WHAT. A. GAME. Special Teams come up huge, well at least half of it, wish I had access to the servers right now because this would have been one hell of a write up.
Nasty. That is the only way to describe the meetings between the Preds and the Hawks this year and tonight is now exception. After Corey Crawfrod was barreled into twice (no call on either play), Daniel Carcillo took matters into his own hands and ran goalie Andres Lindback behind the net as he tried to play a dump in, this of course resulted in a penalty which the Hawks were able to kill. One can only hope these teams meet in the playoffs because that's what this one feels like, not a lot of room out there, but physicality everyone. Nashville is out shooting the Hawks 9-3 in a scoreless first period. Carcillo was also the in between periods interview with Pat and Eddy, and he continued the chirping, "If they are going to take liberties with our goalie then we will do the same, I don't care if it's their backup or not, we aren't stepping down from anyone." Off to the second Period.....
Much of the same in the second period, as in the first minute Tootoo ran Corey Crawford, this resulted in a melee on the ice, unfortunately the Hawks first line was out there so no one that could really answer the bell was on the ice. Half way thru the second period Bouillon let a slapper go from the point and it seemed to have eyes making it thru a few bodies then off of Crawford and in. About four minutes after that the Preds were headed back to the power play when it happened again. Wilson deliberately took Crawford out well after the whistle, Hjlamarsson had seen enough. The two of the dropped the gloves with Hjalmarsson getting the advantage in that tussle. However, that seemed to only spark the Preds as they were able to take a 2-0 lead on the PP when Sergei Kostitsyn scored off of a beautiful feed from Fisher. The Hawks wasted little time in answering as Marian Hossa was able to bury a one timer past Lindback with five minutes remaining in the period to cut the lead to 1 as we head to the third period.
Getting the last laugh is a great feeling. The Hawks wasted no time in the third period tying the game up. Duncan Keith let a low shot go from the point that deflected behind the net. Lindback couldn't pick it up, no clue where it was, Kane caught it in stride and beat Lindback to the post to tuck it in to tie the game. Half way thru the period Nick Leddy made sure that the Hawks would get out of Nashville with two points scoring on a delayed penalty. Tootoo clealry elbowed Hjalmarsson behind the play, but Bickell carried the puck into the zone dropped it to Leddy and went to the net. Leddy wound up and rifled a shot that deflected off of Shea Webers shin and into the net to give the Hawks the lead that they would ultimately win by 3-2. Off to Madison Square Garden for a rare game against the Rangers.
Chicago Blackhawks at Nashville Predators
Feb 14, 2012
1
2
3
F
CHI (38-16-3)
0
1
3
4
NSH (21-28-8)
0
2
0
2
Three Stars
Corey Crawford, CHI 40 Saves
Nick Leddy, D 1 Goal
Duncan Keith, D 2 Assists
Team Stats Comparison
CHI
NSH
Shots on Goal
23
40
Hits
14
4
Faceoffs Won-Lost
13-19
19-13
Penalty Minutes
11:00
5:00
Power Plays Converted
0
1
Power Play Opportunities
0
3
Time on Attack
5:36
4:24
Scoring Summary
SECOND PERIOD
NSH
Francois Bouillon (3), (Dupont, Tootoo) - 9:41
NSH
Sergei Kostitsyn (12), (Fisher, Hornqvist) (PP) - 13:36
Hawks struggle early with the lowly Coyotes before the power play wins it. Three games left on the trip, hopefully things are trending in the right direction, record on the trip stands at 3-2-1.
Hawks only get 8 shots over the last two periods, but come out victorious. With the recent debacles in Edmonton and Vancouver maybe it was a good thing they took the foot off the gas a little.
Hawks score twice in the final minute, once with the goalie pulled to tie the game but lose in overtime on a successful Matt Duchene penalty shot. Jonathan Toews beat Varlamov with 0.7 seconds left in the third period but the puck rang off the post. Rough road trip presses on (1-2-1).
Another shaky effort, some things got better, but others didn't. Hawks still have to find the magic they had before the all star break because all three games on this trip they have been outplayed, and badly in parts.
This is two nights in a row now, absolutely embarrassing, especially given the fact the Hawks won 5 straight prior to this. Crawford is being benched in favor of Emery.
The Hawks and Bruins announced a trade this morning. The Hawks are sending Michael Frolik and Shaun Lalonde to the Bruins in exchange for Brad Marchard and their 3rd Round pick in the upcoming entry draft. "We weren't necessarily disappointed with the way Frolik had been playing, e just felt we needed to get stronger down the middle, and on the penalty kill, I think Brad does both for us." Said GM Stan Bowman at this morning's press conference. A solid move for the Hawks, as they solidify the third line Center position, and add penalty kill depth. Also allowing this move to take place was the emergence of Dave Bolland offensively, while he is producing he can be bumped up to the 2nd line. Expect Marchand in the lineup tonight against the Canucks.
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