Minnesota played their typical solid defensive structure last night and managed enough goals to win the game 3-2. Although the Wild were held to 18 shots they were the first team to 3 and on many nights that will be good enough for them to snatch two points from their opponents.

The defensive structure that the Wild employs especially in their zone does allow for some shots but very few rebounds, at least that was the case last night. What the defensively sound Wild does not allow are many good scoring chances. Last night the Hawks had 36 shots on goal but very few solid scoring opportunities.

Niklas Backstrom is too good to beat from 35 or 40 feet out if there isn’t traffic and a good screen in front of him. The Hawks were down near the paint on many occasions but really never disrupted the Wild’s keeper enough to create a problem for him.

Once again the Hawks provided the home team crowd with some great theater.

The boys generated a lot of shots, had a few nice passing plays, some 3rd period thrills unfortunately all of which lead up to another road loss. The Hawks have played four road games and are a dismal 0-3-1, while scoring a total of nine goals. Another disturbing issue this season is the Hawks so far have always been on the short end of one goal games.

I will start with the positive.

Last night Patrick Kane skated with more determination then I have seen this year. He was accelerating and heading for the net with conviction. Kane did not have a point to show for his 7 shots on goal but the effort was obvious. There is no doubt if he keeps skating the way he was last night good fortune will follow.

The trio of Bolland, Byfuglien and Ladd accounted for 7 shots on goal and were skating hard the whole night. Once again no goals to show for their effort but they created some chances and looked more cohesive as a line. The most important result of their play yesterday is that none of them were in the minus column. They held their end up defensively which was great to see. Bolland unfortunately was not very good at the dot again as he won only 4 of 13 draws.

Sharp had 5 shots and Havlat 3, as both continue to play with a lot of jump. Havlat was creating chances and Sharp played a solid game once again. Sharp was also tough at the dot with a 56% winning percentage.

Now let’s consider the not so good.

Brian Campbell has been a great addition this season and last night we saw both good and bad from him. Campbell is a show onto himself with the puck. He can skate like the wind and has great vision which allows him to create scoring chances because of his terrific passing.

It was Campbell’s creativity which helped lead to the Sharp’ goal last night. After that nice pass the rest of his night was forgettable.

Andrew Brunette caught Brian not being very alert as he found himself wide open at the side of the crease for the Wilds first goal.

I love watching the spin-a-rama but Brian can put that one away for awhile and save it for special occasions. He almost always gets away with the fancy move but when you do it on a nightly basis it is just a matter of time before you look bad because of it.

The Wilds Antti Miettinen was the beneficiary of Campbell's spin-a-rama turnover as he notched the Wilds second tally. Campbell was also on the ice when Minnesota scored the game winner. I can’t blame him for the Burns score as I did not see a back checking Blackhawk winger in the picture at all on that goal.

I don’t want to imply this loss should be hung on Campbell.

He has been much better defensively than I thought he would be since coming to the Hawks. Even though Campbell had a difficult evening he still logged 28 minutes of ice time. When a player is on the ice as frequently as Campbell he is bound to make a few mistakes and have a difficult game now and then.

Quenneville made a comment the other day about the ice time Campbell and Keith have been getting. The message I got was that both have been playing more than they will in the future because the Hawks have not had a heavy work load. I believe Campbell and Keith would benefit if their ice time averaged only about 25-26 minutes a night. The Hawks are just at the beginning of a very long and demanding campaign. If the rest of the Hawk defenders can improve their play Quenneville will have an opportunity to better spread the ice time around for Hawk blueliners.

Unfortunately I still have not witnessed a top notch effort from Cristobal Huet since he arrived here. He was ok in one start and did appear to be getting more confident but that was not apparent yesterday.

As was described last night by Ed Olczyk, Huet appeared to lose his net on the 3rd Wild goal. It wouldn’t have been an easy play but Huet was out of position to defend against the Brunette’s pass to Burns.

