Blackhawks vs Stars3-2 SO Win Recap

"Eddie the Head"

by Gatekeeper
Yell at Gatekeeper

If you told most Blackhawks fans that the team would be competing for the Presidents trophy just a mere 60 days ago you'd get laughed into obscurity, but the Blackhawks sat on March 23rd, just two points behind the league leading Washington Capitals at 100. Even more surprising would be the fact that they came into Thursday night's action tied with the COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS. Fancy that! Honestly the Presidents trophy is over rated and just a big silver piece of added playoff pressure. I'd just assume the Blackhawks slide through the rest of their schedule unscathed by any more injuries and take it easy. Also, Patrick Kane came into action five points behind Connor McClavicle in search of back to back Art Ross trophies.

After another come from behind effort against a far inferior team two nights prior the Blackhawks faced, yes, another inferior team, the Dallas Stars, Thursday night. It would be perfectly reasonable for one to be worried that they might play down to the Stars level, which they totally did. We were all also treated to Ryan Hartman's debut at Artem Anisimov's usual second line pivot, which shaped up to be an adventure. Whatever, give it a shot.

Adding to the late season festivities this game was the next in the Blackhawks #OneMoreShift campaigns. This time Eddie Belfour was back with the organization. One of the absolute legends of my childhood/young adulthood and a huge influence on my early goaltending. It was super surreal to see him back out on the ice with the Blackhawks crest on and, honestly, he looked like he could have still played.


The game itself started off a little, alright ALOT, sloppy. Both teams had multiple penalties each but only the Blackhawks took advantage of the powerplay time. That said, the Stars out shot the Blackhawks pretty considerably 13-7 and had the majority of quality chances, including a breakaway from the corpse of Patrick Sharp. This was already a better start than the Vancouver game earlier in the week, defensively.

In the second period, the play was slightly less sloppy which led to less quality chances overall. Dallas was able to tie the game on one of their 14 shots on Corey Crawford, and the Blackhawks were held well under ten shots for the second period in a row. If the Blackhawks were going to do anything other than squeak by, they were going to need to put a lot more pressure on the Stars. They preferred the "squeak by" method.

The Blackhawks actually came out and took the lead early in the third period, but then gave up that lead with five minutes remaining on more sloppy play. They also were held under 10 shots once again, with the Stars getting 11. With goals scored each way, this game was headed to #Fatrick's favorite hockey spectacle, 3vs3 O-VER-TIME.

The overtime was dominated early by the Blackhawks thanks to some powerplay time but the Stars came on hard late. Corey Crawford held his net and took the game to a shootout where the Blackhawks went down 0-1 but came back to score two straight goals and gain the extra standings point.

The Good

• About eight minutes into the first period, Patrick Kane led a rush from his own end after a failed quality Stars shorthanded chance. Kane used #DickFuckingPanik as a decoy and took the shot himself, beating Kari Lehtonen 5-hole. This would be a theme repeated later.
• At the eleven minute mark of the third period, the Blackhawks third line gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead. New third line wing Nick Schmaltz fed Marian Hossa, who sent a shot through a screen and hard driving Marcus Kruger to beat Lehtonen.
• Corey Crawford was pretty great in this game, making 42 saves. After his pretty poor effort earlier in the week, he was a huge reason the Blackhawks didn't roll over and give the Stars a useless win.
• I usually hate the staged fighting but Ryan Hartman and Dan Hamhuis got into an actual "heat of the game" tussle and Hartman put a thorough beatdown on Hamhuis.

The Bad

• With about seven and a half minutes remaining in the second period, the Blackhawks got a little jumpy trying to get out of their own zone and the Stars' Ales Hemsky eventually beat Corey Crawford high to the stick side.
• Hemsky tied the game once again, later, this time it was with 5 minutes remaining in regulation. Corey Crawford was able to make the initial save on the play after the Blackhawks lost a defensive zone faceoff, but the puck squirted out to Crawford's right, and Hemsky was left with a gaping net.
• Patrick Kane almost ended the game on the powerplay in overtime, but hit the post and Lehtonen's back.

