On Saturday afternoon, yes afternoon, the Blackhawks concluded their brief two games father's road trip in the now smoldering tire fire that is San Jose. While in the midst of battling for their playoff, Sharks "leader" Joe Thornton felt the need to tell his GM Doug Wilson to "shut his mouth" yesterday. Always a nice thing to see when teetering on the brink of a rebuild. Your thoughts on being part of a rebuild in San Jose, or dare I say it? Toronto, Joe?
Anyway, enough about the dirtiest center at the face off dot, we've got more important things to worry about. Like getting this 3pm (1pm San Jose) game under way so the Sharks can get a quick 9 holes in at the golf course and start practicing for their annual rounds played while the Stanley Cup Playoffs are going on.
At the start of the game, as been much of late, Corey Crawford bailed the Hawks out, as they were too busy sleepwalking early on. The Hawks did catch a break later in the period. A great touch pass by Antoine Vermette (or Brad Richards according to Steve Konroyd) sprung Patrick Sharp in on Niemi. Niemi stopped the initial shot, but couldn't stop Sharp on his rebound attempt to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Late in the period, you could see it coming from their dominant start, the Sharks were able to tie the game on a goal from Melker Karlsson. After one, the game would be tied at one.
In the second period, the Sharks had an early power play, but the PK put in another great effort and were able to kill it off. Later in the period, the Hawks were able to cash in on a bad penalty by Brenden Dillon, as Duncan Keith, with an Andrew Shaw screen in front, blasted the puck past Niemi to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead. Following a Jonathan Toews penalty, the Sharks responded with a power play goal after a sweet redirect by Brent Seabrook past Crawford to tie the game at two.
Early in the third period, Crawford lead an outlet pass to Teravainen, who sprung Saad, and Saad did all the rest to give the Hawks a 3-2 lead. The secondary assist by Crawford was his first point of the season. Yes, you are correct that a former goalie would point that out. Later Brad Richards found a loose puck behind the net, and with 4 Sharks players focused on him, he centered it to a wide open Bickell who beat Niemi. It was a beautiful display of defense by San Jose. With just under 5 minutes to play, on the power play, the Hawks all but put this game away as Patrick Sharp added his second goal of the game to make it 5-2. As if the game wasn't over already, San Jose decided to pull Niemi for the extra attacker with almost 4 minutes remaining, and Hossa added salt to the wound with an empty netter and give the Blackhawks a 6-2 win.
The Good
- Again, it sounds like a broken record, but Corey Crawford was awesome in net. He weathered the storm by the Sharks in the 1st period, while the rest of the Blackhawks were sleepwalking.
- Sharp, and Keith both scored, and Richards scored in Arizona. Isn't it nice to see these guys on the scoresheet without a minus?
- Holy shit, the Blackhawks were 2 for 4 on the power play this afternoon!!! Stop the presses!
- I bad mouth Andrew Shaw a lot, but today I'll give him some credit. Parking himself in front of Niemi directly lead to both of the Hawks power play goals. Its not complicated. Move the puck to open shooting lanes, and get some traffic in front of the net. Its nice to see some greasy goals for a change by the Hawks.
- Thank God, this was the final game of the father's trip. While I think this is a great idea, I don't need to hear Pat Foley mention it during every stoppage.
The Bad
- Antoine Vermette had a rough day at the face off dot, as he was 32%.
- The decision by Marcus Kruger to go for a change instead of A. staying on the ice, or B. just grabbing a new stick from the bench, led to the Sharks first goal. It didn't help that Andrew Desjardins jumped over the boards and couldn't get his skates under him. He literally looked like a fish flopping out of water. Careful Andrew, I heard ice is slippery.
- Anyone else think there was a ridiculous amount of icings in this game?
The Ugly
- The start by the Blackhawks was lackluster to say the least. They're lucky their goalie bailed them out early on.
- The much anticipated return of Andrew Desjardins to San Jose turned out to be nothing more than a turd in a punch bowl. But hey he did have more ice time than John Scott.
- While Pavelski and Toews were slashing each other at the end of the first period, Jumbo Jack Ass Joe Thornton decided to come over and give a quick spear to Toews. This guy is a complete asshole.
- Seriously, does Steve Konroyd even look at a line up card? Who the fuck is Andrew Saad?? And Rich King is the perfect guy for that WGN intermission set, since both of them look like they're stuck in the '70s.