Crawford isn't all world right now, but he certainly played well enough to win today.
- Fat_Tony_Amonte

He played well in the 3rd period, but throughout the tournament every game he has let in 2 softies. His blocker side twice he let in a soft goal. I know vegas is the favorite pick and Chicago is struggling to generate momentum but Crawford cant afford to game in and game out in the playoffs let in softies.

E

He has done that every game of the tournament. It's not like it was 1 game or 2 but every game he has let in at least 2 soft goals. I'm not excusing the rest of the team but I'm just pointing out a glaring concern that if Crawford cant raise his game and steal a game or 2 their done in 4 games
- Taylorst1

27 minutes of 3rd and OT:

SAT - 16-36
SOG - 7-23
SC - 8-21

Cant transition, can’t get an offense going.

Crawford gave up a couple of soft ones, but he kept them in the game in the 3rd and OT until the usual defensive breakdown left Smith all alone at the net.

Any kind of an offense in those 27 minutes may have won the game. Complete a damn pass out of the dzone.

At least the offseason will be fast.
- Bhawks2585

Ya fellas. No cliff jumping. Vegas is at a different stage than us. The ARE Cup contenders. We are fortunate to be "allowed" to play play-off games and our young guys are learning. Losing comes before winning. Remember the Wings in 2009 taking out our young squad. They learned, and 2010 were ready.

Now, I don't think even NEXT year we will be ready but we heading there. Maybe 2-3 years and will be a force.

Get this fact......of ALL the teams in the post-season.....even with Crawford, Toews, Kane and Keith....we ice the youngest roster of them all. THAT'S impressive!!!

27 minutes of 3rd and OT:

SAT - 16-36
SOG - 7-23
SC - 8-21

Cant transition, can’t get an offense going.

Crawford gave up a couple of soft ones, but he kept them in the game in the 3rd and OT until the usual defensive breakdown left Smith all alone at the net.

Any kind of an offense in those 27 minutes may have won the game. Complete a damn pass out of the dzone.
- StLBravesFan

I said that he played well in the 3rd and I also said the team needs to generate more offense but Crawford every game so far has let in at least 2 soft goals .

Many playoff games are usually tight low scoring and Crawford needs to play a full game without letting in any soft goals that he should stop that's all anyone wants.

Ya fellas. No cliff jumping. Vegas is at a different stage than us. The ARE Cup contenders. We are fortunate to be "allowed" to play play-off games and our young guys are learning. Losing comes before winning. Remember the Wings in 2009 taking out our young squad. They learned, and 2010 were ready.

Now, I don't think even NEXT year we will be ready but we heading there. Maybe 2-3 years and will be a force.

Get this fact......of ALL the teams in the post-season.....even with Crawford, Toews, Kane and Keith....we ice the youngest roster of them all. THAT'S impressive!!!
- hawk35

I agree I'm still glad they made it into the playoffs.

Two defenseman in the goal line corner hahaha


- EnzoD

Ya fellas. No cliff jumping. Vegas is at a different stage than us. The ARE Cup contenders. We are fortunate to be "allowed" to play play-off games and our young guys are learning. Losing comes before winning. Remember the Wings in 2009 taking out our young squad. They learned, and 2010 were ready.

Now, I don't think even NEXT year we will be ready but we heading there. Maybe 2-3 years and will be a force.

Get this fact......of ALL the teams in the post-season.....even with Crawford, Toews, Kane and Keith....we ice the youngest roster of them all. THAT'S impressive!!!
- hawk35

Yep vegas looks great. I said chicago would have been better off with Colorado than vegas . Vegas his to deep and talented as a team and bigger.

Ya fellas. No cliff jumping. Vegas is at a different stage than us. The ARE Cup contenders. We are fortunate to be "allowed" to play play-off games and our young guys are learning. Losing comes before winning. Remember the Wings in 2009 taking out our young squad. They learned, and 2010 were ready.

