That picture is for all you meatballs out there who think Corey Crawford should stop every shot he faces. I bet those same meatballs also didn't have a problem with a useless, yes, USELESS "hockey player" in Dan Carcillo suiting up instead of "The Savior" Teuvo Teravainen. Yes, even me as a "Teuvo Hater" can't defend this coaching decision by Quenneville, but whatever. Now onto the actual game...
Prior to the game, the Wild played a video tribute to J.P. Parise, Zach Parise's father, who passed away yesterday. It was a nice tribute to one of the North Stars greats. Thoughts to the Parise family.
Unlike recent games, the Blackhawks came out of the gate strong. They were skating circles around the Wild and nothing short of absolutely clowning them. Sharp opened the scoring with his 9th of the season, just past the 5 minute mark of the first period. Patrick Kane added a power play goal, after a sweet dish by Brad Richards, and after one it was 2-0 Hawks. Looks like the Mike Yeo meltdown yesterday worked well for the Wild.
Oh, did I mention the Mike Yeo meltdown, because there may have been a Part II that took place during the first intermission. The roles were completely reversed when the second began, it was the Wild that took it to the Hawks. Jason Zucker scored early in the second to cut the lead in half, and luckily for the Hawks, their goaler, kept the score a 2-1 after two.
To say the Hawks were "better" in the third period, is well, not saying much. Despite that, the Hawks did manage to get on the board first, courtesy of a Bryan Bickell rocket after a pass by Kane. This Bryan Bickell guy is kind of looking like he wants to be a hockey player now. I'm cautiously optimistic. The Wild didn't go quietly, as Jason Pominville tallied a power play goal, to cut the lead to 3-2. However it wasn't enough, as Bickell added his second of the night, this time of the empty net variety, and the Hawks escaped from Minneapolis with a 4-2 win. Onto Edmonton.
The Good
- Corey Crawford. 42 saves, this was a game he stole. Plain and simple.
- I can't believe I'm writing this, Bryan Bickell. I will not elaborate though.
- Somehow David Rundblad recorded his 6th assist on the season tonight. I know I'm surprised too. Maybe he's becoming, dare I say it, serviceable?
- Seeing Marcus Kruger return after that brutal hit by Thomas Vanek was good to see....More on this hit later.
The Bad
- Patrick Sharp had a nice little parade to the sin bin in the 2nd period, recording two penalties in about 6 minutes.
- Everyone enjoy that intimation Dan Carcillo showed after Vanek's hit on Kruger. Seriously what the fuck did Stan Bowman see in this guy to sign him not once, not twice, but three times.
The Ugly
- The second period by the Hawks was putrid. It was the complete opposite of how they started the game. Its almost as if they got the prima donna perfect attitude of "we got this game in the bag" during the first intermission.
- Thomas Vanek's hit on Marcus Kruger was dangerous to say the least. But I am perfectly fine with him being assessed a 5 minute major, and nothing more. No suspension is warranted in my opinion.
- If its Quenneville's idea to get us bloggers up in arms about his decisions, then mission accomplished sir.
- On the lineup topic, this is exactly why I didn't want to see Teuvo called up. What good is it in developing him if he plays two games, and then is a healthy scratch? It doesn't help him. It only hurts him. Keep dicking around like this, and soon his confidence will be shot, and it will be back to the drawing board. When you're trying to develop a prospect, this isn't the way to go about.
- Its not every game you can be outshot 44-20 and walk away with a win. Consider this a gift Hawks.