Friday night, the Blackhawks rolled into the battle grounds of yet another smoking hot team in Dallas, where the Stars at night are big and bright. Lame, I know, my deepest apologies. Anyhow, the Stars had crawled up from the depths of the dead, to the top of the Pacific division, and held a 2 point advantage over the Coyotes. They were 8-1-1 in their previous 10 games, which isn't too shabby. What IS shabby was their loss to Winnipeg in their last game, 5-2. Time to crash back to earth?
The Hawks opened up the game furiously, scoring on 2 of their first 3 shots. Not only that, but they hit 2 posts later in the period. It could very easily have been 4-0 going into the first intermission, but a 2-0 would suffice. The Hawks weren't so fortunate in the second period, with the Stars dominating a good portion of the period. The Stars had 11 shots to the Hawks 6, but the puck control was heavily in the Stars favor. The Hawks turned the gas back on in the third, opening up a fast 4-0 lead, just 2 minutes into the period, and pretty much closed out the game. The Stars managed to ruin the shutout, but lost the battle.
- Ten seconds into the game, Invisibolly, Shaw and Bickell took the lead for the Hawks. Bickell made a pass to Shaw, who then dropped it to Bolland. Bolly drove straight up the gullet to the net and beat Lehtonen to the stick side. Now THAT is a start.
- A minute and 32 seconds into the game and the Hawks had a 2-0 lead, when Sharpie scored his 27th of the year from a bad angle. It was a pretty innocent looking play and Lehtonen really should have had that one, but the Hawks will take it. I'll just give the credit to Sharpie for sniping Lehtonen. Yeah, that sounds good.
- Just to show how the hit stats don't tell the tale of the game, the Hawks were out hit 15-1 in the first period. McClure and Fels at Second City Hockey pointed out that the reason it was so off was because the Hawks held the puck most of the period. Can't hit people if you're on the attack. Great point! The Hawks were outhit 41-14 and they won by 3 goals.
- Oduya needs to teach the rest of the Hawks defenders how to create an open lane to shoot, because he seems to do that very well, and the rest are awful at it.
- Thirty three seconds into the third period, Hoss opened up a three goal lead, off a one timer that went off the stick of Stars defender Pardy, and beat Lehtonen. 3-0 Hawks.
- A minute and twelve seconds after the Hossa goal, a turnover in the neutral zone led to a Sharpie top shelfer where momma keeps the peanut butter, for a Hawks 4-0 lead. The play started off with an Oduya steal at the red line, and then he fed it to Stalberg, who wasted no time dishing it to the money man, Sharpie. In the NHL, that's what snipers do, and Shooter didn't miss. 4-0 Hawks
- 31-22 is right where the Hawks would like the shot count, and look what magically happened.
- The Hawks were 57% at the dot, with Kaner being the only Center under 50%. Coincidence?
- Keith ruined a first period 4 minute powerplay by coughing the puck up, and then getting beat coming back and taking a penalty. That could have swung the game in Dallas's favor, but luckily they didn't take advantage.
- Kaner went down in the second, after taking a shot to the inside of the knee, and half the Chicagoland area held their breath. Luckily it only looked like a stinging to the inside of the knee.
- Jamie Benn broke the shutout with about 5 minutes to go, off a terrible Hawks turnover that ended up on the stick of Steve Ott, who handed it over to Benn. 4-1 Hawks
- Just the look on Steve Ott's face makes one feel like he is a complete ass clown, which is pretty much spot on. Maybe a more talented Carcillo. Andrew Shaw's idol, for sure.
- The announced crowd in Dallas was 19,099 which, they claim, was the largest crowd to see a game in Dallas. That number was a complete farce. If you watched the game, half the seats in the lower level were empty. Their counting is more off than the hit stats in the NHL. Who you crappin, Dallas?