Hawks vs. Blues

After a disappointing 0-4 loss in Columbus on Wednesday the Blackhawks headed to St. Louis to take on the Blues on Saturday night. The scoring started early when Andrew Ladd stood right in front of goalie Manny Legace and pounded home a rebound. With about five minutes remaining in the first Johnny Toews took a sweet shot from the top of the face off circle and the Hawks took a 2-0 lead. The game was a physical one with two fights early in the first period. There was more than some tension remaining after last Sunday's battle. There were lots of big hits from both teams and several scrums after whistles. In the second period, while shorthanded, Duncan Keith took a long shot that managed to get by Legace. Early in the third period Craig Adams, also shorthanded, scored just after defenseman Erik Johnson slid into his own goaltender. The Hawks look like they were going to have an easy win but then they started to slack off. Despite my uncle and a dozen other guys chanting "MANNY MANNY YOU SUCK!!!!!" for the ENTIRE period, Keith Tkachuck scored a few minutes after Adams to give the Blues life. About ten minutes later, with five remaining, Brad Boyes scored, and just a minute later Paul Kariya scored a power play goal. The Hawks were just playing sloppy defense. They managed to hang on and win the game, though. Four points out of the final playoff spot with four games remaining, the Blackhawks head home to face off with the Columbus Blue Jackets Sunday evening.

Hawks vs. Blues

This afternoon the Blackhawks returned to the United Center for a matinee game against the St. Louis Blues. Although there was not much scoring early, there were plenty of hits. Niklas Hjalmarsson got in his first NHL fight. In the second period St. Louis scored first when Lee Stempniak stole the puck from Jason Williams in the corner, walked right out in front of Khabibulin, and scored. Chicago evened the game with a few minutes remaining in the second when rookie Troy Brouwer, while behind the Blues' net, chipped the puck out in front. The puck happened to bounce off of Adam Burish's skate and past Hannu Toivonen, and the game was tied. The third period was intense. About half way through, Pat Kane made a sweet backhand pass to Dustin Byfuglien, who was all alone in front of the net, and the Hawks grabbed a 2-1 lead. St. Louis answered back about two minutes later when DJ King tapped a rebound into a wide open net. Just as the game appeared to be going to overtime Pat Kane mishandled the puck at St. Louis' blueline and Keith Tkachuck was off to the races. He beat Khabibulin with just over a minute remaining. Khabibulin was on his way to the bench for an extra attacker when James Wisniewski let a bomb go from the blueline and the game went to overtime. Just a bit over a minute into OT Niklas Hjalmarsson took a shot from the blueline and Patrick Kane scored on the rebound. Now the Hawks are just 4 points out of the last playoff spot.

Hawks vs. Predators

Yesterday afternoon the Blackhawks faced off against the Nashville Predators at the Sommet Center. At the start the Hawks were outplayed. Fortunately, Khabibulin played a very good game for Chicago. Nashville's only goal came about five minutes into the first period when Jason Arnott put a rebound past Khabibulin. With about five minutes remaining in the opening period Dave Bolland found Andrew Ladd standing alone in front of Dan Ellis, and the Hawks tied the game. The game was not a very exciting one; Nashville did not take any penalties, and there were not too many big hits or scrums after the whistle. Both teams had their scoring chances. The Hawks hit the post at least four times, including once in overtime. The game went to a shootout where Pat Kane scored, but Khabibulin failed to stop the puck both times he was supposed to and Nashville won 2-1.

Hawks vs. Capitals

Last night the Hawks honored legendary goaltender Tony Esposito in two ways. Before the game there was a nice "welcome back" ceremony in which some of Tony's teammates returned, Tony gave a speech about Chicago being a great city, and the Hawks brought Tony's older brother, Phil, who gave Tony his iconic mask to wear briefly. During the game the Hawks absolutely dominated. It started just a minute and a half into the game when James Wisniewski took a shot from the point and Jason Williams made a great deflection and the puck when above goalie Olaf Kolzig's head and into the net. Just a few minutes later Johnny Toews, on the power play, took the puck hard to the net and managed to shove it past Kolzig. About six minutes later Robert Lang dropped the puck back to Yanic Perrault who fired a lovely shot into the upper right hand corner of the net for the Hawks. About six minutes after that Patrick Sharp fired a huge rebound into a wide open net for his team leading 35th goal of the season. About half way through the second period Alex Ovechkin mishandled a bad pass and the puck was stolen by Jason Williams. He then bounced the puck off the boards right to Rene Bourque who went on a breakaway and slid the puck between the legs of Olaf Kolzig. That did it for the scoring in the game; Khabibulin made sure of that when he made one of the most spectacular saves ever made when the got the glove on a puck fired by Alex Semin, which appeared to be going into a wide open net. Perhaps Tony-O helped Khabibulin perform at the top of his game.

Hawks vs. Oilers

Unfortunately I was not able to watch much of yesterday's overtime loss to the Edmonton Oilers. What I did see seemed to be good rough hockey. Both teams played well, but the goalies struggled. Although Dustin Byfuglien tied the game at five with under five minutes to go in the third period, the Andrew Cogliano scored his second goal of the afternoon off of a nice feed from Nilsson, and the game ended. The Hawks picked up a point and are currently five points out of the last playoff spot with 13 games remaining.