Now, I don't think even NEXT year we will be ready but we heading there. Maybe 2-3 years and will be a force.

Get this fact......of ALL the teams in the post-season.....even with Crawford, Toews, Kane and Keith....we ice the youngest roster of them all. THAT'S impressive!!!
- hawk35

Vegas is good enough to put the Hawks away but I don't see them beating the Avs or the Blues if they match up against either one. Not much team speed and their defence is OK but not great. Avs top line would burn that back end big time.

Not upset.

Vegas is good but I’m not overly impressed and think they have a legit cup chance. Hawks are giving them a tough series and clearly on paper aren’t in the same league.

Tough loss. They’ll win a game this weekend and push it to Tuesday.

Crawford was outstanding in the 3rd and OT

Carlsson on the ice for OT goal. Damn. Going to be tough hole to get out of.
- just69sayin

I think he was the 2nd D man in the corner. Not his place to be. And Toews didn't look behind him. Aaaaaaaaa shiiiiiiiiit

Vegas is good enough to put the Hawks away but I don't see them beating the Avs or the Blues if they match up against either one. Not much team speed and their defence is OK but not great. Avs top line would burn that back end big time.
- RickJ

Exactly.

I’m actually very proud of our effort. No shame in defeat. Vegas is too good, but we’re hanging in there. Hawks are gaining valuable experience for all the youth. Going through this, even in defeat, will only make us stronger in the end. We’re gonna be a very strong team in the near future. Especially if Boqvist/Mitchell/Beaudin pan out.

It's too bad we aren't playing St Louis. Whenever we go down 2-0 against them we end up winning 4 straight.

27 minutes of 3rd and OT:

SAT - 16-36
SOG - 7-23
SC - 8-21

Cant transition, can’t get an offense going.

Crawford gave up a couple of soft ones, but he kept them in the game in the 3rd and OT until the usual defensive breakdown left Smith all alone at the net.

Any kind of an offense in those 27 minutes may have won the game. Complete a damn pass out of the dzone.
- StLBravesFan

Strome came with in a 1/16th of an inch of winning the game.

Vegas is good enough to put the Hawks away but I don't see them beating the Avs or the Blues if they match up against either one. Not much team speed and their defence is OK but not great. Avs top line would burn that back end big time.
- RickJ

I will agree to disagree.

I rank them Avs
Vegas
Blues

But I don't have Avs THAT much higher than Vegas, The Vegas 4 lines are so balanced and good. Over 7 games can wear down most teams. Avs more skill Top 6, but lines 3 and 4 not to Vegas level.

Those 3 should pose a good battle for the West title though.

I know I'm harping on Crawford (and rightfully so) but the shame of it is that Lehner hasn't been lights out either so a crossbar and in instead of a crossbar and out and Crawford gives up only 2 softies instead of the 4 and this series is tied 1-1.

Yeah Vegas plays hard and relentless and they are a good team but I'm not impressed with their d-men. They play very good 5-men team defense but that's mostly because they have forwards who play excellent positional defense and are very good at getting their sticks in passing lanes.

I think he was the 2nd D man in the corner. Not his place to be. And Toews didn't look behind him. Aaaaaaaaa shiiiiiiiiit
- 6628

Just saw the replay again. Carlsson was 1st in the corner, Murphy followed. Both Towes and Kubalik were near the front of the net, but both were watching the puck, and not the Vegas guy that went to the net from the weak side.

So I’d say Murphy, Towes and Kubalik all screwed the pooch on the play.

Vegas is good enough to put the Hawks away but I don't see them beating the Avs or the Blues if they match up against either one. Not much team speed and their defence is OK but not great. Avs top line would burn that back end big time.
- RickJ

Mackinnon for the Hart and Conn Smythe

Connor Murphy has been terrible the whole playoffs. I do not know if he injured or what? And again Crawford and the soft goals we cannot win like that. Vegas will not win the Stanley cup they are good but not that good.

