What a way to close out 2011; with a bang! The STILL hated Detroit Red Wings came into town Friday night for the first time this season. Both teams came in with almost identical records in their last 10 games (7-3-0/7-2-1), so this was the best match up yet to determine just how the Blackhawks stand. The Wings came in generally healthy, and riding a hot goalie, in Jimmie Howard. This one was shaping up to be a barn burner with a playoff atmosphere. The Hawks also called up rookie Big Jimmy Hayes from Rockford to fill in for injured Marcus Kruger.
The first period had EVERYTHING a great Hawks/Wings game has. Scoring, Breakaways, Penalty Shots, Big Hits, Fights, Great Saves, and Big Defensive plays. How were these teams going to follow that up. Oh, and the score was 1-1 after 20 minutes. The second period was more of the same, with both teams scoring a goal and going into the intermission tied 2-2. The Hawks came out with a message in the third and put the game winning goal in, while holding the Wings scoreless. Great way to close out 2011.
- Jimmy "Wille Mayes" Hayes almost created a Cinderella story, just missing a fat scoring chance on his first shift of his first NHL game. He continued to buzz around the ice the whole first period, hitting everything that moved. He played 4:01, had 2 pims, 1 shot and 4 hits in the first period alone. Unfortunately, the 4th line only saw 3 minutes of ice time the rest of the game.
- Car Bomb got in a scuffle early with dickbag Todd Bertuzzi after Car Bomb laid a big hit on him. Tim Sassone brought up a good point on Twatter, questioning why Bertuzzi didn't get an instigator penalty after chasing Carcillo down. EXCELLENT question!
- Captain Big Balls whipped his junk out on the ice drawing and scoring on a penalty shot against Lidstrom, no less, to follow up the Wings goal. HUGE play!
- Big Hoss decided it was time to whip his OWN junk out, putting on a one man show in the Wings zone, beating Filppula and blowing a shot past Howard to tie the game back up at 2-2
- Two minutes into the third period Brent Seabrook put the Hawks up for good on what turned out to be a shorthanded chance, because the Hawks were changing. Seabs found a soft spot in the slot and waited for Shooter to see him. Shooter did see him and hit him with a pass on a platter for a one timer, which Seabrook kindly deposited up stairs, over Howard's glove.
- MegaMayers was the only Hawks center that didn't do well at the dot, going just 2-7
- Datsyuk and Zetterberg were invisible last night, which can be mostly credited to the shutdown line, and Deuce/Sleven. Bertuzzi goal aside, they have a tough job, and they don't always get the credit they deserve.
- Crawford was solid when called upon. Twenty seven saves and several big stops. It's nice to be able to breathe easy again, isn't it?
- The Wings took a 1-0 lead on a lazy defensive play by Kaner. He watched his guy freely skate right through the middle of the Hawks zone and picked up a ft rebound in the slot. Sloppy.
- Dickbag Todd Bertuzzi put the Wings back up with his enormous tuchus with Mike Commodore taking a long shot that deflected off Dickbag and past Crawford. The question begs to be asked just why all the Hawks forwards were in the same 15x15 portion of the ice leaving Commodore wide open. That's just pure slop from the "shutdown" guys.
- Maybe something finally clicked for Quenneville, regarding the 3rd pair. They were grossly exposed all night, and they only saw a handful of shifts in the second and third periods. They CAN'T keep rolling 4 defensemen for 40 minutes. If Q hates Pistol so much, dump his contract, and figure something out. Enough with the fucking shenanigans already.
- The Hawks powerplay has returned to the land of the clowns and carneys. They get a lot of good perimeter shots, but they are cleanly seen and any rebounds are left for the goalie to cover. I'd like to see more driving the puck to the net and some urgency on the rebounds.