The Ugly

• For the first game SINCE his first game, John Hayden wasn't noticeable at all. Listed with 3 shots and 4 hits, but I honestly cant remember seeing a single one of either.
• Keith and Hjalmarsson were out for both goals against, so we can't blame it on player quality.
• With all the powerplays and extra time, the Blackhawks only had 26 shots on net. That's terrible.
• in the middle of the first Stars powerplay Crawford slid awkwardly to his left and had difficulty getting back to his feet. I thought he might have tweaked a groin but, of course, they completely glossed over it. Crawford didn't talk to the media after the game and there was some hint at maybe a minor injury.
• Later in the period Jonathan Toews took a shot in the leg on the powerplay and the broadcast team completely ignored him gingerly coming off the ice as well as the time to took as nice shot in the back on overtime and came off slowly. Not anything the viewers at home might need to know, guys.

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• The only Blackhawks with positive overall Corsi were Toews, Panarin, Kane, and Panik.
• The Blackhawks only win 46% of their faceoffs and lost a huge one that turned into the game tying goal, late in the third.
• Brent Seabrook ate shit in this game, with a team low -14 overall Corsi

The Shootout

• Jonathan Toews stickhandled himself out of space
• Tyler Seguin beat Crawford high stick side.
• Patrick Kane beat Lehtonen badly 5-hole.
• Jamie Benn couldn'r beat Crawford.
• Artemi Panarin beat Lehtonen with a top cheddar backhand
• Ales Hemsky was beaten by Crawford.

The Lineblender
Left Wing - Center - Right Wing
John Hayden - Jonathan Toews - Richard Panik
Artemi Panarin - Ryan Hartman - Patrick Kane
Nick Schmaltz - Marcus Kruger - Marian Hossa
Dennis Rasmussen - Tanner Kero - Jordin Tootoo

Duncan Keith - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Johnny Oduya - Brent Seabrook
Brian Campbell - Trevor van Riemsdyk

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Blackhawks vs. Stars 5-3 Win Recap

"Down With The Sickness"

By Patrick Norton

Hockey bloggers are tougher than any other sports bloggers. Here’s your proof: Fatrick is forcing Uncle Rozsival to rub Bengay all over the hard-to-reach spots on his ailing back, Gate was busy or sick, but nobody really cares, so I stepped up. Sure enough, I haven’t been able to see, breathe or speak, my sinuses are so congested. But here at Puckin’ Hostile, there is no giving up. No matter how trashy this recap is, it’s in your newsfeed shortly after the game goes final. So here it is - I win - This is the worst recap of all time.

The first period was nasty crap - kind of like what I’ve been dropping today. While neither team could find the back of the net, the Dallas Stars handed the Blackhawks a gift from God with two horribly unsuccessful powerplays in the first frame. The period was essentially a back and forth youth hockey game where the teams struggle to enter the zone.

The second period started before the Blackhawks could even get out of the dressing room and eight seconds in, the Stars broke the game’s cherry. Radek Faksa put one past Crawford and once again, the Blackhawks were caught sleeping. Then, Chicago found their bearings and picked up their pace. Tanner Kero muscled through the defense of Dallas, slid a puck through the slot to an open Ryan Hartman and Hartman did not miss. With the score knotted at one, Chicago wasn’t finished in the period. Gustav Foreskin rifled a laser from the point and just like old times, it deflected off of Patrick Sharp to give the visitors the lead. Heading into the third up by one hasn’t ended successfully for the Blackhawks as of late, so skepticism was warranted from the hockey analysts during the WGN Intermission Report, right? Well, they didn’t exactly do that, but I’ll get into that a little later.

Sure as God made green apples, the Blackhawks would give away their lead early in the third frame. Jamie Benn netted his sixteenth of the year less than a full minute removed from the intermission and suddenly, we had a new game on our hands. Then, in what seemed like seconds, not minutes later, Tyler Seguin caught Corey Crawford out of position when the Stars’ forward stole the puck from the grasps of Gustav Forsling behind the visitors nets. And just like that, the Blackhawks trailed. But Patrick Kane settled down a bouncing puck, went forehand-backhand, and beat Kari Lehtonen to even up the score, once again. With little time remaining and OT seemingly on the horizon, Artem Anisimov unsuccessfully crashed the net, but with a lack of mental capacity, Lehtonen left the puck uncovered. Here’s where it gets wild: Trevor van Riemsdyk stuffed it home. Yes, that TVR. I was just as shocked. Crawford and the Hawks were tasked with holding onto the one goal lead for the next four minutes, and just when you thought Jamie Benn had an empty net, Ryan Hartman dove and deflected the shot away. Soon after, Artemi Panarin drew a penalty and for the final thirty seconds, the Blackhawks teed off on an empty net finding no success netting their fifth tally of the night. Finally, with 00.9 on the clock, Toews ripped an uncontested shot into the back of the net and that’s all she wrote. Hawks escape, 5-3.

