Blackhawks at Arizona4-2 Win Recap

"The Price Is Wrong"

by Gatekeeper
Chirp at Gatekeeper

Saturday night the Blackhawks traveled to sunny desolate Arizona for a tilt with the Coyotes. After losing at home Thursday night to the Oilers, the Hawks had a slightly less threatening opponent this time around. In fact, the Yotes were winless for the 16-17 season. Almost makes you feel bad for Niklas Hjalmarsson. There was a very good chance that the Blackhawks could get back on track against one of the NHL's worst teams.

To open the game, the Blackhawks didn't look like the better team, at all. Arizona came in and out shot the Hawks early, and had a few good chances to take a lead, as well. They finally did take that 1-0 lead as Connor Murphy got caught on a bad pinch that no one covered for him. That left Jordan Oesterle back to cover a 2-on-1 that he actually played pretty well. Unfortunately for Corey Crawford the attempted pass across hit Oesterle's stick and split Corey's wickets. Not the prettiest goal. All was right again, when Jonathan Toews and Richard Panik hooked up take advantage of the Blackhawks first powerplay of the night and tie the game up, just a minute later. The following five minutes were the Blackhawks penalty kill circus, as they wore out a path to the penalty box, taking FOUR in five minutes. Luckily, the Yotes are terrible and they weren't able to generate much of anything on the advantage. Oddly enough the Yotes only had 11 shots on net, even though they had so much extended powerplay time, while the Blackhawks had 10.

The second period didn't open up with nearly as much action and was generally a boring until the Blackhawks woke up halfway through. Captain Jonathan Toews sprung Patrick Kane for a breakaway that he had all kinds of trouble gathering, but ws still able to eventually pull away with. Kane sized up the Yotes backup goalie and picked him apart, for a 2-1 Blackhawks lead. Just a few minutes later Kane led a 2-on-1 that was stopped, but got the "home away from home" crowd off their hands once again. Speaking of getting out of their seats, Tommy Wingels was awarded a penalty shot, and initially scored. Unfortunately the refs were forced to make a judgement call and they did what they regularly do, which is got it wrong. Almost as if it was written, the Blackhawks then gave up a poorly defended goal shortly thereafter. They should have been up 3-1 but were now tied 2-2.

As this game when on, it got more boring. Just when it looked like both teams were playing for overtime, the Blackhawks 4th line came up big. They didn't pull off any highlight reel plays, but Lance Bouma swept a rebound past Domingue by being in the right place at the right time. This was all the Blackhawks need to squeak out a win on the road, but Tommy Wingels took back what was taken from him earlier by the officials. This was a far from perfect game, but a regulation win nonetheless.

The Good

• The penalty kill had a good night, even though the bar was low, based on the opponent. The Coyotes can boast that they are better than the Blackhawks on the powerplay, at 22nd, but not much.
• After their stupid first period plays, Tommy Wingels and Lance Bouma each had 2 pts, and Wingels should have had a second goal. Someone had to step up in their game, and it was the 4th line.
• The Saad/Toews/Panik line were possession monsters all night and it showed in the number as their corsi numbers were +10/+14/+12 respectively.
• Not Corey Crawford's best game, but he saved 27 of 29 and kept the game close enough for them to pull away.

The Bad

• I will never stop being annoyed by pointless fancy blind backhand passes, when they are clearly not needed. I've watched enough of those go terribly wrong to know that they are needless and high risk. Just simplify and make a solid, strong, safe play. This time it was Jonathan Toews on the powerplay. Knock it off.
• The Coyotes second goal was a total mess. The Blackhawks actually won the faceoff but the puck flipped up and hit Patrick Sharp and dropped in the slot. Clayton Keller just jumped on the loose puck and buried the goal.
• The third line of Sharp/Anisimov/Debrincat were all -2 on the night. Their corsi numbers were -3/-9/-7 respectively. That's brutal.
• HOT TAKE ALERT: Sorry, but Oliver Ekman-Larsson is over rated. I keep reading and hearing how good this guy is and he continues to just be mediocre. I haven't seen it. You watch him play and tell me he's a future norris trophy winner, and I'll tell you that you're wrong.

