The Blackhawks annual Disney on Ice, Ice Show road trip continued Friday night with the Hawks paying a visit to Disneyland, or if you want to be specific, Anaheim. If you listened to last night's Puckin Hostile Shoutcast, you would have heard me claim several times, that I could see the Ducks drubbing the Hawks. Luckily for the Hawks, the complete opposite happened, as it was the Hawks who were the dominate team on the ice.
Heading into the game, the Blackhawks the pleasure of waiting for the Ducks in Anaheim, as the Ducks had played (if you want to say they did) in San Jose on Thursday night. As the game got underway, it was pretty clear that the Hawks had more energy, but it was the Ducks who were throwing their weight around. Despite the hitting, the Hawks managed to get the scoring started. Patrick Kane had an opportunity to shoot the puck, but made what could be argued the "one too many pass" to El Captain. El Captain made the most of the extra pass as he buried to give the Hawks the 1-0 lead after one.
The second period saw the Hawks continue to dominate, out shooting the Ducks 14-7. Duncan Keith recorded his 400th career point on his 7th goal of the season. Later in the period Patrick Kane added another tally, on a wicked wrist shot. Despite having three power plays in the period and being unable to cash in on any, the Hawks found themselves up 3-0 after two periods.
As the third period went on, the Ducks seemed to get more and more energy. This was evident as Corey Perry managed to strip the puck from Hossa in the neutral zone, glide a pass past a sprawling Brent Seabrook to Richard Rakell who put it home to cut the Hawks lead to 3-1. That however was as close as the Ducks would get. Patrick Sharp added his 4th assist of the night as he caused a turnover along the boards, and centered the puck to a wide open Patrick Kane, who redirect the puck in, to give the Hawks a 4-1 lead for good. Next up for the Hawks is a short flight up to Northern California and San Jose for a Saturday night tilt. Rumor has it, we might have a Gatekeeper sighting on the recap for that game, as he could be back from his vacation with Kim Johnsson to the Swedish cabin on top of the Globe Arena.
The Good
- Corey Crawford was excellent in net. He made several key saves to kill any momentum the Ducks tried to get going in the 2nd period.
- It was nice to hear Pat Foley point out what EVERYONE with hockey knowledge already knew. The Johnny Oduya/Michal Rozsival pairing is horrendous.
- Duncan Keith reached a milestone in his career as he recorded his 400th career point.
- Patrick Kane and Patrick Sharp had stellar performances. Kane had 2 goals, 1 assist, and a +4, while Sharp had 4 assists and was a +4.
- Speaking of Sharp, on his 4th assist, he had a great stick lift, that resulted in a turnover, and his centering pass to Kane was right on the mark.
- Who didn't enjoy watching Duncan Keith clown Corey Perry?
The Bad
- Brent Seabrook had a rough night, as in being pumled with hits. I guess the Ducks still haven't gotten over his "hit" or a I say it "Corey Perry falling into a hit" from a few years back.
- The powerless power play 0 for 3, which all three power plays came in the 2nd period, a time when the Hawks could have put the game away earlier.
- In keeping with the special teams, the Hawks managed to take two bad back to back 3rd period penalties, one of which saw the Ducks score on.
The Ugly
- We'll revert back to last night's shoutcast for the ugly. My prediction of the outcome of this game was as attractive as Buzz's girlfriend, wuff.
- The Ducks learned a valuable lesson these last two games, never let Bruce Boudreau coach on an empty stomach.