The Good

• Another plus performance for Ryan Hartman and Tanner Kero. Kero was successful in even strength draws and assisted on the first goal for the team donning an Indian head.
• Ryan Hartman put a tally in the goal column AND preserved the lead with an excellent desperation shot block.
• Toews scored. That buys us three nights meatball-free.
• Patrick Kane’s goal was too beautiful to assess. Overpowering the defense and using pure skill and speed, Kane slipped the puck by Lehtonen. Too easy.
• Besides three shifts that resulted in goals, the defense wasn’t too bad and stepped up late against the high powered stars of the Stars. 
• The penalty kill was successful and did not allow a single tally over the course of three minor penalties. 
• Jordin Tootoo beat up on Antoine Roussel, but left the game due to a bloody nose… best of both worlds. 
• TVR scored following up an Anisimov stuff attempt. Not bad. 
• Patrick Sharp tallied for the Hawks. Will that count toward his career total with the team when he’s back in a week?

The Bad

• When allowing the three goals, the defense looked outmatched and unprepared. Can’t happen three times in one game. 
• Corey Crawford wasn’t all-too impressive, though, so forget what I said about the silencing of the meatballs because they’re already in Gate’s mentions.
• We’re all in pretty bad shape here at Puckin’ Hostile. I mean way too sick and generally large. Let’s just say Jaeckel gave us an STD (Skype Transmitted Disease). Luckily, Froster has a horrible memory, alarm clock, or both and is chugging along healthier than ever.
• The offense could’ve found themselves down here, but three third period goals spared them the dignity. 

The Ugly 

• Here’s what you’ve been waiting for - my Dr. Konroyd rant of the night. First off, he was the color man, but Pat Foley was providing more insightful analysis throughout the night. Secondly, instead of talking about the second period during the intermission, Kaptain Kanadaroyd and “Tits McGee” (Fatrick’s name for the WGN broad) fantasized about a possible return of deadweight-deadbraincells Patrick Sharp to the franchise he’s won three Stanley Cups with. In other news, Cheryl Scott has announced her move to WGN news as their new meteorologist following the mysterious disappearance of Tom Skilling. Sorry, y’all, but it’s not happening now, no matter how hard you… dream.

*I'm sure tonight's title has been used before, but it's fitting with the crew under the weather. Actually turns out Gate was playing a hockey game. Contrary to popular belief, Gate didn't give up a touchdown, but the final was 3-2. No word on whether Gate actually played or if he was the backup for "performance reasons."

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Blackhawks vs. Stars3-1 Win Recap

"Right Turn" 

by Patrick Stankus
Tweet to #Fatrick

On Sunday night, the Dallas Stars visited the United Center as the Blackhawks wrapped up their four game homestand. The Hawks were looking to avenge their 1-0 overtime defeat on Friday night at the hands of the New York Rangers. Scott Darling made his fifth straight start for the Hawks while Corey Crawford continues to recover from his emergency appendectomy. With goals getting harder and harder to come by when they play an NHL caliber team, a visit from the embarrassing Stars goaltending could be just what the doctor ordered for the Hawks confidence.

The opening frame was less than exciting to say the least. The Hawks looked like a team that was out there for an open skate than a hockey game. Most of their chances came from the one and done variety. Just over five minutes in, the Hawks did have a power play opportunity, but couldn't convert. The best chance for both teams came from Artemi Panarin who hit the inside of the post with a shot. Thankfully the period didn't last too long, and we'd head into the first intermission scoreless.