The Ugly

• Lance Bouma and Tommy Wingels put their team down 5-on-3 with two stupid penalties on the same play. The stupidity didn't stop there, though. The usually smart Jan Rutta tried to whack at a shoulder high puck with his stick and took another penalty. IT DOESN'T STOP THERE! Brent Seabrook had a complete brain fart and put the puck on his own net, which turned into yackety sax. The penalty killers ended up taking another penalty, which was their fourth in five minutes. If they were playing even a decent team, the Hawks would have been down 3-1.
• The Tommy Wingels penalty shot was a goal. Plain and simple. There were absolutely no angles that showed clearly that Louis Domingue touched the puck. Just scrap the replay, because they seem to rarely get the calls correct. You know how they say trust your first instinct? The NHL needs to start doing so, because they are once again pulling goals off the board without any clear definitive evidence. Joel Quenneville has every right to be furious, here:
  

  VIDEO: #Blackhawks goal is disallowed, Joel Quenneville proceeds to lose his damn mind. (H/T @MarkLazerus) pic.twitter.com/OO0dR4mhHF

  — Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) February 5, 2016

• No one seems concerned that Alex Debrincat keeps getting crushed game after game. He gets flattened almost once a game and everyone sticks their head in the sand. When he ends up on IR everyone will act stupid, like it was a surprise. That's fine and well. No one can say I didn't tell them months ago that he is not adjusted to the pro game enough to adequately protect himself.

The Lineblender
Left Wing - Center - Right Wing
Brandon Saad - Jonathan Toews - Richard Panik
Ryan Hartman - Nick Schmaltz - Patrick Kane
Patrick Sharp - Artem Anisimov - Alex Debrincat
Lance Bouma - Tommy Wingels - John Hayden

Duncan Keith - Brent Seabrook
Jordan Oesterle - Connor Murphy
Gustav Forsling - Jan Rutta

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Blackhawks at Arizona4-3 Win Recap

"Breaking The Broken"

by Gatekeeper
Yell at Gatekeeper

Game two, post All-Star break, was in tropical Arizona, Thursday night. The Blackhawks were going to get to see a couple of potential trade deadline targets up close in Kevin Connauton, Luke Schenn, and Martin Hanzel, as mentioned on the previous night's Shoutcast. This was a game the Blackhawks needed to win, and win convincingly. They were coming in on the heels of a three game losing streak where they they simply looked awful. Their weaknesses have been exposed, as of late, and their energy has been lackluster. The Coyotes came into this contest with a home record that wasn't terrible. They were only one game under .500 which, for this team, was pretty good. It was up to the Blackhawks to make sure they didn't hit .500.

For at least the first period, the Blackhawks came out looking like world beaters. Before the game was ten minutes old, they had two goals on seven shots while giving up only two shots against. They weren't done there, though. With about six minutes remaining in the period, on their second powerplay, the Blackhawks took a 3-0. Clearly this was not so much that the Blackhawks were amazing, but that the Coyotes were just godawful. The period ended with the Hawks up 3-0 while out shooting the Yotes 14-6. I honestly couldn't remember the Coyotes having two shots on Corey Crawford.

In typical Blackhawks fashion, they came out in the second period and took three stupid ass penalties in the first four minutes of play. This gave the Coyotes enough opportunity to break the shutout on a 2-man powerplay, which is exactly what happened. The Blackhawks gathered themselves and put their big boy pants back on long enough to get that three goal lead back with about five minutes gone, but stumbled again. The Coyotes scored their second and third of the period before the second intermission, making this game much, much closer than it ever should have been. Can't make it easy on us, can they? The Yotes completely flipped the script on the Blackhawks, out shooting them 14-6 in the second period.

The final period was much more controlled, but that didn't completely keep the stupid penalties off the board for either team. This said, there was no scoring off the powerplays, or scoring in general. Not to say there weren't a few scary moments, but the Blackhawks held the Coyotes at bay, for a half assed win. This is not a game that the Blackhawks deserved to win, but their opponent was just that much worse.

Also, go listen to this week's Shoutcast where we talk, at length, about possible Blackhawks trade deadline targets, and rumors of a possible Scott Darling extension.

The Good

• Just under halfway through the first period Patrick Kane ripped a snapper over Mike Smith's glove for a 1-0 Blackhawks lead, on the powerplay. Nothing special about this one. Kane just ate Mike Smith alive when the defenseman gave Kane way too much room to size the big greasy man-baby up.
• About a minute after the Kane goal, Ryan Hartman took advantage of a Coyotes defender with no stick, and blew a long clapper through about a million sets of legs, including Mike Smith's. Two goals in 1:12 had us fans looking for a landslide that never came.
• The Blackhawks also scored on their second powerplay of the game, with six minutes remaining in the first period. Artemi Panarin and Marian Hossa hooked up on a nice looking zone entry, and Hossa was able to knife right through the Coyotes defense to beat Mike Smith on the stick side. Smith, for some reason, was super deep in his net and left way too much real estate for Hossa to shoot at. The Blackhawks were off to the races, right?
• After the Blackhawks finished shooting themselves in the foot, for the first 5 minutes of the second period, Artemi Panarin put the Blackhawks back up by 3 goals. Panarin's one timer isn't quite as dangerous as Ovechkin, but it's not far behind, either. He hit a small area of the top shelf surgically. It was really and extremely underrated goal, because one timers are hard enough, but to get them off with such precision is seriously amazing.
• Jonathan Toews used his pure speed to get himself one on one with Mike Smith, shorthanded, in the third period. Tell me some more about how the Blackhawks need to trade him, meatball imbeciles.

