This was it, folks. The game for all the beans. The Hawks fought back against the hated Red Wings to force a game 7, at home. They had the momentum, and their home crowd behind them. Could the avenge the last game 7 they played in, where Vancouver ended their Stanley Cup defense, in 2011? There were no settled stomachs in Chicago for this one, and a riot damn near broke out, on West Madison, but not for what you'd expect.
The game opened up with a furious pace with wide open skating, physical play, and great chances. This was exactly what everyone had hoped for, in a game 7. The Hawks were out shot early, but rebounded to lead the period 13-10. What a first period.
The action only let up slightly in the second period. There was more wide open skating, physical play and more great chances. The Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead early on, and held onto that lead for the entire period and out shot the Wings 11-6. Twenty minutes to go...
It didn't take Detoilet long to tie up the game. Twenty six seconds, to be exact. They also had a majority of the third period chances. The Hawks came back and eventually won the game, if not for a terrible call, but more on that later. They took the game to overtime and eventually finished off the Wings. Next target, LA! Holy crap, can I breathe now?
- The Hawks killed off an early Duncan Keith tripping penalty, but not without a few tense moments. Crawford was huge, and the PK stood tall.
- Bickell was an absolute bulldozer early on, plowing through the Detoilet defenders and throwing some big hits. He also pulled a filthy move on The Whipping Boy in the second period, but couldn't get a shot off. If only he could finish.
- Just a minute into the second period the Blackhawks Hossa, Handzus and Sharp took advantage of a long shift and ended up with a 3-on-1. They used their open players perfect, and the puck ended up on Shooter's stick with a wide open net.
- How can you not mention the play of Corey Crawford. He was a wall all game, and had no chance on the goal. Mention Ray Emery; I DARE you! This is Crawford's net, and if anyone thinks otherwise, they are colossal morons.
- Keith's first period penalty could have put the Hawks in an early hole, but the PK bailed him out after a stupid trip.
- Thirty seconds into the third period the Blackhawks let the Wings walk around them and score a 2 on 4 goal. Bad decisions all around on this play. Oduya misjudged the play at the blue line and everything fell apart after that. Zetterberg was the fortunate goal scorer on this one. All tied up. This was just the beginning of Johnny Oduya's third period obituary. He played like a hot mess for a majority of the play in that period.
- Blackhawks; faceoffs. Only El Capitan was over 50%, and Kruger was 0-4. The rest were in between, to the tune of 48%
- Jonathan Toews was minus 1 with ONE shot on net. He HAS to be better against LA, and you can bet your ass they will be watching tapes of what Detoilet did to him.
- Blackhawks powerplay. Back to being a steaming pile of rancid bull dung. They will not get away with this against LA, I promise you that.
- After Filppula went off with an injury, it was blazing through twitter that Shaw gave him a slew foot. I watched the play a few times, and I didn't see it. Call me blind. Shaw looked slightly off balance, but it didn't look like he kicked Filppula's foot out. It's ice, folks. It's slippery.
- Watching Duncan Keith work the first powerplay point is fucking maddening. Nick Leddy needs to be there, end of story. Leddy is the only Hawks defenseman capable of carrying the puck past center ice.
- The ugliest of ugly!!! Ugly like Tyler Kennedy. The Blackhawks looked to have scored the game winning goal with 1:49 left, and because of some chippy bullshit behind the play, referee Stephen Walkom claimed to have blown the play dead. Brandon Saad got pushed into the Detoilet bench and then body slammed to the ice. For his trouble Saad was assessed a coincidental minor with dumb shit Kyle Quincey. Saad did nothing, but receive a rough ride, and was thrown to the ground. You don't make that call with 2 minutes left in game 7 of a tie game. Not on any planet. The NHL averted a huge controversy with the Hawks winning in OT, and Stephen Walkom averted what might have turned into an uncomfortable legacy. I hope Walkom has Brent Seabrook on his Christmas card list.
- This needed a section of it's own...Brent Seabrook and Dave Bolland had been the Blackhawks goats for the entire series, and changed that all in a matter of a few seconds. Bolland threw a big hit on Gustav (don't call me Gus) Nyquist in the neutral zone, separating him from the puck. The hit freed the puck up for Seabrook to grab and head into the Wings zone. He got over the blue line and unleashed a wrist shot that went off the foot of Tigger Kronwall and over Howard's glove. Game, Set, Match; on to round 3!!!