I’m actually very proud of our effort. No shame in defeat. Vegas is too good, but we’re hanging in there. Hawks are gaining valuable experience for all the youth. Going through this, even in defeat, will only make us stronger in the end. We’re gonna be a very strong team in the near future. Especially if Boqvist/Mitchell/Beaudin pan out.
- SimpleJack

Those three dmen represent a quantum leap better in advancing the puck up ice. They are smart and just need a tad more experience then watch them grow in the NHL. I believe that Carlsson usually defends the net and doesn't run around a lot. I wonder if the system in Rockford and JC system system is the same

Vegas is good enough to put the Hawks away but I don't see them beating the Avs or the Blues if they match up against either one. Not much team speed and their defence is OK but not great. Avs top line would burn that back end big time.
- RickJ

I have to disagree, vegas beat Colorado pretty sound in the deciding game. Vegas is deeper a d plays a strong game.

The avs have the speed but vegas has been so sound all around shutting teams down.

I think Chicago would have faired better against Colorado because of the ability to play a back and forth game.

Vegas is good keeping players to the outside or shutting down teams from making entries .

Those three dmen represent a quantum leap better in advancing the puck up ice. They are smart and just need a tad more experience then watch them grow in the NHL. I believe that Carlsson usually defends the net and doesn't run around a lot. I wonder if the system in Rockford and JC system system is the same
- jhawk59

That's a great question jhawk. The injuries this year to Chicago's blue line imo probably hurt boqvist development by bringing him up earlier than they probably wanted to.

I wish we could not have traded jokihariu.

I don't see anyone getting the call up early next year with Seabrook coming back

27 minutes of 3rd and OT:

SAT - 16-36
SOG - 7-23
SC - 8-21

Cant transition, can’t get an offense going.

Crawford gave up a couple of soft ones, but he kept them in the game in the 3rd and OT until the usual defensive breakdown left Smith all alone at the net.

Any kind of an offense in those 27 minutes may have won the game. Complete a damn pass out of the dzone.
- StLBravesFan

Agree. Next to the poor defensive coverage by the forwards who just watch the puck, the poor transition game is irritating.

The Blackhawks are simply horrible at transitioning out of their zone. Forwards can't/don't get open and D-men either take their time to make a pass or can't make a crisp pass.

Many of their D prospects are known to be solid at transitions by skating it out themselves or making a solid first pass out. At least that's on the horizon.

Yet this doesn't do the team a world of good right now, though.

Just saw the replay again. Carlsson was 1st in the corner, Murphy followed. Both Towes and Kubalik were near the front of the net, but both were watching the puck, and not the Vegas guy that went to the net from the weak side.

So I’d say Murphy, Towes and Kubalik all screwed the pooch on the play.
- scottak

That's how I broke it down, too.

On the GWG, Carlsson did the rigth thing by tying up his man in the corner. Murphy, Toews, and Kubalik all keyed in on the same Vegas player. Toews and Kubalik were closest to the crease but did nothing to protect it and just let Smith swoop in unnoticed for the score.

On the 1st Vegas goal, Carlsson was again in the right place protecting the net and actually had to monitor 2 players while Caggiula and Kane stood there watching Statsny do what Smith did on the GWG.

Carlsson made mistakes in the game but so did practically everyone else. He got zero help on both goals he was on the ice for.

Those three dmen represent a quantum leap better in advancing the puck up ice. They are smart and just need a tad more experience then watch them grow in the NHL. I believe that Carlsson usually defends the net and doesn't run around a lot. I wonder if the system in Rockford and JC system system is the same
- jhawk59

Boqvist, Beaudin, Mitchell, Carlsson, Kalynuk, Krys, Regula, and Demin are strong skaters who can skate the puck out on their own if there is no outlet to transition out of the zone.

A quick skate out to start the attack will help by putting the other team on their heels rather than give them all the time in the world to read a slowly developing play to start an offensive rush. So easy to telegraph.

Just need a few of those D prospects to make the team and help make the blueline corps more mobile.