We all know what happened last night. I want to thank Pat for stepping up at the last minute to pinch hit. We are lucky to have such a great team.
No need for semantics, lets get right into the meat and potatoes. On to this joint team recap:
- In the first period to start the game, the Hossa-Toews-Saad line had multiple chances on first few shifts. They have been pretty consistent all series.
- Just a couple of minutes after the PERDS took the lead, our favorite whipping boy, Michal Rozsival, threw a centering pass from along the half boards into the clot, which Antoine Vermette redirected past Rinne. The shot was a little bit of a knuckleball, but who re we to complain? Finally, the Vermette deal yields something other than teeth gnashing.
- Well, if he can't do anything else, and it looks like he can't, at least Bickell laid out ass face Mike Ribeiro with a huge hit. Everyone can approve of that play.
- Scott Darling had another strong night. He made some nice solid stops and kept the Blackhawks close all night. Darling and Rinne both put on goaltending shows in OT.
- The Blackahwks finally tied the score roughly mid way through the third period. Duncan Keith had an excellent cross ice outlet pass to Marian Hossa, who then carried the puck into the zone and across the slot. Hossa dropped a pass to Brandon Saad, who snapped the puck past Rinne. The UC went bananas and things were all tied up. They would be tied up for quite a while.
- He has been a point of much contention but Johnny Oduya's sprawling play against Stalberg in the first OT was pretty significant.
- A minute into the third OT, Brad Richards forced the PERDS to turn over the puck at their blue line. Kane ended up with the puck on his stick and he sliced across the slot, trying to hit Bickell in front of Rinne. Kane followed up the missed chance by picking up the puck in the corner and circling behind the net. As soon as he cleared the net, he found and hit Brent Seabrook with a pass that Seabrook one timed past Rinne for the game winner.
- Go figure. Antoine Vermette is in the lineup and the Blackhawks manage to win 53% of their faceoffs.
- About midway through the first period, Bryan Bickell took a lazy hooking penalty. I know you'll be shocked to hear this, but Colin Wilson then redirected a point shot by Ryan Ellis past the #6foot6Monster Scott Darling for a 1-0 lead. The one special team that was pretty god for the Hawks was the PK, and it has struggled in this series.
- In the second period, Viktor Stalberg had a big hit on Jonathan Toews in the corner, which could have made a case for boarding. Dangerous hit from a notoriously dense player.
- The Blackhawks were out shot pretty well in he oping to periods, but seemed to even the play more as the game waned on. They were still out shot 52-48 overall. Getting out shot at home when the other team is missing their Captain and all world defender is not good. The only period where the Blackhawks controlled the play convincingly was the third.
- The Hawks had a chance to tie the game on a two on one. Forsberg raced back, caught the play, and took a hooking penalty. One could have made an argument for a penalty shot, but that's not happening in the third period of a one goal playoff game. This power play negated the PERDS earlier power play chance. Of course the Blackhawks made clowns out of themselves with a terrible showing on the powerplay. The had a powerplay in the second OT and proceeded to muck that up as well.
- Druing a stretch in the first OT, the PERDS had two quick, very dangerous, shots off face off wins. First of all, if that happens once, you adjust your lineup for the faceoff. Second of all, win a FUCKING defensive zone draw Kruger!
- Over 46 minutes for Duncan Keith. We may see a man literally melt into a pile of goo before these playoffs are over.
- Fuck the NHL and their late central time zone starts. We were able to roll over and go to bed after, but I cannot imagine what the 22,000 people in the UC had to endure, going home and then getting up for work. Not only that, but they had to watch the game sans alcohol for over 2 1/2 periods. We all know Chicago fans have a hard time functioning at all without a registering blood alcohol level. This schedule benefits no one, BUT NBC, so knock this dumb shit off!!
- About three minutes into the second period, the "possibly" overworked Duncan Keith made a lazy attempt to clear the puck out of the Blackhawks zone, which Hossa wasn't able to get a hold of either. Puck bounced around, and Duncs eventually had a chance to break up the play but flat out missed puck. The puck squirted through and landed on James Neal's stick, who beat Darling to take a 2-1 lead. I know Rozsival played alright, but once again, he cannot be out there as a top pair guy with Keith.
- I have a lot more tolerance for this than the average player/fan, but the play where Rinne lost the puck in his "paraphernalia" ended up being a nice break for all involved, I'm sure. That stuff happens and you honestly cannot find it without starting to take all your shit off. Been there, done that.
- Both teams took lazy penalties in the second OT. Neither resulted in a game winner, but that puck over the glass penalty in the playoffs is STUPID. Someone is going to win a game they shouldn't because the puck sails a foot higher than intended on a usually basic clearing play.
- In a triple overtime game, Kimmo Timonen barely broke 12 minutes, and your second line wing, Kris Versteeg, barely broke 19. When the team runs out of gas, and they will, don't say I didn't tell you.
Saad-Toews-Hossa
Versteeg-Richards-Kane
Sharp-Vermette-Bickell
Desjardins-Kruger-Shaw
Keith-Seabrook
Oduya-Hjalmarsson
Rozsival-Timonen