The Bad

• The Coyotes got their second goal of the game with five and a half minutes remaining in the middle frame. Christian Dvorak pretty impressively redirected a long Shane Doan shot past Crawford to cut the lead back down to two goals.
• The Coyotes weren't done there, though, folks. With under 5 minutes remaining in the second period, Brendan Perlini banked a long shot from the half boards off the skate of Brent Seabrook past Corey Crawford and into the Hawks net. Just wonderful.
• Andrew Desjardins not only got his first point of the year in the first period, but he got into a fight with Luke Schenn when Schenn stood up for teammate Radim Vrbata. Schenn came racing at Desjardins after Desjardins put an aggressive bump on Vrbata after a whistle.

The Ugly

• The Hawks opened up the second period taking two penalties on the first 19 seconds of the period. This gave the Coyotes a long 5-on-3 powerplay and they were able to cut the Blackhawks lead to 2 goals with a back door Oliver Ekman-Larsson goal. They weren't done making themselves look like assholes yet, though. The parade to the penalty box continued to force the penalty kill
• The Blackhawks ended up taking three delay of game penalties in the first 40 minutes. How does that even happen? Sloppy ass hockey.
• I know that Mike Smith is kind of a sweaty douchenozzle, but I feel for the guy, as a goalie. Getting your ass handed to you night in and night out cannot be fun. His save percentage is respectable and yet they just get absolutely shelled. I can't blame him for flipping the fuck out a time or two. I certainly would, and probably on a nightly basis.

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson were pretty well under water in Corsi but, at least in Hjalmarsson's case, it was all the shorthanded time. Hjalmarsson alone was on the ice for just a shade under 6 full shorthanded minutes. That's insanity.
• The fourth line and third defensive pair held their own in possession, albeit sheltered minutes.
• The Coyotes out hit the Blackhawks 46-8.
  

The Lineblender
Left Wing - Center - Right Wing
Schmaltz - Toews - Panik
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Rasmussen - Kruger - Hossa
Desjardins - Kero - Hartman

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Forsling - Seabrook
Campbell - van Riemsdyk

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Blackhawks vs Coyotes4-0 Shutout Win Recap

"Junkhead"

by Gatekeeper
Yell at Gatekeeper

The shitty Coyotes took a trip from their tropical home to the sub freezing December Chicago weather to face the struggling Blackhawks, Tuesday night. If there was any team that was frustrated and struggling more than the Blackhawks, that team is the Arizona Coyotes. They were coming off 3 straight losses where they gave up a combined 127 shots for an average of over 42 shots a game. It can't go without being mentioned that they gave up 60 shots in one game vs the Blue Jackets. BAH-ROO-TAL. The Blackhawks were without their captain and top goaltender once again, so this certainly wasn't any walk in the park for the home team, even if they wanted to try and will this game on talent alone. Noted Yotes elbow chucker Shane Doan was just one goal from 400 coming in, so they had good reason to keep him off the scoreboard. Of course Coach Wizzo had to trot out his large adult son, Trevor van Riemsdyk, so Michal Kempny got the press box shrimp cocktail to himself while I got one step closer to an aneurysm.


The first period started off as most do for the Blackhawks, these days. Slow. Like Fatrick's metabolism. They were out shot in the first period 9-5 by a team that was averaging about 14 against per period, recently. That's just sad. It was even more of a god damn miracle that they were actually up 1-0 after this mess. This was the Coyotes, after all. The dominoes would soon fall.

Fall is exactly what those dominoes did, in spectacular fashion. The Blackhawks came out with 7 quick shots right out of the locker room and 2 goals, in the first half of the middle period. The shot totals were much more like what you would expect from this horrid Coyotes franchise, as they were beat on to the tune of a 13-4 Blackhawks advantage. This was much more like what the United Center crowd and all of us watching from our couches were expecting.

The Coyotes just folded up and died in the third period. They didn't get a single shot on net until there were under six minutes left in regulation, which just a pants shitting moment. This Arizona team is just plain terrible. Where are your scibbity dibbity score effects now? The Blackhawks didn't exactly pour on the pressure themselves, either. They did just enough to add one more goal to their lead, and put the snot nosed little Yotes to bed early.

