by Gatekeeper
Yell at Gatekeeper
One day after the recently insignificant Nashville #PERDS stated their horseshit "keep the red out" campaign up once again, in a pathetic cry for attention, the (still) first place Blackhawks rolled into town on the back of a 3 game home losing streak. Joel Quenneville couldn't let fans bask in the glory of the Artemi Panarin extension long before he started dropping hints that not only might green rookie Gustav Forsling sit for this contest, but Brian Campbell might have his consecutive game streak snapped at 423. Doesn't make a damn bit of sense, but alright. The last time we got our feathers ruffled about this shenanigan, Quenneville Rick-Rolled us all by dressing 7 defensemen. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me, Coach Wizzo.
This time around, though, he wasn't playing.
The game opened up with the Blackhawks actually asserting themselves but, as happens often, one of their signature abominable powerplay stalled their momentum. Later in the period, the Hawks were able to take advantage of a second powerplay, but turned around and gave up a game tying goal just thirty five seconds later. Swell; You just have to love when that happens. The first period ended with the Predators on a powerplay, but the Blackhawks were able to hold off a very brief flurry to slog into the first intermission tied 1-1. That said, the Hawks were also out shot a comical 16-6. But lets trade the one play that has kept you in several games singlehandedly....
Moving on...
The second period was somewhat the same for the road team, overall. The Blackhawks took a lazy penalty early on and then squandered another powerplay of their own in the second half of the period. Eventually the Blackhawks woke up a little bit and started to get some pressure on Pekka Rinne. Of course, the now customary Blackhawks terrible powerplay found itself on the ice to finish the middle frame, and did nothing at all. Shots were a little more even in the second, with a slight advantage to the Blackhawks at 10-9, but nothing new on the scoreboard.
The third period opened up with the Blackhawks wasting the remaining carryover time from the second period powerplay, and then turning right around to gave the Preds a powerplay of their own. Luckily for the Blackhawks, the Preds were just as bad on the powerplay, and the man advantage then shifted right back over to the Blackhawks, again. The general theme for this game was "every other powerplay", because this fourth powerplay resulted in the Hawks tying the game. They followed up this powerplay goal with another goal just over three minutes later, which gave them a 3-2 lead, and that is was how the game ended. The Blackhawks 3 game losing streak that no one was worried about was over.
- The first Blackhawks powerplay didn't go well at all, but they made up for it late in the first period. Red hot Artem Anisimov started the #ArtyParty with a nice redirection of a long Duncan Keith point shot to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead. On the Shitshow Petroleum Powerplay, no less.
- Midway through the third period the Preds took a penalty when Craig Smith went plowing through the crease and Corey Crawford, ever so slightly, moved enough to get clipped by Smith. This had the sensitive #Perds fans in an uproar, but you can't go plowing through the crease and act surprised when you get a penalty for contact with a goalie. Any hockey player knows this. Quit acting stupid! Of course, The Shitshow Petroleum Powerplay struck then again. Brent Seabrook let a long shot go through from the point and Captain Jonathan Toews redirected the puck just feet from Pekka Rinne. Rinne has no chance.
- Late in the third, the Blackhawks found themselves in the midst of a Patrick Kane led 4-on-2 that included...well...it doesn't actually matter who else was involved because Kane used everyone else as decoys and slammed home a no look game winner for his 700th NHL point.
- Can we all slide off Michal Kempny's back like the worms we are? The guy had a solid night after sitting for three more fucking weeks. Both him and Rozsival were two of the better Blackhawks defensemen. I still wouldn't advise Quenneville to be putting them both out there together against teams that are fleet of foot, but against the Preds they were good. That's the closest you're getting to a Michal Rozsival compliment, Fatrick, so suck it.
- I mentioned this last year, but the Preds Viktor Arvidsson is a nice little player, unlike most of the rest of that deplorable roster.
- Corey Crawford had himself yet another solid night, saving 36 of 38. If not for Crawford's first period heroics, the Preds could have easily had a sizable first intermission lead. If you're still a Crawford hater, just please email me your twitter handle to PuckinHostile@gmail.com so I can block you now, because nothing you can say can possibly resemble anything rational.
- Three blocked shots each by Keith, Kempny, Hjalmarsson, and Seabrook, as well as four blocks by Tanner Kero just doesn't seem possible, but the NHL statisticians are the bible. Couldn't possibly be flawed.
- Less than a minute after the Anisimov goal, Dennis Rasmussen failed to clear the puck in the Hawks zone and it ended up in the back of the Hawks net. Filip Forsberg was fed for a one timer by the fat out of shape Ryan Johansen, and Forsberg buried the puck top shelf over Crawford's blocker. Dennis Rasmussen tightened up later in the game, but he was brutal in the first half of the game. He was directly responsible for this Preds goal, and then got a lazy second period penalty with one hand on his stick.
- The Preds took a 2-1 lead early in the third period when Mike Fisher redirected a long Mattias Ekholm cross crease pass on the powerplay, and easily gave the Predators a lead. It was only a matter of time before the lazy penalties hurt the Hawks. This was one of those instances.
- Those golden pissbuckets that the #PERDS have been wearing are hideous. I posted it on twitter last night, but they look like That Yellow Bastard from Sin City, which is appropriate, because he's a deplorable scumbag, much like James Neal and Mike Ribeiro.
Nice helmets, #PERDS #PissBuckets @PredsNHL pic.twitter.com/bxbH9u70eS
— Puckin Hostile (@PuckinHostile) December 30, 2016 - Speaking of Mike Shit-beiro, this stupid ass fanbase boo'd Patrick Kane every time he touched the puck but they are perfectly fine cheering the creepy, nanny diddler. Backwards, half-witted hillbillies.
- There were a shit ton of open seats in the lower bowl for the entire first half of the game, but the Preds like to lose money, so lets keep the red out. Solid business model, because they are afraid of opposing fans.
- One of the only redeemable Preds players, PK Subban, missed the game and will be out for a bit. Word on the broadcast was that he has a disk issue in his back. Not good.
- Jordin Tootoo playing 3:28 just makes you shake your head in disbelief.
- Listen, Sitting Brian Campbell was just colossally stupid. You want to punish him? Drop him down the lineup and cut his ice time, but don't break a 423 game streak just to prove some stupid neanderthal point. You have no problem playing Jordin fucking Tootoo for just over 200 seconds for the entire game. It's an flat out asshole move, and the guy is 37 years old. Why are we playing children's games, and giving him a "timeout"? Pat Foley just ranted about Bob Pulford being and old stubborn fuck and ruining Steve Larmer's streak, but no outcry over Joel Quenneville just pulling a similar move because of shithead reasons.
- The Hawks led in faceoff wins by a significant margin, winning 26 of 47 (55%).
- Niklas Hjalmarsson and Brent Seabrook were walked all over most of the night in possession, as supported by their respective -29 and -24 corsis.
- The #AK72Line were the only Blackhawks players with a positive corsi. That'll tell you which line drove the Blackhawks possession the entire night
- There was one Preds player that had a negative corsi; Hockey Star (and #PERDS Captain) Mike Fisher.
Left Wing - Center - Right Wing
Hartman - Toews - Hinostroza
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Rasmussen - Kruger - Panik
Motte - Kero - Tootoo
Keith - van Riemsdyk
Hjalmarsson - Seabrook
Kempny - Rozsival
