The Blackhawks were wading into dangerous territory for game four on a beautiful muggy Memorial Day evening. The problem was that no one reminded the Blackhawks that they had a game. They came out and surrendered 3 goals in the first period and put up barely a whimper. The second period was only slightly better. The score was 4-1 after 40 minutes, and I honestly had no interest in watching the end of this one. The Blackhawks were able to fight back within 2 goals, but that wasn't nearly enough. The Hawks are now at risk of being eliminated, at home, Wednesday night.
- Bollig sat out and Regin played the wing with Shaw and Saad. Kruger was moved up to 2nd line center between Sharp and Hossa. In other changes, Sharp was moved off the first PP unit and Seabrook was inserted. It clearly made a difference.
- After 4 straight goals by the Kings, and 1:20 later, Brandon Saad roofed a backhander over Quick to break the Quick shutout and slow the bleeding.
- Bryan Bickell scored a tough goal about half way through the third period. The goal was long overdue because the puck lay in the crease behind Quick and Drew Doughty's stick in the way. Somehow, Quick's Jedi mind tricks kept the puck out of the net but, eventually, the chaos resulted in a goal. At that point the Kings had to pretty much throw the puck in the net themselves for the Hawks to score.
- When all was said and done, the Blackhawks actually out shot the Kings 24-21. It wasn't a matter of shots as much as it was scoring chances.
- You can rag on Jeff Carter all you'd like, but I would kill to have a center of his skillset on the second line of the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff Carter or Shaw, Handus and Kruger? I'll take Carter, thank you very much.
- Two minutes and thirteen seconds after the Muzzin PP goal, Kopitar stole a puck from Duncan Keith deep in the Hawks zone and fed it to Gaborik, who Seabrook had left alone in front. Gaborik redirected the puck between Crawford's legs, and the Blackhawks were in serious, serious trouble.
- After the Hawks miserable first period, what is the first thing Andrew Shaw does? Takes a stupid offensive zone penalty. Then he took another offensive zone penalty later, but was bailed out when Doughty was sent off too. Listen, you don't get exonerated for doing something dumb just because you were bailed out.
- Late in the second period, the Kings made it 4-0. Doughty was originally credited with the goal, but it looked redirected to me. At this point, I would have rather been watching the Kim and Kanye wedding on an infinite loop.
- Lets get this out of the way right away. Pulling the goalie with anything more than 2 minutes left in play is stupid. Its a last resort. Patrick Roy does it a few times and all of a sudden it has become the norm. Pulling the goalie works when you have momentum and can secure possession. The Blackhawks had neither. The chance you'll just end up giving up that empty net goal is infinitely higher when you are in the position the Hawks were. Pulling the goalie just causes chaos, when you're not in control of the puck.
- Did Kris Versteeg actually play? According to the stat sheet he did, and was on the ice for 2 goals. Only 2 more years of this, guys.
- The se-Q-urity blanket, Michael Handzus, played only 4:28. The sky must be falling because even Quenneville doesn't seem to have a plan anymore.
- The Hawks were mushroom stamped at the faceoff dots once again. Toews and Kruger won a combined 10 of 31 faceoffs. Not going to do the job in the Stanley Cup Conference Final.
- The Kings survived early penalties by Kopitar and Brown, only to draw a goalie interference penalty by Hossa. As a result, the Kings took a 1-0 lead on Muzzin's goal. The Blackhawks couldn't get the puck out of the zone and Muzzin ended up using a Carter screen to beat Crawford.
- After Patrick Sharp took a stupid offensive zone roughing penalty the Kings made it 3-0, on a tic-tac-toe play. The Blackhawks looked like a bunch of midget players chasing professionals, and Corey Crawford was getting zero support.
- The Hawks powerplay was just fucking terrible. They had the chances and could barely muster a shot on net. It was a feeble effort. The Kings were 2 for 3 and the Hawks were 0 for 3. That is your game, fans.
- I hardly ever rag on the officials, but in the third period Doughty's stick got stuck in the shield of Regin and there was no call. Tell me how this is not penalty.
- If you tell me Corey Crawford is the reason the Blackhawks are in this position, I'm going to stab you in the thorax with a rusty ice pick doused in decade old Tabasco. This is a full team failure. The defense is porous at best. Seabrook and Keith have been terrible. The powerplay is terrible. The Hawks aren't getting pucks to the net. Crawford is the easy scapegoat because he's the last line of defense, but look around at all the Blackhawks players standing around, not covering their assignments, when the puck ends up in the net. Be a smarter fan. Don't take the meatball approach, because you look like an idiot.