The Good

• The Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead with about 4 minutes remaining in the first period on the powerplay, no less. A late Jamie McGinn hooking call on the ever dangerous Andrew Desjardins, gave the Hawks time to pick their spot. And pick their spot they did, very SLOWLY. Not only did the Yotes feel that leaving Patrick Kane all alone with the puck for about 8 seconds low in the circle was an excellent choice, but they doubled down and Luke Schenn let Artem Anisimov tripod right in front of his greasy goaltender. You can imagine how that ended. All Kane had to do was bank it off Arty's stick and Daggar!
• About 5 minutes into the second period Ryan Hartman and Marian Hossa worked a pretty nice 2-on-1, which gave the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead. The pass wasn't perfect, by any stretch, but Hossa did what a demigod does and played it with his skate. Hossa corralled the puck quick enough to jam it through Mike Smith for a 2-0 Blackhawks lead.
• Twenty one seconds after the Hossa goal, the line of Motte/Rasmussen/Panik smelled Coyote blood and drove the puck deep in the Arizona zone. #DickFuckingPanik made a nice play and ended up 1-on-1 with Mike Smith. Smith made the save, but the chaos immediately following ended up with the Moose slamming home a Panik pass for a 3-0 lead.
  
• Marian Hossa took a nice Nik Hjalmarsson pass and turned a partial break-a-way into a 4-0 Blackhawks lead with about three minutes remaining in regulation.
• Scott Darling didn't have to do a bunch, but he did enough to earn a 22 save shutout. Nothing to scoff at. It's about time a Blackhawks goalie had an easy night.

The Bad

• Gustav Forsling made a wonderful stretch pass to Jordin Tootoo, and it looked like Tootoo was in on a clear breakaway. That was until the referee caught Artemi Panain slacking it getting on the bench for a change, and blew the play dead.
• Dennis Rasmussen was eaten alive at the faceoff dots, winning only 9 of 23 faceoffs.

The Ugly

• Brent Seabrook got tied up with Jordan Martinook in the second period and fell very awkwardly. He stayed down for quite a while but was able to skate off under his own power. The worrisome part was that he went directly to the locker room for what seemed to be some time in the quiet room and never returned.
• Starting Trevor van Riemsdyk over Michal Kempny is just imbecilic. If they are going to play this stupid rotation game, just send someone down. Forsling told Lazarus today that he thought the deadline had passed to send him back to Sweden, so send him down, then. Move someone! Rotating 4 defensemen is a nice option to have, but that doesn't mean you need to exercise it. The slobber fest over van Riemsdyk is bordering on obscene.

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• The Blackhawks saw more shots against, 20, with Trevor van Riemsdyk on the ice than any other player. But please keep telling us how lucky we are to have Q shoehorning him into the lineup, organizational muppets.
• The Motte/Rasmussen/Panik line ate it possession-wise, even with the goal they scored.
• Yotes Michael Stone was a brutal -15 in overall Corsi.
• Marcus Kruger quietly had a nice little night winning 10 of 13 faceoffs while centering the second line. He was on the ice for 2 goals and a plus 7 overall Corsi.

The Lineblender
Left Wing - Center - Right Wing
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Hartman - Kruger - Hossa
Motte - Rasmussen - Panik
Desjardins - Hinostroza - Tootoo

Keith - Hjamarsson
Campbell - Seabrook
Forsling - van Riemsdyk

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Blackhawks at Arizona5-4 OT Win Recap

"Frizzle Fly"

by Gatekeeper

The Blackhawks took their traveling road show to Arizona, Thursday night to face the Coyotes. Maybe we should call them the Glendale Coyotes, or the Seattle Coyotes since they are basically the team that no one wants. They are also the team that suspiciously discarded All-Star MVP John Scott right when this whole ordeal began, so screw them. The Blackhawks won on and overtime goal by Jonathan Toews, and there were several bizarre events, like Michal Rozsival scoring a goal.

Unfortunately, however, schedule conflicts left us unable to give a full recap but here are the highlights:


I promise to make this up to you all somehow, but we have a guest recapper, who was EVER so kind to put this together. Let us put our hands together for the extremely generous, and beautiful @StaceySarasin who did a great job of throwing something together without my asking. This one might have a future.

The Good

• Captain Clutch's 5th OT goal gives Hawks two points and keeps them on top of the Western Conference.
• Strong game for Crawford with his 30th win this season. Stopped 24 shots (although it seemed like way more). He had some spectacular saves, especially in OT. Must be all the Mac n Cheese he's been brewing up.
• Panarin with 3 assists, leads rookies with 50 points.
• Rozsival with a GOAL, yes a goal! First for him since December 2014! Way to go Old Man Rozy.

The Bad

• Penalties, penalties, penalties. First there was Coach Q's unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (served by Panik) which lead to a Coyote goal by OEL that gave Arizona (or Phoenix, as Pat Boyle insists on calling them) the lead.
• Next there was the double minor against Shaw for charging and roughing. Panik reported to the box once again to serve time on the roughing penalty. Might be a new useful way to use Panik. Wish I was a fly on the wall to hear the conversation between Panik and Shawzy.
• Other penalties included one to Keith for holding but Toews scored a shorthanded goal. Danault for tripping and even Hossa got into the penalty mix for slashing but was offset by Doan's crosscheck penalty early in the third. Too much PK for my liking.

