The Blackhawks faced their younger mirror image, the Colorado Avalanche, last night.
And for 60 hard, fast-paced minutes at the Pepsi Center, the Hawks established themselves as teachers to the Avs' pupils, winning 3-1.
Now, that said, I get the feeling this Avs team is so brash and confident, that they will come into the UC Saturday night fully expecting to win. And because of this, the Hawks should fully expect and prepare for another 60 minute battle.
As I said on the message board thread yesterday afternoon, the key to the game for the Hawks would be keeping the Avs bottled up in their end, forcing turnovers off the forecheck, thereby preventing them from doing the same.
For the most part, the Hawks worked that prescription very well. A team like the Avs, with their speed and skill, is going to have their moments. and they did. Corey Crawford faced 32 shots to 28 for Semyon Varlamov. While Crawford was his usual solid, unflappable self, Varlamov was at times spectacular.
And he had to be. While Colorado had more shots, the Hawks had better chances. Varlamov made one absolutely brilliant glove save on Marcus Kruger, and a couple more beauties with his right pad on Michal Frolik and Jonathan Toews, respectively.
The defensive pairings, even the much discussed Duncan Keith/Nick Leddy pairing, were outstanding last night.
Pittsburgh's Kris Letang is the very early frontrunner for the Norris Trophy, but if Keith has 70 or so more games like the last two (an unfortunate lost edge in Phoenix aside), he will be in that conversation again at year's end. And that brings me back to Leddy, who clearly improves with every game. There is no question, folks, that as Leddy's game has improved, so has Keith's. It is entirely about confidence and as Keith himself told Eddie Olczyk last night on the CSN postgame, communication.
Almost overshadowed by Keith's performance, Leddy made some really nice defensive plays through positioning and stickwork last night that remind one of, well, Keith.
There are a lot of good things happening for the Hawks right now.
Upfront, it seems there is a different line that comes through every night. Last night, it was clearly the Toews line. The Bolland and Kane lines had pressure all night. But Toews' line—and credit to Andrew Brunette who helped set up a lot of plays— was the best last night with two goals (Toews, Patrick Sharp).
The system is no different than it has been in years' past. What is different, and dramatically so, is the energy on the ice and around the team. These players seem to genuinely like eachother, which was apparently not always the case in seasons past. Further, this team is clearly healthier (for now), more rested and better-conditioned than last year's club was.
Players are picking eachother up. Everyone is doing the hard but necessary work without the puck.
There are still off moments—and there are always going to be. Nik Hjalmarsson got away with a penalty in the third period. Brent Seabrook took another one by not moving his feet— though that's to be expected late in a game played that hard at high altitude.
But the Hawks at 4-1-1, and with 4 points out of a possible 4 on this mini-road swing, are looking potentially (along with the Red Wings) like the class of the Central, and perhaps the entire West.
Thanks for reading. Look for my game preview tomorrow. And perhaps also a feature on your favorite announcers and colo(u)r guys.
JJ
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»