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Last night's 1-0 win in St. Paul revealed a lot about what to expect from the Hawks over the next nine games, as they race for the President's Trophy, and beyond that in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Although the Wild are a tight-checking team and gave Chicago a good game, I thought the Hawks played some of their best hockey of the year last night.
Specifically, the way the Hawks challenged the puck over 200 feet of ice last night was as good as it's been all year. Look no further than the "Marian Hossa Goal' scored by none other than Hossa himself, jumping a Clayton Stoner pass just inside the Wild blue line and firing a bullet past Niklas Backstrom for the lone tally of the game. And I don't believe Hossa is still "100%" back after his recent injury.
The puck movement and activity of the defense (as well as forward rotation to cover) was also outstanding.
And the defense for the last few games has been rock solid in protecting "the house," keeping opponent shot totals down to around 20 a game and allowing Ray Emery to rack up three shutouts and pad his near league-leading stats.
But, you know this wouldn't be a JJ Blog without finding some fly in the ointment. And I've got a couple of small ones.
The Wild's most effective line last night was their fourth: a big, physical, workmanlike group that gave the Hawks all kinds of trouble clearing the puck. And folks, this is likely going to be a problem again, especially against the likes of L.A., Anaheim or, say, Boston in the playoffs.
And, for some reason—and hopefully it was a one-game aberration—Patrick Kane got back into his old bad habit of going 1-on-4 in t he opponent's end, resulting in turnovers.
Still, most of the indicators are pointing upward for the team with the league's best record.
All good, and all for now.
JJ
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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