The Ugly

• Isn't it obvious....Inexperienced ref makes unbelievably bad call after reviewing Hossa's goal in the first which lead to Coach Q's head nearly exploding! Can you say aneurism? Ref may need a tissue after that yelling match.
• Although there were many cheering Hawks fans in attendance at the Gila River Arena, could we please stop Howler from howling? How annoying is that to hear?! Almost as annoying as the Ducks quacking.

The Lineblender
Shaw - Toews - Hossa
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Desjardins - Danault - Teravainen
Mashinter - Rasmussen - Panik

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Gustafsson - Seabrook
van Riemsdyk - Rozsival

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Blackhawks at Arizona7-5 Win Recap

"Born To Lose"
(Click the Title, RIP LEMMY)
by Gatekeeper

For the last game of 2015, the Blackhawks traveled to sunny Arizona to face the lowly, but promising, Coyotes. The Blackhawks came off a pretty eventful day as far as they are concerned. They placed David Rundblad on waivers and called up defenseman Erik Gustafsson from Rockford. This was enough for all of us reasonable mammals to celebrate, but there was still danger of him coming back since no one claimed him off waivers. This was also the first time the Blackhawks faced their former team translator, Viktor Tikhonov, who was claimed on waivers by the Coyotes, who are actually serious about letting the poor kid actually play some hockey rather than eat all the bags of pretzels and peanuts in the press box.

The Hawks and Yotes opened up the game like the wild fucking west, Tuesday night. It started off pretty innocently but the powerplays began about five minute in, all hell then broke loose. The two team combined for power play goals on all of the first three, before the game was 10 minutes old. Sprinkle in an even strength goal and wrap this shit show up with a final minute powerplay goal and you have a 3-2 first period. The real laugher of this period was that the Blackhawks were out shot 12-5. WOOF

Understandably, the Yotes made a goalie switch for the second period, turning to a rookie named Louis Domingue. He thanked them by giving up a goal that was even worse than the one his opposing netminder gave up in the first period. The powerplays definitely slowed as far as production goes in the middle period as well. After the dust settled in this period, the Blackhawks had scored 2 goals on 17 shots while the Yotes were held scoreless on 14.

The third period can be best described as "sloppy" as far as the Blackhawks are concerned. Luckily for them, they were playing a team that was LITERALLY scoring on themselves. The Blackhawks went up 6-2 early on, but then proceeded to let the home team back in the game by giving up 3. When the game mercifully came to an end, the Blackhawks finished 2015 with a 7-5 win. All looks the same in the standings, right? Have a Happy New Year, everyone.

The Good

• The Blackhawks powerplay is just maddening. They look like total dogshit for the first half, so much so that Edzo was suggesting they play dump and chase the rest of the advantage after a Jonathan Toews live grenade to Teravainen led to a shorthanded 2-on-1. They turn right around the next shift and easily break the Coyotes defense which leads to Duncan Keith's powerplay goal.
• A minute after the Keith goal, the Blackhawks scored a second powerplay goal. This time from slumping Artem Anisimov. It was a pretty simple play that led to a long laser from the point, which Anisimov redirected in front.
• Stand down, everybody! Looks like all the Blackhawks ills are cured, guys. The biggest Hawks problem is fixed. The guy that was holding everybody back, Artemi Panarin, scored.
  Anyhow, Artemi Panarin, the pleasantly overachieving rookie that is 38 games into his NHL career, closed out the the final first period power play with a long snipe over Lindback, giving the Blackhawks a 3-2 lead.
• You know you are having a bad night when you give up a bouncing 50 foot wrist shot goal from Andrew Desjardins, two minutes into your night. Welcome to the game, Louis Domingue. It got worse.
• With just over 6 minutes remaining in the second period Andrew Shaw found Patrick Kane across the slot with a nice pinpoint pass, and Domingue had zero chance to get over in enough time to even attempt to stop Kane's shot. The Yotes are fucking awful. It should also be pointed out that the play was started by a nice keep-in and pass from Erik Gustafsson. No use for a guy like that on this team!
• Max Domi is a player. Kid has some serious talent. Let's all hope none of Shitstain Doan's repulsive sliminess rubs off on the kid.
• Erik Gustafsson was barely noticeable in 14:43 of time. He ended up with a plus 3, and an assist. Perfect for his spot. Just be serviceable. That he was, which is more than anyone can say for Rob Suck-deri.
• Hey, shit, Michael Rozival was alright too, eh? He matched his partner's +3, of course, in 13:23. That has to count for something right, Beetlejuice?
  

