"Children of the Storm"
By Patrick Norton
After a promising four game home win streak, the past two games for the Blackhawks have been nightmares on the road. A blowout loss to the scorching Washington Capitals and nail biting one goal loss to the division leading Minnesota Wild has Hawks fans searching for radical answers. “Is it time to trade Toews? Is Crawford losing an edge? Seabrook should’ve been gone a while ago.” You know, normal bickering of the fanbase in the midst of another decent season. What better way to get on track with a nice victory against the struggling Colorado Avalanche to kick off the annual father’s trip.
Or… maybe this will be another classic trap game for the Blackhawks where they’re outperformed a full sixty minutes by a below average opponent. Last time these teams met, Calvin Pickard and the Avalanche stole two points in overtime of a 2-1 game. This time, Semyon Varlamov would guard the pipes for the Avalanche while Corey Crawford would get his shot at redemption.
After cycling through shifts, the fourth line finally got the game underway for the Blackhawks. Grinding in the slot from Desjardins and Rasmussen led to the first tally off of Nick Schmaltz’s stick. It wasn’t long until an iffy penalty call came back to bite the Blackhawks in the behind. Nathan MacKinnon gave Corey Crawford some serious PTSD when stepping up in the circle and sniping one past Crow, similar to the OT goal MacKinnon scored in late December against this same team (eventually credited to Matt Duchene with a redirect). Luckily for Chicago, the fourth line made their way back onto the ice shortly after and regained a one goal lead for the visitors. I’m still not exactly sure if the puck was redirected in, but it has been officially called a Brent Seabrook goal. A slapper from the blue line through traffic allowed Varlamov absolutely no chance for romance with the puck. After one, Blackhawks had a one goal lead, 2-1.
The first half of the second period was eye-gouging worthy due to its boredom. Then, in the matter of sixty-three seconds, the Avalanche took the lead. Out of nowhere, Comeau and Nieto put tallies on the board for the Avalanche, but the period still had ten minutes remaining. Nineteen seconds later, Tanner Kero picked up a loose puck in front of Varlamov and buried it to bring the score to a 3-3 tie. Then, moments later, Michal Kempny lost a step on Duchene and the speedy douche made #KempGod pay. Crawford froze and Duchene put the Avs back in front. The seesaw came to a twenty minute hiatus as second period came to an end with the Blackhawks now trailing the Avalanche, 4-3.
The third period took a few minutes to get off the ground and running. Vinnie Hinostroza ties up the game on a breakaway goal after a beautiful stretch pass from Brent Seabrook. Hinostroza’s ensuing shift included another tally from the youngster, this time off of a fantastic pass to a net crashing Hinostroza from Tanner Kero. After the defense tightened up and Crawford locked down the Avalanche in the third, Kero added an empty net goal from an unselfish pass from The Captain and that’s all she wrote in Colorado. Happy to be back in the win column, once again. Great way to start the father’s trip, but let’s hope they can use this spark to take them into the next few road games. Your final in Denver, Blackhawks 6, Avalanche 4.
The Good
- Another good night for the traveling fanbase. As the puck dropped, “Let’s Go Hawks” could be heard crystal clear.
- Dennis Rasmussen led the fourth line to another solid night. Desjardins - Rasmussen - Schmaltz produced a hard fought first tally for the visitors. Their defense played a major role in shutting down the “big guns” for the Avs and executed it well.
- Nick Schmaltz had a decent showing. Although it was limiting playing time, while on the ice, he eliminated the speed advantage the Avalanche hold over the Blackhawks. Nice change of pace on the ice letting Jordin Tootoo watch the game with his dad.
- Hey! Look! Desjardins goal! Just kidding, Steve Konroyd is just stupid.
- God love him! Vinnie Hinostroza using his lightning speed to score a tying third period goal on a breakaway. Somehow, a pass from Seabrook wasn’t intercepted and instead, it sprung the speedster in all alone, past the defense. Then a sweet dish from Tanner Kero to the Italian Stallion gave the Hawks a third period lead.
- Speaking of Tanner Kero, he sure has made a name for himself in the lineup. He struggled at the dot, but made up for it with three points including two goals.
- The bottom six was responsible for all six goals (if you include the assists on the Seabrook goal). Incredible night for the guys that rarely get any credit.
- Besides a turnover that led to a goal, Seabrook looked pretty good out there.
The Bad
- Hot start to the broadcast. It takes fifteen minutes for the puck to drop so we’re left listening to the incoherent takes of Jamal Mayers… but where was Steve Konroyd? See “The Ugly.”
- Man, this team’s penalty kill has my brain hurting. MacKinnon has a wicked wrister, but come on, be better. They’re still the God forsaken Avalanche. It should be an automatic kill. Inability to clear the puck hurts, but that’s just one of the issues I have with their special teams unit.
- After a two goal performance the other night, Patrick Kane forgot to show up to tonight’s game. Not sure if he fell victim to Richard Panik’s alarm clock, but the MVP made little noise on the ice tonight.
- Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. They always lead to goals. Seabrook with another classic Seabrook turnover led to Colorado’s third goal of the game.
- Sure, turnovers and defense are to blame for the opportunities given up, but Corey Crawford had a weak showing in net. The Avalanche bullied their way into the crease and Crawford couldn’t fend them off leading to chaos in the crease. You can’t complain too much with the workload this guy has had, but this was far from a good showing for #50.
- You can’t expect one source of scoring, so it was a pleasant surprise the bottom six had a fantastic night, but the top six disappeared like Derrick Rose.
- Sloppy clears, careless passes, and turnovers plagued the possession numbers for the Blackhawks. Neither team could stop the bleeding, so it became a game of “who can hold onto the vulcanized rubber the longest.” I’m too lazy to look up the actual numbers, but even if the Blackhawks led in time of possession, it sure as hell did not seem like it.
- Quenneville benched the fourth line for the final six minutes of the second period. Why? They’ve produced the most offense in this game? What gives? He kind of made up for it giving them a lot of ice time in the third, but come on, that second period was a tire fire.
The Ugly
- Semyon Varlamov is not good and his confidence was shaky. Had the defense played better, the Blackhawks would’ve blown out their Central Division pals.
- God F****** Dammit. Why, God? Why? Of course, the game I’m tasked with recapping, Steve Konroyd is in the booth. I actually listened to John Wiedeman and Troy Murray for the second period (I actually enjoy Wiedeman. His words per minute and excitement in his voice keep the game moving and makes it enjoyable).
- Oh my God. In another instance, Dr. Konroyd diagnosed Artem Anisimov with a non-existent bloody lip. Hey, at least it’s not a death sentence.
- This game kind of sucked. I don’t care about the scoring or the outcome. It was a lot of back and forth with far too many stoppages after a long day for me. I didn’t connect with this one and it made it difficult to enjoy. This is my attempt at an apology for this lame ass recap.
- We need bigger nets for #MOARGOALZ.... Not.
- Pat Boyle literally had to finish Mayer’s sentence in the postgame because he can’t comprehend the english language. Somebody’s sustained too many hits to the head. Hey NHL, CTE is real… Your proof? Jamal Mayer’s speaking ability.
*I initially titled this a loss recap because I'm so used to it*
