by Gatekeeper
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Game 2 of the the NLDS, or the final Blackhawks preseason game?
The Blackhawks, of course.
Speaking of the Blackhawks, they were in St. Louis to wrap up this year's preseason. They sent a young skeleton squad south, just in case the thug squad wanted to throw on their clown shoes and start taking cheap shots, so let's call them the IceHawks (because BlackHogs might bring up some unsavory comparisons). We all saw what happened a week ago, so it's not a reach to think it could happen again. After this one, the Blackhawks have about 3 days to get their roster straightened out. As insignificant as this game might seem, this may be what makes or breaks some of the kids for the start of the regular season.
The first period was, as expected, a snoozer. The IceHawks looked over matched right off the bat, but only went into the first intermission down 1-0. The tale of the shots told a better story, where the Blues out shot the IceHawks 11-6. This certainly looked like it was going to be a long boring game.
The only thing that made the second period any more interesting than the insufferable first, was the Blackhawks tying the game. That was basically the only interesting moment of this period. In fact, the second period was WORSE than the first. Both teams COMBINED for nine shots. NINE! If you say I'm salty because I had to sit through this one and recap it, you'd be completely right. I hate baseball, and I would have rather watched the Cubs. Anywho, one more period to go.
The third period, predictably, wasn't any better. The Blues took a 2-1 lead, and the game should have just ended right there. The game came to a merciful ending at 9:30 and it wasn't a second too soon. Now we have 3 days to get this roster straight.
- Three minutes into the second period, the Blackhawks scored in very similar fashion to the way the Blues did in the first. Dennis Rasmussen won a faceoff back to Trevor Van Riemsdyk let a long show go. Rasmussen slightly redirected the shot and it went off a Blues defender past Hutton. So, the 4th line avenges themselves.
- I haven't a fucking clue why there is such irrational hate for #DickPanik. Guy has been Frolik v2.0. He plays in all situations, and he's cheap. He can move up and down the lineup, and could very reasonably contribute the 30 points that Yakupov has peaked at, for a fraction of the cap hit. Also, as I mentioned on Twitter, I loved Michael Frolik, but he played a max of 63 games and had a max of 15 points. That's not going to be hard for Panik to reach. He's a useful, affordable, and very versatile player. No one should expect him to become Artemi Panarin, but doing all the things Frolik did is important and something he can do. Embrace that, for fuck sakes.
- It didn't even take more than seven minutes for the Blues to finally take a lead. Quite frankly, I'm surprised that it took that long. Dennis Rasmussen lost a defensive zone faceoff cleanly, and Vlad Tarasenko snapped it over Crawford.
- Early in the second period, Alexandre Fortin was a little too non-chalant in his own zone and had his pocket picked, pretty embarrassingly. Thank god, Crawford bailed him out. The really nice part was that he turned around and hustled his ass off to get in position for a 2-on-1 with #DickPanik on the other end. If not for a nice Carter Hutton save, he would have had himself a nice back door goal and a two goal swing.
- With four minutes gone in the third period, Alex Pietrangelo squeezed a shot through Crawford on the powerplay. For the second time Gustav Forsling LOOKED like a 20 year old defenseman. He put in a half assed effort when faced with Pietrangelo and basically abandoned ship. This gave the Blues defenseman a clean look on Crawford. The very next shift he had his pocket picked deep in his own zone again. Later in the third he practically handed Tarasenko a breakaway.
- The Blues had 11 shots in the first period and 10 the rest of the way. Just goes to show that neither team really cared.
- Andrew Desjardins apparently hurt himself blocking a shot in the third period. No word on the extent of the injury.
- The game wasn't five minutes old and the trio of Van Riemsdyk, Pokka, and Forsling all got walked like they were standing still. There is your defensive youth movement.
- Jake Allen was hurt in the first period when his own player fell on his ankle and did not come out for the second. Carter Hutton finished the game.
- I know John Jaeckel was all about Mark McNeill but, personally, I just don't see it. To score like 25 goals in the AHL twice with his size and strength, and look so underwhelming in the NHL defies all logic. Just another wasted Blackhawks first round draft pick. Why couldn't they have sold Montreal on HIM? When you have a hard time beating out Brandon Manshitter and Jordin Tutu, you're a bad fucking player.
Fortin - Schmaltz - Panik
Motte - Kruger - Hartman
Hinostroza - Desjardins - Tootoo
Mashinter - Rasmussen - McNeill
Kempny - Rozsival
Pokka - Forsling
Svedgroot - van Riemsdyk
Crawford