In the second period, the pace of the game picked up dramatically from the first period. Both teams found the back of the net in the first two and a half minutes, and before you knew it the game was tied at one. As the period went on, both teams had a power play chance, but neither team could add a goal to take the lead. A few minutes after the Hawks killed off a Ryan Hartman penalty, Artem Anisimov crashed the net and hammered home a loose puck to put the Hawks up 2-1. For the most part, the Hawks controlled play for the period and peppered the Stars net with 13 shots as they took the lead into the second intermission.

The Hawks took to the ice for the third period looking to protect and add to their one goal lead. The Hawks were forced to kill off an early Stars power play, thanks to a hooking penalty called against Niklas Hjalmarsson. Once the Hawks were able to that off, it looked as if the Stars packed it in for the night. Midway through the period, Artemi Panarin added a power play goal to give the Hawks a 3-1 lead. When the final horn sounded, Scott Darling made 23 saves en route to the Hawks 3-1 win over the Stars.


The Good

• Scott Darling was excellent in net again for the Hawks. He made a key save early in the third period to preserve the Hawks one goal.
• #SteadilyDecliningMarianHossa added his 15th goal of the season.
• While its good Artemi Panarin scored again, its not good for the Hawks cap situation as that dollar sign keeps getting bigger and bigger.
• The special teams came through for the Hawks as the power play had a goal, and penaly kill, killed off both of the Stars power plays.
• TVR had another solid game. Tonight he was a +2 on the night. Anything that builds this guy's confidence we should be all for. And it doesn't hurt that trade value either.
• Ryan Hartman and Dennis Rasmussen both had respectable, noticeable games. 
• 2-1-1 homestand without Crawford and Toews, not to mention part without Seabrook, I'll take it.

The Bad

• Michal Rozsival was in the lineup instead of Michal Kempny. I don't mind this as much as the other half of #TeamMiserable , Gatekeeper does. In my opinion Rozsival's been better than Kempny. 
• The Hawks were only 44% at the dot tonight, but that's nothing new.
• Four shots in twenty minutes is kind of embarrassing. That was the Hawks total in the third period tonight.
• If there is a defenseman thar's struggling on the Hawks, its that of Gustav Forsling.
• Apparently Andrew Desjardins played tonight. Eight minutes of ice time will do that too you.

The Ugly

• In case you need to be reminded, be thankful we don't have to call the Stars goaltending tandem ours. Christ almighty.
• Seabrook, Toews, and Crawford all missed the game.
• The schedule this week of a trip to both New York teams and St. Louis should be fun.

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Blackhawks vs. Stars 4-3 Overtime Win Recap

"Love, Hate, Love"

 
by Patrick Stankus
Tweet to #Fatrick

The Blackhawks returned home on Sunday night to complete a home and home series with the Dallas Stars. Prior to the game the Hawks held a brief ceremony to honor the World Series Champions Chicago Cubs, to inject some extra energy into The UC crowd. There, you happy? I said it. Now lets move on with hockey, because everyone loves hockey. Well, I guess we'll really see how many now. Yes, that was a shot fired. Alright enough, time to drop the puck on one of those (insert Eddie O voice) "six o'clock starts."

The first period could be summarized like this, it was a complete tire fire. Both teams displayed sloppy, careless play that resulted in chances both ways. The Hawks started the game very sluggish and couldn't capitalize on two power plays they received. Dallas on the other hand was able to open the scoring on their loan power play chance in the period to give them a 1-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

The Stars carried the momentum into the second period, which they began on the power play. Luckily for the Hawks they were able to weather the storm. The power play continued to struggle in the second period. This time they yielded a shorthanded goal to find themselves in a 2-0 hole. As flat as the Hawks had been in this game, they did manage to fight their way back and cut the lead to one, after a nifty goal by Patrick Kane. As the period wound down, the Hawks peppered the Stars net, ending the period with 14, but couldn't tie the game, and after 40 minutes would trail 2-1.

The final 20 minutes saw a different Blackhawks team take the ice. Unlike the first two periods, there was a lot of jump their step, and they dictated the pace of the game. That paid off as the Hawks rattled off two goals in a minute to put themselves on top 3-2. Throughout the period, Scott Darling made some big saves to preserve that lead, but that luck would eventually run out. With just over a minute remaining, Dallas tied the game at three and would send the game to overtime.

