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.