Follow @jaeckel


The Blackhawks finally solved Semyon Varlamov last night—their nemesis for the last few seasons and one of the league's hotter goaltenders at present.

Like the game in Phoenix the other night, this one wasn't exactly pretty, but it was fun to watch—with a lot of pace and physicality, almost like an early round playoff game.

A couple of really good trends continued for the Hawks in this game.

1) The new third line is continuing to be a possession force, and getting goals. Andrew Desjardins (again) found the back of the net last night on a tip in of a pretty Teuvo Teravainen pass. Philip Danault was 50% at the dot last night and helps drive that line with his energy, work and speed.

So this, in addition to the continued dominance of the Kane/Panarin line, is giving the Hawks some nice match ups. And bear in mind, it's not like opposing coaches can throw their third pairing out (by choice) versus the Toews/Hossa line, even when it isn't productive, either.

2) Erik Gustafsson played another 18-plus minutes of relatively mistake free hockey in pretty much all situations. Gustafsson helps drive transition and speed up the ice and it showed last night, when the Hawks were able to maintain a high pace with one of the league's fastest teams.

On the down side, not a great night for Scott Darling, though good enough.

Rob Scuderi pretty much showed in just under 7 minutes TOI why he is nothing more than a 7th, emergency defenseman at this point. Which is fine along as the 6 guys in front of him stay healthy.

It was overall a good road trip and the Hawks got what, as a legit contending team, they should have versus two middle of the pack at best teams.

The Hawks played a good game overall in my opinion last night; Colorado tied the game in the third period on about the softest goal I've ever seen Darling allow. It happens.

And then Chicago took the game in OT—where they trail only the Flames in terms of success this year. Something important to remember there: there is no 3-on-3 OT or shootout in the playoffs, and the Hawks remain pretty pedestrian overall 5-on-5. Maybe some middling improvement there with more balanced line production.

The Blackhawks tai the ice again Sunday at home versus the Senators, another team that can push the pace. I'll have a preview then and any news that comes up beforehand.

Happy New Year everyone.



JJ

Join the Discussion: » 197 Comments » Post New Comment

» Thanks and Farewell

» Where do we go from here?

» Preds at Hawks Breakdown

» "All Teams Have Flaws"

» The Games You Should Win