In the first minute of overtime, Patrick Kane put the Hawks shorthanded by taking an awful penalty in the Dallas zone. While on the penalty kill, Scott Darling made an unbelievable skate save on Patrick Eaves to keep the game tied. After the Hawks killed off the penalty, they took charge and Artemi Panarin had a great chance to end it, but Kari Lehtonen was able to stop it. With under a minute remaining in overtime, Marian Hossa unleashed a bomb from the point, and beat Lehtonen to send the crowd home happy with a 4-3 Blackhawks win.


The Good

• Patrick Kane's mini breakaway goal was a thing of beauty. Those are some sick mitts that 88 has.
• Just after the Hawks tied the game at two, Jamie Benn had a chance on a breakaway, and Scott Darling was able to come up with the save. Seconds later as the Hawks went the other way, Anisimov scored to put the Hawks up 3-2. Its amazing how momentum shifts, isn't it?
• I've been hard on Nick Schmaltz, but I really liked the Schmaltz-Toews-Kane line that emerged from the line blender. Occasionally that things spits out some productivity. 
• Midway through the third period, Pat Foley made the telecast all perhaps one of the greatest telecasts in history by dropping a Yanic Perreault reference.
• Marian Hossa's production decline continued tonight with a slick pass through the legs of a Dallas defender, in which Toews buried it to tie the game. 
• What a stop by Scott Darling on Patrick Eaves in overtime. My goodness that was a glorious old school skate save.
• Speaking of Scott Darling, he was outstanding tonight. He made 32 saves in the win tonight, but none was better than the one mentioned in the previous bulletin.
• The Hawks dominated at the dot tonight, winning 57% of the draws. Who says faceoffs aren't important? Well I know who.
• Jonathan Toews had himself a night with a goal and two assists. If the Captain gets going, watch out.
• Is there another player in the league hotter than Artem Anisimov right now? I think not. He extended his points streak tonight with a goal and an assist.

The Bad

• I'm not trying to be a Debbie Downer here, but lets keep the "W" flags at home. That's a Cubs thing. Let them have it. As Blackhawks fans, lets come up with our own ideas.
• Pissing away the lead with 1:20 to go in the third period is not ideal. Luckily the Hawks came back to get the win, in overtime, and not a shootout. Remember that come tiebreaker time.
• Patrick Kane has to be smarter than that to take a penalty in your own zone, while in overtime. Thankfully the penalty kill bailed him out.

The Ugly

• Antoine Roussel is a complete ballbag. In the first period he decided to try and pick a fight with known Blackhawks enforcer Marian Hossa.
• Good Lord, the Hawks first power play of the game was god awful. Maybe one of the worst I've seen.
• Tyler Motte left the game with just over six minutes remaining after an ugly fall, leg first into the boards. 
• The power play was just flat out awful tonight. In the end they were 0 for 4, but a couple of the opportunities were atrocious.

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Blackhawks vs. Dallas Stars3-2 Win Recap

Patrick Norton

@pdnorton3

Pregame Thoughts

We’re nearly a month through the regular season and somehow the Blackhawks sit atop the Central Division and Western Conference. Each division in the league looks tough, but not too many people expected the shitshow *sorry Mom* Central to play out the way it has. Granted, we’re a month in, so there’s a helluva lot of hockey to be played but, St. Louis, Nashville, Dallas, and Minnesota were all expecting great things this season and so far, they’re falling flat on their faces. That’s not to discredit the Blackhawks either, especially because they’ve played some exceptional hockey in the past two weeks. It’s more of a dig at the rest of the division. The Blackhawks are at their most vulnerable state in a few years with a new wave of youth getting a lot of action and teams are just letting their opportunities to gain a lead in the standings slip away. Not that I mind or anything. Keep sucking. Go ahead. See what I care.

Game Time

It seemed like tonight might be another routine win for the Blackhawks when Richard Panik lit the lamp eleven seconds into the game, but my happy analysis lasted a whole ‘nother minute as the Hawks began to look outmatched. The puck handling was poor and mistakes on defense lead to a Brett Ritchie equalizer at the 7:25 mark in the first period and a Curtis McKenzie redirect that gave the Stars about ninety seconds later. A couple of useless power plays and some defensive miscues, the Blackhawks were lucky to get out of the period down one. At the end of one, the score was 2-1 with shots at 12 apiece.

