|
What a Great Afternoon for a Win |
|
|
|
|
|
All I was looking for on Friday vs. the Golden Knights was a little (see: a lot) of consistency. Instead, poor Jeff Glass was peppered with 21(!) shots in the first period after a sluggish start by the home team.
Sure, the Hawks looked good at times in the 2nd and 3rd, however, that word "consistency" was not even close to being met.
This was the 1st game back since December 17th. The UC crowd was rocking and ready to see their guys hit the ice again at the long hiatus. With so much talk about being in "last place" in the division last week and settling back in for some home cooking, you would think they would be prepared for this one. Think again, I guess.
I mentioned it in the last blog that the Hawks cannot afford to coast for a couple periods of a game and still sneak out a win like they were able to in the past. No, this is desperate times for a proud giant. So why aren't they playing desperately for 60 minutes? That, my friends, is a great question that I wish I had a great answer too, but I don't.
The Hawks 50 win season last year had a shocking amount of red flags and their head coach agrees as "Quenneville calls the record "flattering" and misleading, a product of brilliant goaltending and timely goals late in third periods. The Predators' series was proof." (courtesy of Mark Lazerus' interview this week).
I'm carving out some theories of what I would do, plus adding in what I think Stan and Co. will actually do based on whispers I'm hearing. I will save that blog until Monday though. Right now, the Hawks have the Oilers in an afternoon game today.
The Oilers are coming off a rough 5-1 loss vs. the Stars. Recently acquired Al Montoya entered the game in relief of Cam Talbot. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Chicago native Montoya get the start this afternoon at 2 pm (CST).
The season series is 1-1 with the Hawks grabbing the latest win with an OT win last week in Edmonton off a nifty Kane GWG.
The Jeff Glass love will take a backseat to Anton Forsberg for today's broadcast. This being the goalie who was supposed to be the clear-cut backup this year. Glass' performance has made a lot of people get behind his feel-good story and also question who the Blackhawks backup will be when Crawford returns.
Speaking of Crawford's return; his mystery injury is not sounding good. The question was actually asked by beat reporters if #50 was "out for the year?" which Coach Q quickly dismissed. However, the leads me to believe that there is more to this injury than we would all like to hear.
Enter Anton Forsberg to steal the net back. Trust me, I was/am rooting for Jeff Glass, he's a great dude. But, Forsberg is 25-years old, has reached the highest success at the AHL level and has an amazing opportunity to prove himself as an NHL goalie.
The young Swede's 1-5-3, 3.33 GAA and .902 SV% is somewhat deceiving. I personally don't think he's played that bad and early in the season actually showed flashes of being capable of stealing a game.
Other lineup changes appear to have Hartman back in, skating beside Schmaltz and Kane. This move is in favour of John Hayden, so he's coming out as Richard Panik looks like he did enough to keep himself in the lineup and will play 4th line minutes today.
On defence, not sure what Q is going to do, either Kempny-Franson or Forsling-Rutta will slide in as the 3rd pairing.
After Colorado's decisive win last night over the Wild (7-2), the Hawks are now 3 points behind the Avs in the Central. They are last, last, last!
Throw Q and the boys a life preserver if you see them on the way to the game today because this team is not doing a very good job at keeping their heads above water. This season is slipping away.
See ya out there.
JL
--
Who we got today: Edmonton Oilers
Season Matchup:
Chicago ✔
Edmonton ✔
18-21-3 = 39 points
6th in Pacific Division
Last game: LOST vs. Dallas (5-1) last night
GF: 115 / GA: 131
PP% = 15.8% (25th in NHL)
PK% = 70.5% (LAST in NHL)
Sniper: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – 15 goals
Producer: McJesus – 46 points
Tough Guys: – Patrick Maroon - 53 PIMs (serving game #2 of a 2 game suspension) & Adam Larsson - 133 hits
Expected Starter: Al Montoya (?)
---
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
Join the Discussion:
»