Unfortunately so far he seems to make everything look more difficult than it should be. Huet was assisted last night on a few occasions because the Wild missed the net or hit the post on some good chances. I don’t believe Huet has done enough to be a positive difference.

Throughout the NHL on many occasions goal keeping is the difference between wining and losing. The Wild, for example would have a very difficult time making the Playoffs if they did not have the special goal keeping of Backstrom. I think the same can be said for the Blackhawks, they need top goal keeping to be able to march into the Playoffs.

Huet has yet to look like a special goal keeper.

Huet is often not square to the shooter and still has trouble handling the puck. He does not appear “big” in the net and when he gives up a goal he often looks statue like. After Campbell’s turnover, stopping Miettinen on the Wild’s odd man rush could have been a turning point in the contest. To keep the game tied after a give away would have bolstered the spirit of the team. That was not to be the case as Huet got beat with a soft shot and then looked like a deer in head lights.

Khabibulin has been better but he too was guilty of allowing a soft first goal against Detroit. It has to be remembered the Wings did have 44 shots on goal and close to 14 minutes of Power Play time in that game. Khabibulin has performed better against the Wings in the past but he did give the Hawks a chance to win the game on Saturday.

This season Khabibulin has recorded a .919 save percentage. Huet has achieved a .894 save percentage during his 4 games as a Hawk netminder this year. Above .900 is considered ok but the top keepers usually achieve .930 or .940 save percentage.

Backstrom is among league leaders with a .932 save percentage with 7 games splayed. Khabby does rank tenth in the NHL while Huet is twelfth. At first blush both Khabibulin and Huet appear to have respectable save percentages.

What should be noted is that Huet in 243 minutes of playing time spanning four games has faced only 104 shots. Khabibulin in five appearances has seen 160 shots which shows he has been more strongly tested. For example, the Sens Alex Auld has played in four games like Huet, but he has faced 128 shots.

When considering shots on goal to playing time Huet’s performances appear even more suspect. Huet ranks near the bottom when comparing shots against while also factoring in playing time. Maybe Huet gets stronger as his workload increases. For now he has only faced a total of 104 shots against in his four outings.

Cam Ward in four games has faced 152 shots with a .914 save percentage.

How many more goals would have been scored against Huet if his average shots against per game were closer to 36 rather than 26?

I don’t know the exact answer but his GAA would probably be over 3.00…….more trouble maybe.

I had to chuckle when I heard a reference to the Hawks goal keeping situation as being a “luxury”. It may appear that way from the outside but in fact that has not been the case. If anything Huet has not been nearly as good as advertised and Khabibulin has been better, although not great. I don’t see any real edge provided by the two vets this season and Huet has just been average at best.

I hope you see my point… for the Hawks to progress Huet has to get better. He has to be a difference maker but so far he has just coasted along. The Hawks may not be good enough to consistently win with only average goal keeping. So far that appears to be the case.

According to TSN.CA, there are 14 goal keepers who face at least 30 shots each game who have better stats than Huet. Khabibulin is also in that group of more tested goal keepers.

For his entire career not including this season, Huet has a .918 save percentage to go along with a 2.44 GAA…not too shabby at all.

It is too early to be really worried that Huet won’t revert to his old form. The season is young but I can’t help feeling concerned.


Al’s Shots

In their last two games the Hawks have had 77 shots on goal…..with only 1 point to show for their efforts.

The Hawks did not play very physical against the Wild. The Hawks were credited with only 6 hits while the Wild had 14.

Good teams find a way to win without top players in the lineup. The Wild have not missed a beat without Gaborik. Maybe they will trade him sooner than later if they can’t come to new contract terms.

Barker got only 13:35 in ice time but he had a decent game. He seemed to be somewhat more aggressive.

Johnson's ice time was cut down to 10:20 while Sopel logged in at 15:25.

Kane led all offensive players with 23:54 in total ice time.

Toews played almost 23 minutes but had only 1 shot on goal. He won 61% of his faceoff but was a minus 2 for the evening.

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