In period number two, Ryan Hartman backed up his physical play with a great snipe from the top of right wing circle. Shortly after, Kane netted a powerplay tally that launched the Blackhawks in front, 3-2. While they didn’t score for the rest of the period, they kept up the even strength pressure. Along with killing a two minute minor, they were unsuccessful in adding to their lead on a four minute double minor powerplay drawn by Tyler Motte. That was the only weakness in the period; the powerplay. Through two, the Hawks not only had a 24-21 edge in the shots department, but also in the goal column, 3-2.

The third period was solid from a defensive standpoint. While the offense couldn’t tally, the defense held their own and helped out their goaltender. They limited the turnovers they made in the first two periods and did some excellent work preventing Dallas from getting direct shots on Crawford. They played a little too much prevent defense for my liking, but the end result is all that mattered. Crow tacked on another eleven saves in the period, ending his total at 30 for the night. A late high sticking minor by Marcus Kruger had the Stars threatening on the powerplay to end the game, but Crawford was able to thwart the numerous chances from Dallas. The Stars edge the Blackhawks in shots, 33-32, but it’s the Hawks that take this one 3-2 and improve their win streak to five games.

Both teams had their chances and whiffed, so it would be unfair to say the Blackhawks got lucky tonight, but thankfully we don’t see the Stars for a while… right?! NOPE! Puck drops at 6 pm CT in Chicago tomorrow night (November 6th).

The Good

• The PK continued its successful run as of late, killing off all three powerplays for the Stars, including a minor for the last 1:49 of the third WITH expert penalty killer Marcus Kruger in the penalty box.
• Besides being tagged with a questionable tripping penalty, Gustav Forsling earned some more playing time tonight. Quick on his feet and didn’t look panicked in situations most 20 year old defensemans would.
• Corey Crawford. Simple as that. The two goals in the first stemmed from poor defense. If Crawford makes the saves, they’re highlight reel worthy. The Stars gave Crawford a heavy workload, but held his own once again. His biggest positive was his ability to limit rebounds, especially on the PK. Another nice night for the netminder.
• The entire second period looked good for Chicago. Not only were they able to net two on Niemi, they were able to get a powerplay tally and outshot the Stars 12-9 in the period. The defense looked a little better in the period, but they weren’t overworked.
• Ryan Hartman played a very Andrew Shaw-esque game. Many fans were hoping he’d fill that role, but until this point, his performance had been lackluster. Hartman netted a goal and through two periods, had the lone two hits credited to the Blackhawks.
• Artem Anisimov was able to keep his point streak alive with a dandy assist on Kane’s PP goal.

The Bad

• With the game on WGN, the intermission analysis was bound to suck. They had a segment where players read tweets about them. It works for Kimmel, but these players have absolutely NO personality in front of the camera. Painfully awkward. Then it was up to Steve Konroyd and Lauren Magiera(?) to bring it home. Next time, they should just play an old SHOUTCAST.
• It was nice of Kane to score a powerplay goal, but it was the five failed attempts that would’ve haunted the Hawks had they lost this one. It really stunk up a nice victory and the only reason I’m not putting it in “The Ugly” is because Kaner was able to net what ended up being the game winner on the PP. Inability to successfully get the puck into the offensive zone handed the Hawks the impossible task of sustaining pressure during the advantages.

The Ugly

• Another slow beginning to the game allowed for the Stars to jump on Crawford early. Yes, Richard Panik gave the Hawks a nice little headstart eleven seconds in, but the next 19:49 were all Stars. They had complete control and their PK looked unbeatable because the Blackhawks simply forgot how to enter the zone.
• It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that the Blackhawks aren’t a physical team and they don’t require a physical presence to thrive on offense. However, when one player is essentially the only Blackhawk in the hit column and he sees the ice for ten minutes, you need somebody else to step up. Yes, I know, it’s not their game, but they were teed up like a damn pinata tonight and couldn’t do a thing about it.
• They had a few chances offensively in the third, but the Blackhawks seemingly went into their shell and played prevent defense. They got lucky, but that must change if the Blackhawks want to hold on to one goal leads in the future. I’m not saying they need to play aggressive offense, but even their powerplay opportunities were mainly in the defensive zone. It didn’t help that the Blackhawks had to kill off a penalty for the final two minutes of the game.
• Jesus Christ, the ice is f***ing terrible in Dallas. Sure, it’s hot in Texas, but it’s still a damn ice rink. There were blowouts and bouncing pucks at every turn.
• Steve Konroyd announcing a hockey game had me banging my head on the wall all night, so “The Ugly” here is my face after the bruises from the drywall.
• I forgot that Jordin Tootoo was on the Blackhawks at least four times tonight. Couldn’t figure out who the hell was on the ice and his number is his damn name.