Hawks vs. Sharks

Last night, after a great ceremony to welcome back legends Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita to the Chicago Blackhawks family, the current Hawks battled the San Jose Sharks. Right from the get go it seemed to be a long night for the Hawks; the Sharks swam circles around the Hawks. The Hawks caught an early break when the Sharks took a penalty which, after a battle in Evgeni Nabokov's crease, Brent Seabrook put the puck in an empty net. Unfortunately just a minute later Jonathon Cheechoo scored to even the game. A little more than half way through the first period, perhaps the best in the league from behind the net, Joe Thornton found Kyle McLaren in front of Lalime, and the Sharks were up 2-1. With under two minutes to go in the first period Jonathan Toews redirected a Keith shot from the blue line and the game was tied. The final goal of the game came off of a turnover when Patrick Marleau stole the puck and fired it past Lalime. The Hawks had a goal disallowed with under a minute in regulation because the puck bounced off of Rene Bourque's hand and into the net. It was a dissappointing loss. Even though the Hawks played physically, their passes were not as crisp as they should have been, they turned the puck over too many times, they had difficulty gaining the zone, and they were beaten to loose pucks.

Hawks vs. Ducks

Last night the Hawks picked up a well deserved two points against the defending Stanley Cup Champions Anaheim Ducks. The game was rough right from the opening face off. Both teams started out strong defensively and physically. The Hawks scored the first goal of the game about eight minutes in when, after a scramble in front of the net, Big D put the puck into an empty night for a power play goal. That was the only goal of the first period in which the Hawks well out shot the Ducks 14-3. At the end of the first period George Parros attacked Ben Eager, who did not drop the gloves; this resulted in a two minute instigator, five minute major for fighting, and a ten minute misconduct for Parros. Ryan Getzlaf also picked up a roughing minor at the very end of the period. To start the second the Hawks had a two minute five on three power play, followed by the remainder of Parros' seven penalty minutes. The Hawks only managed a meager three shots on goal during this time. About half way through the third period Barker took a shot from the blue line that got deflected past Giguere for the second power play goal of the game. With not much time left, Patrick Sharp scored an empty netter. Rookie Corey Crawford continued to play phenomenally throughout the third period, and was rewarded with his first NHL shutout. Note: I was wrong in my last post, Robert Lang did play. Tomorrow night is a special one for the Hawks. They are celebrating Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita's careers. A crowd of almost 22,000 is expected. After the ceremony, the current Hawks take on San Jose. The Blackhawks are only four points out of the last playoff spot.

Hawks vs. Wild

Last evening the Blackhawks and Wild faced off in Minnesota. During the first few minutes of the game, the Wild seemed to be in charge; they skated circles around the young Hawks, and the Hawks looked completely lost. Pavol Demitra scored the first goal of the game, on the power play, off of a nice feed from Gaborik, that beat Lalime blocker-side. The Hawks answered right back when Jason Williams tried to pass the puck to Patrick Sharp, but the puck bounced off a Wild skate and past Backstrom. That seemed to give the Hawks the lift they needed, and they finished the period strong. The only goal of the second period came from Duncan Keith, when he, while standing behind Backstrom, batted the puck out of mid-air and into the net. Lalime made a great save in this period when Jordan Hendry fumbled the puck, which sent Pavol Demitra and Marion Gaborik on a two-on-zero; Lalime got the pad down on the ice to prevent Gaborik from taking Demitra's feed and scoring. In the third period, while on the power play, Dustin Byfuglien took a pass from Jason Williams and slid the pass past Backstrom to put the Hawks up 3-1. The Wild scored once more, but Craig Adams scored an empty-net goal to seal the deal for the Hawks. They now have eight wins in the last eleven games. Tonight they take on the Anaheim Ducks at the United Center. They will probably be without Khabibulin, Lang, Havlat, Sopel, or Zyuzin.

Hawks Vs. Canucks

The Hawks returned home this afternoon to an almost full house to take on the Vancouver Canucks. For the first minute or two I thought the game was going to be a blowout; Vancouver seemed to be skating circles around Chicago. Then the Hawks got it together and played a solid game. The newest Hawk, Andrew Ladd, got the game's first goal in the first period when he put a rebound past Roberto Luongo, recently named the NHL's best goaltender by The Hockey News. In the second, Patrick Kane took a shot from the top of the faceoff circle which got redirected by a Canuck and past Luongo for a power play goal that put the Hawks up 2-0. Near the end of the second Patrick Sharp won a draw but passed the puck to no one and it was picked up for a breakaway for Kesler, who beat Lalime with a quick shot above the glove. In the third Patrick Kane picked up another goal with a rebound from a Ben Eager shot and Patrick Sharp made a beautiful redirection, and the Hawks won the game 4-1. Toews took a stick up high and left the game bleeding in the third period. His status is unknown.