The Bad

• Zybanek Michalek tied the game for the Coyotes, at 2, with almost 8 minutes remaining in the FIRST FUCKING PERIOD. Dennis Rasmussen got caught running around in the Hawks zone, after he turned the puck over. Oliver Ekman-Larsson wound up behind the Blackhawks net with about half a day to find Michalek for a one timer past Crawford.
• Shitstain Doan got his second goal of the game with about 12:30 remaining in the third period, on the powerplay. There were about 4 asses in Crawford's grill, which MAY have been a contributing factor.
• Andrew Shaw had a breakaway from center ice, and you might have some idea how that ended. "Hands of Stone" fumbled the puck like a virgin with a bra strap, on prom night, after faking Domingue out.
• Connor Murphy brought the game back within 2 goals with seven minutes remaining in the game. Tobias Rieder hit Murphy with a pass across the high slot and Murphy used an Antoine Vermette screen to beat Crawford. With all the crazy goalie interference calls this year, Quenneville had to be hoping they would take a look when he called timeout after. Was enough to make you wonder.
• Shitstain Doan finished off the hat trick with 27 seconds remaining in the game, on the powerplay. When nothing mattered. The appropriate time for him to tie the franchise record for career goals, when no one else gave a rat's ass. Clearly the "fans" didn't because there was ONE fucking hat thrown on the ice. That's both insulting and pitiful. Throw your hats out there, you fucking jackals!
• The Blackhawks gave up 37 shots, and somehow managed to score 7 on only 28 of their own. Kick your own asses, 'Zona. Seriously...
  

The Ugly

• The third powerplay of the game, and first by Arizona, yielded a simply BRUTAL goal given up by Corey Crawford. Shitstain Doan was on the half boards and just flipped the puck lightly at the net. The puck bounced innocently in front of Crawford and took a sharp left on him. Ugly looking goal, but the puck bounces funny sometimes. I guess. He should have honestly pulled a Pudge Fisk and gotten his entire body in front of that puck. He gave it the "Ole", and it handcuffed him something fierce.
• Andrew Desjardins' second goal of the game came with about 5 minutes gone in the third. Teravainen found him in behind the the Yotes defense and hit him with a great pass. Desjardins got off a shot that Domingue saved, but Grossman plowed into the crease and put the puck into his own net. This was a game of Benny Hill style goals.
• Late in the third there was some incidental contact between Zybanek Michalek and Marian Hossa at the Hawks blue line. Unfortunately, Michalek's head made contact with Hossa's shoulder because Michalek was bent over reaching for the puck. Foley was completely mystified as to why Michalek laid face down on the ice for a good minute after the play, even after seeing the replay. The best he could come up with was "looks like there could have been some knee, to knee contact". At that moment, you were the dumbest person watch this game. Pull yourself together.
• Bryan Bickell is so utterly terrible that Quenneville limitted him to 6:47 of ice time. He still inexplicably managed to take a penalty and go -2. When the best thing Pat Foley can say about a $4 Million player is that he had 5 hits in his previous game, that is an atrocious player.
• While we're at it, I'm going to tell you something that none of you probably realized. Ryan Garbutt dressed and played. "Played" being a relative term, because he was on the ice for miniscule 5:50. Enough said.
• Dennis Rasmussen centered this immense and gaping black hole of a line, and his reward was 6:21 time on ice.
  

The Lineblender
Shaw - Toews - Hossa
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Bickell - Rasmussen - Garbutt
Teravainen - Danault - Desjardins

Keith - van Riemsdyk
Hjalmarsson - Seabrook
Rozsival - Gustafsson

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Blackhawks at Arizona2-1 Win Recap

"Killing Time"

by Gatekeeper

The Blackhawks followed the parade of Cubs fans to the greater Phoenix area for a late season tilt with the terrible Arizona Coyotes, Thursday night. Following a long layoff, for NHL standards, the Hawks were going to have try and cure their goal scoring ills at the expense of the Mike Smith and his wafer thin team. Just have to love these midweek 9 o'clock starts. I will not miss these.

The first period started off how you might think a rusty team would. The Blackhawks came out and gave up an early goal, which stunned the Hawks fans that had traveled to see beating. It didn't take long for the Blackhawks to tie the game, and finished the period leading in shots 17-6.

The second period resulted in even less as far as the goals go, even though the Blackhawks had several powerplays and out shot the Yotes again by another huge 17-6 margin. These are the kinds of games that worry me, because one soft goal puts the Blackhawks in a position of chasing the lead.

The third period was very much like the first two. The Blackhawks out shot the Yotes AGAIN, but this time it was a 10-6 tally. Luckily enough, the Blackhawks were actually able to manage a second goal, and thus win the contest. The game was too late, and I was too tired. On to the discussion points.