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• The Hawks and Stars drew even at the dot, each taking 26.
• I’m still not 100% clear on the whole Corsi concept, but Hartman, Hossa, Panarin, Campbell, Forsling, Schmaltz, and Anisimov finished with a Corsi above zero, so, hurray?

The Lineblender

Left Wing - Center - Right Wing

Panik - Toews - Kane

Panarin - Ansimov - Hossa

Hartman - Kruger - Motte

Rasmussen - Schmaltz - Tootoo

Defensive Pairings

Keith - Campbell

Kempny - Seabrook

Forsling - Hjalmarsson

Late addition from Gate:

Just wanted to add some pics from these crazy Stars fans that sat behind us

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Blackhawks vs Stars6-2 Loss Recap

"LOSING GROUND"

by Gatekeeper

After almost a two week hiatus from recapping the big dog was back in the house for this latest March "embarrassing losses don't count" game. The Blackhawks were coming in after losing a lacklustre game, in a shootout to the Wild, Sunday. Many people among the intarwebz want to brush off this late season struggle, but it should be concerning that they have not yet found their chemistry with 10 games remaining. Sure, panic is not the answer, but being thoroughly concerned is not over reacting, by any means. The Hawks opened up with the forward line the way most of us would prefer, so there wasn't much to complain about there. I, myself, would have rather seen more Christian Ehrhoff, but it has become evident that Quenneville doesn't like Ehrhoff as much as most of us do. He didn't like Vermette last year, either, but look how that ended up. Moving on to the dog days of...

spring???

The first period was a god damn pitiful abortion. There is simply no other way to put it. They played the first half of the period pretty well, but the second half of the period was barely squirt worthy. The Stars scored 4 goals in about 7 minutes, to chase the Blackhawks goaltender to the bench. The Blackhawks were no only out scored by a large margin, but they were out shot 15-9. The worst part of this was going to be the fact that I had 40 more minutes of uninspired hockey to endure.

The second period was certainly better than the first, but it's not like it could have been any worse, though, right? I honestly lost interest in this piss poor effort. The shots were actually tied at 10-10 and both teams scores goals. This effort still wasn't going to earn back any favor from this guy. A dark cornfield in Oklahoma City sounded more exciting at this point.

Everyone was just waiting this one out, in the third period, including the Blackhawks coach. He gave the Stars a free empty net goal, which should have told everyone that he had given up. Or we can all just stick out heads in the sand wearing our #3CUPZ tinfoil hats. The Blackhawks actually out shot the Stars 13-8 and had a goal, themselves. Didn't really matter at this point.

Shoutcast tomorrow...

The Good

• With just over 3 minutes remaining in the second period, the Blackhawks finally did something worth commending. Andrew Shaw won a faceoff deep in the stars zone and then was able to bunt a fat, belly high Andrew Desjardins deflection into the net for the one bright spot.
• Richard Panik scored the second Blackhawks goal of the game about midway through the third period. He found himself on the Stars back door and was able to hang on long enough to stuff the puck past Lehtonen's right foot like #Fatrick through a turnstyle.
• Nothing. Nothing more. They should be embarrassed.

The Bad

• The first really good Blackhawks chance was at the four minute mark of the second period, where Lehtonen made rapid fire saves on Marian Hossa, Andrew Shaw and finally Andrew Desjardins. They followed that up with a very disciplined Too Many Men penalty. Aces.
• Radek Faksa scored the Stars 5th goal of the game late in the second, over Michael Leighton's shoulder. LUKE, I AM YOUR FAKSA!
  
