the 1st line in the last 4-5 games? As soon as he started fucking with his ice-time and playing musical lines with him, he started slumping...



In the last 2 games Stalberg has played the majority of his ice-time on the 4th line. Then the PHX game he played mostly with TK (gets an assist). The two games before that again he was on the 4th line for the majority of the time.



Way to put out the fire on a hot player.



You can't keep fucking with the LW's by switching their lines every period - in this case Carcillo was the LW with TK for the majority of the game (18%) with spades of Stalberg (8% of the game at even-strength), Sharp (3%), and Smith (1%). If Q gives consistency, they will follow! The fact is, the times Stalberg was with TK they were creating so many chances, it's bound to go in... but nope. Take him off that line and put Carcillo in there to kill it, I can't remember any chances that Carcillo was involved in. Stalberg creates space and the chances flow when he is out there -- and if I'm not mistaken Hossa is notorious for missing great opportunities (I can come up with numerous examples) as well but no one says anything about him. The important thing is that the opportunities are there and the more chances created means more chances the puck will go in.

We've already established that Q is a fucking moron and hurts more than he helps.

 

[bierboy]

At this point, I'd rather see Montador with Toews/Kane over Stalberg....

Why? He's a D-man...



...or maybe that's your point?

 

[bierboy]

Who to dump -- Lah-piss-toe, Montador, Bickell, Scott, maybe O'Donnell



They all SUCK