The Good

• A few minutes after the Yotes went up, the Blackhawks powerplay took the ice, which is usually call for Yakety Sax. This time the first unit bailed the Blackhawks out of their hole. Duncan Keith shockingly got a shot past the opponent's shin pad, and to the front of the net. Mike Smith bit on the original blocked shot and Andrew Shaw was able to sweep a backhand through Smith for a tie game.
• The Blackhawks are going to miss Klas Dahlbeck. The guy is really going to be a nice player
• With about seven minutes left in the third period, the Blackhawks once again went to the powerplay, and this time the second unit got into the action. Kris Versteeg pulled a really nice tor drag around a Yotes defender and snapped a shot off. The rebound lay in the slot area and Brad Richards swept the puck past Smith, very similar to the Shaw goal earlier on.
• Corey Crawford settled in nicely after an early soft goal but, let's face it, 18 shots isn't a plethora.
• The Hawks won over 65% of their faceoffs. El Capitan was the lowest at 57%, but he also took a majority of them, as well.
• Two powerplay goals. We'll take that, even if it is against a team ranked 26th on the PK.

The Bad

• Just 5 minutes into the game, and the Yotes took a 1-0 lead on a pretty innocent goal. Tobias Rieder took the puck through the neutral zone, skated up the ice through the Hawks zone and cleanly beat Crawford on what should have been a pretty pedestrian save. And because I know you're thinking it, yes, Rozsival was on the ice.
• Despite the powerplay scoring early, they had a double minor late in the second period, before which Konroyd proclaimed "the Blackhawks powerplay is looking real good". They then went and, maybe, earned 2 shots on net.
• Bryan Bickell didn't exactly have that flame under his ass, after sitting the previous game.

The Ugly

• The Blackhawks were the fortunate recipients of an easy powerplay when Mike Smith jumped on Kris Versteeg and mugged him. Probably the best piece of action he has gotten in months.
• I know you'll all be shocked to hear this but, early in the third period, Mike Smith heard a Hawks forechecker skating up behind him and flailed to the ice like he'd been shot. That guy is a complete asshole.
• Joakim Nordstrom made a very stupid decision very late in the game resulting in a stupid boarding penalty against Oliver Ekman-Larrson, which also resulted in Ekman-Larrson getting injured. I wouldn't be surprised to see some disciplinary action following that.
• Steve Konroyd is an enormous fucking vanilla clown. He called Klas Dahlbeck, Chris. He called Patrick Sharp, Andrew. To top everything off, Edzo was back in Chicago with Dan "Frankenberry" Roan, in what could only be described as Red Forman's basement, Dumbass.

The Lineblender
Versteeg-Toews-Hossa
Saad-Vermette-Teravainen
Sharp-Richards-Bickell
Shaw-Kruger-Nordstrom

Keith-Rozsival
Seabrook-Timonen
Oduya-Hjalmarsson

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Coyotes at Blackhawks3-2 Shootout Loss Recap

Once Upon A Review

by Patrick Stankus

On Monday night the Blackhawks returned home to the UC to face the soon to be relocated Coyotes in the first game of an eight game home stand. With the Blackhawks being on a back to back, it was Antti Raanta between the pipes instead of Corey Crawford. Without anymore story lines, lets get to the recap.

The first period was BORING. Like snoozefest boring. See soccer fans, even I can admit when my sport is boring. Aside from a couple of chances by the Blackhawks, there wasn't much to see.

The pace picked up a little bit in the second period. A balls out effort by Brandon Saad, led to a loose puck finding the stick of Jonathan Toews, who centered it to Hossa and he did the rest to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. The lead didn't last long. After a selfish unsportsmanlike conduct penalty by Patrick Kane, Shane Doan cashed in on a redirect to tie the game at one.

The Coyotes managed to take the lead courtesy of soon to be former Coyote, Antoine Vermette to put Arizona up 2-1. However, Mr. Bobblehead Marian Hossa would answer back with his second of the night, and tie the game at two. That's where the scoring would end as the game headed to overtime.

Oh overtime, what an overtime it was. Andrew Shaw tried to hand the game to the Coyotes on a BRUTAL turnover in his own zone, but luckily for Shaw the puck was on defenseman Keith Yandle's stick and he couldn't beat Raanta on a breakaway. From there things got crazy. As the OT frame wound down, Shaw took a shot the hit Mike Smith high, and bounced towards the net. At first glance it looked like the puck had crossed the line, but referee TJ Luxmore emphatically signaled no goal and play continued. Seconds later, Saad rang on off the crossbar, and thus the overtime ended with no scoring. The war room in Toronto phoned down, and the Shaw play went to video review. Upon review the call on the ice stood, as there was NO CONCLUSIVE evidence the entire puck crossed the line. It was the right call on the ice, kudos to TJ Luxmore for getting it right, and for Toronto to verifying the call. So then it was onto the shootout.

