On what has become a somewhat of a tradition now, the Blackhawks continued their circus road trip Friday afternoon in the mump infested arena known as the Honda Center. Just as we were all about to come out of our Thanksgiving food coma, we got another special treat, as Steve Konroyd's coma inducing voice was doing the color commentary. The end result, the tv went on mute, and the radio was turned on.
The first period, the Hawks looked like the old Hawks we know. They were skating circles around the Ducks, and completely dominating. Brad Richards opened the scoring on a 2 on 1, firing a wrister past Frederik Andersen. Later in the period, Andrew Shaw added another tally on a redirect from a Duncan Keith slap pass, to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead. Late in the period however, Anaheim was able to cut the lead in half, for a 2-1 score after 1.
The Blackhawks passing display continued in the second period. This time it was a result of effort by Brad Richards, one handed knocking the puck behind the net to Versteeg, who in turn threw a no look pass to Patrick Kane in the slot, to increase the lead to 3-1. The Hawks had another chance to increase the lead, but Marian Hossa was robbed by Andersen.
The story of the third period belonged to Frederik Andersen. He robbed Kane on the backhand, and made numerous saves that kept the Ducks in the game. As the time wound down, Kane added an empty netter to give the Hawks a 4-1 win in Anaheim.
The Good
- We'll have to wait a few days, but if the Hawks come out of this visit to Anaheim without the mumps, then this was a complete win for the Hawks.
- Despite the goal the quickly followed, who didn't enjoy seeing Hjalmarsson absolutely destroy Ryan Kesler? That's what you get for skating with your head down.
- The passes that led to the first 3 Hawks goals were fantastic. Seabrook had about a 90 ft. outlet pass to Richards, while Carcillo, yes Gorilla Salad, has a behind the back pass to Duncan Keith, and finally the effort from Richards and Versteeg on Kane's goal.
- Corey Crawford was excellent again for the Hawks. That's beginning to sound like a broken record, which is a good sound.
- The work of the "4th line" shouldn't go unnoticed. Once again, Nordstrom, Kruger, and Smith were superb.
- Speaking of the lines, the line blender seems to have found a nice combo of Kane, Richards, and Versteeg. That line is on fire right now.
The Bad
- Watching Rozsival be beat to a loose puck as the 1st period was winding down, was another sign of how many steps the guy has lost. Luckily for the Hawks it didn't bite them in the ass.
- Seeing Hossa skate off without laboring after taking an ugly cross check by Corey Perry to the ribs, was somewhat of a positive. Still, it wasn't good.
- Why do I always get the recaps when the power play is a complete shit show? Today was no exception. 0 for 5, including a failed opportunity on a condensed 5 minute to 3 minute major power play.
The Ugly
- As much as I enjoyed the hit on Kesler, I didn't care for every Blackhawk on the ice admiring the hit, allowing a wide open Ducks defenseman the opportunity to tip in a loose puck.
- Kyle Palmieri's hit on Johnny Oduya was brutal, plain and simple. Its the exact type of hit the league wants to get rid of. And in case you're wondering this hit was a lot different than the one on Kane the other night. The main difference is the route, how long Palmieri had Oduya lined up, and the fact he never let up. It was a dirty hit. But we did get a Boudreau face out of it, so that is the only positive out of it.
- When you look up the word "dickhead" in the dictionary, a picture of Corey Perry should show up.