Lucas Lessio and Vermette converted for the Coyotes, while only Patrick Kane could score for the Blackhawks. As a result, the Blackhawks fell to the Coyotes 3-2 in the shootout. Next up for the Blackhawks is a visit from the once rival Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night.

The Great
- I said it on twitter, and I'll say it again. We shit on officials all the time, but tonight they deserve a lot of credit for getting the call correct. Everyone's argument for more replay is so "they get the call correct." Well tonight, they got the call correct the first time and the second time. So stop complaining because you didn't get to hear the call you wanted to hear. From our original angle, it looked like the puck crossed the line, but when you look at it, the puck was on a 45 degree angle in the air. Of course from our vantage point its going to look like the puck was completely across the line.

The Good
- Sticking with the Shaw play, credit to Mike Smith for even making it across the net to stop that puck.
- Marian Hossa was a beast tonight as was Toews, plain and simple.
- The hustle, and effort by Brandon Saad on Hossa's first goal was ridiculously awesome. I'll take that kind of effort any day.
- Antti Raanta was good enough for the Blackhawks to win tonight, stopping 27 of 29 shots.

The Bad
- Back to back 2nd period penalties by Patrick Kane and Johnny Oduya. Kane managed to get 2 minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Very uncharacteristic of Kane. Next time just shut your mouth and keep playing. Serves him right that the Coyotes scored on that power play.

The Ugly
- Speaking of power plays. The Blackhawks power play was 0 for 4 and absolutely horrendous. Particularly on entries. But this is nothing new to us.
- Shaw's turnover in overtime was enough to make my eyes bleed. Its getting to the point where I won't mind seeing Shaw shipped out of town. Stop overvaluing him because of one picture two years ago.

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Blackhawks vs. Coyotes 6-1 Win Recap

Dr. Feelgood

by Patrick Stankus

Coming off of bad back to back home losses, the Blackhawks got just what they needed when the Phoenix, sorry, forgot we had to change the name to broaden the fan base, Arizona Coyotes visited The UC. Actually after the shellacking that took place, you can argue the Coyotes didn't even show up.

The Hawks came out flying, clowning the Coyotes and outshooting them 20-9 in the first. El Captain got things started for the Hawks, snapping out of his goal drought just under seven minutes in. The next line will stun you. We had an Andrew Shaw sighting. Yes, after his benching in Sunday night's game, Shaw got on the board after a sweet dish from Turbo. I know I'm stunned at what I just wrote too! After one, the Hawks had the lead 2-0.

From then on, things only got worse for the Coyotes. Goals by Kane and Turbo, opened the game up to 4-0 before the Coyotes were finally able to get on the board. But whatever hope the Coyotes had from that goal was short lived as Mike Smith allowed a soft serve-esk goal to Andrew Shaw late in the second period to give the Hawks a 5-1 lead after two.

Smith drew the short straw tonight, and stayed in the net the entire game. As if allowing goals to Shaw (2), Kane, slump breaking Toews, and Turbo, wasn't bad enough, the sixth goal was yielded to none other than David Rundblad. Ouch. Talk about taking it on the chin. How's that contract extension working for you? It makes Crawford's deal tolerable. So in other words, the Hawks blew out the soon to be either Las Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Kansas City, Houston, or Quebec City Coyotes 6-1. Next up for the Hawks is a trip to Pittsburgh before the All Star break.

The Good
- One game after his awful showing this past weekend, Andrew Shaw bounced back nicely. I'll give him credit for rebounding nicely, and perhaps my assumption of he "sucks" after Sunday's game was a bit harsh, but I'm still not going to anoint him cured. I want to see more consistency.
- Patrick Kane's goal, was his 200th of his career. My how time flies.
- Aside from yielding one goal to the Coyotes, Antti Raanta was solid in net. It cannot be stated enough how difficult it is to be thrown into a game after sporadically playing.
- 51 shots, 6 goals. I don't care who the opponent is, I'll take it.
- Despite being 1 of 5 on the power play, the Hawks were skating circles on the Coyotes on the power play in the second period. Even though they didn't score on it, its a step in the right direction.
- David Rundblad looked comfortable out there night, not just because he scored either. Perhaps the key to this is him playing on the right side finally.
- Credit to Turbo on his goal. He took a high shot on Smith, and didn't stop skating. He followed up his shot, and put home the rebound. Looks like the kid is learning on the fly. But somehow he didn't crack 10 minutes of ice time.

The Bad
- Is there anyone surprised that it was the defense pair of Oduya and Rozsival that was on the ice for the Coyotes loan goal?
- Its starting to get a little concerning, but what's wrong with Marian Hossa?

The Ugly
- For the sake of not leaving this area blank, I'll pick something. Its hard to pick something about the Hawks, so I'll go with this; Mike Smith.

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