• When Richard Panik and Andrew Shaw are your best players for two consecutive games, you're fucked.
• To my friend, and big Stars fan, Selina:
  

The Ugly

• The Stars took a 1-0 on a terrible fucking goal. The Teravainen line lost a deep faceoff on the Hawks zone and the Van Rozsival duo couldn't control the puck behind the net. Colton Sceviour picked up the puck and tried to, badly, wrap the puck around. Luckily for him the puck banked it off the shaft of Darling's stick into the net. Terrible, and it doesn't get better from there.
• The very next shift, Sceviour also got himself an assist from behind the net. The Blackhawks were running around like a bunch of mental patients on speed in their own zone and Erik Gustafsson completely lost Vernon Fiddler in the Hawks left corner. Sceviour found the puck on his stick, saw Fiddler straddling the goal line and hit him with a pass. Fiddler had the whole net to shoot at, with Darling looking over his right shoulder and the puck on the left side. 2-0 Stars.
• Next it was the 24th ranked PK's turn to suck. A Jonathan Toews penalty turned into a Patrick Eaves powerplay goal, as they left Eaves wide open in the slot to one time a laser over Darling's right shoulder. The Blackhawks...
  
  eh you get the idea.
• Just to make sure we all vomited up our Hot Pockets, the Blackhawks completed the total fucking meltdown by giving up their 4th first period goal, for good measure. This time it was of the shorthanded variety. It must be pointed out that Patrick Kane's effort after mishandling the pass a the Stars blue line was atrocious. It was literally not possible to give any less fucks than he did on that play. Following the first period, Scott Darling was sent to spend the rest of the game on the bench in favor of Michael Leighton.
• Quenneville pulled the goalie with six and a half minutes left in the third. Would you like to guess what happened? Yeah, empty netter. CUT THAT STUPID SHIT OUT! Patrick Roy should be immediately impeached from the Hall-Of-Fame for starting this asinine trend. The Blackhawks powerplay has been RANCID DOGSHIT the last several games. What makes you think they could suddenly pull it off with another body out there in the way? Roy and Q, I have a couple of these for you:
  
• I'm sick and fucking tired of all this, "They'll just flip the switch like they always do". There are no less than NINE different players on this team. This is NOT the same team as the 2010, 2013 OR 2015 team. Expecting them to suddenly recapture the glory that half of them never had is naive. They are not playing well at all, and they have shown little chemistry. When they DO show chemistry, Quenneville splits them up. Not only that, but the efforts are getting worse. As the great DITKA once said, "Those who live in the past are cowards and losers". It's time we start living in the present and being concerned.

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• When fancy stats go bad. The Blackhawks overall corsi was actually obnoxiously good at 61%. Every player but Duncan Keith and Tomas Fleischmann was + Corsi
• If this entire game wasn't bad enough, the idiots at CSN Chicago broadcast that meatball asshole Montana Brenan all over my TV. The ultimate "fuck you" to all Hawks fans.
  

The Lineblender
Ladd - Toews - Hossa
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Weise - Teravainen - Fleischmann
Desjardins - Shaw - Panik

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Gustafsson - Seabrook
Rozsival - van Riemsdyk

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Blackhawks at Stars5-2 Loss Recap

"We Are The Champions...Of The Regular Season"

by Patrick Stankus

The Blackhawks continued their "Mom's Trip" on Friday night with a trip to Dallas to take on the Stars. For the Hawks, tonight marked the return of Marian Hossa to the lineup for the first time since being injured on February 13. In addition to Hossa's return, I also returned to the recapping world for the first time in the month of March. Oh and did I mention it was our own, "Goalie-saurus Rex's" (Gatekeeper if you've been living under a paper plate) 1,042 birthday? Lets see, Gate's birthday plus a trip to Dallas, what the hell could possibly go wrong?

Once the puck dropped, it was quite clear the Hawks weren't ready to play. Their now trademarked "slow start" was on full display. The Hawks benefited from receiving two power plays, to mask some of the bad start. However, Shaw would take a bad penalty during the second power play, and it was all downhill from there. Jason Spezza scored on the ensuing power play from the blueline to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. The Hawks sloppy play would continue as they would hand the Stars two more power plays in the first. Thankfully for the Hawks sake, they would kill both of them off, and find themselves only down one after the first period.

The second period wasn't much better for the Hawks. The Stars would add to their lead just over a minute in, and the rout was on. Following the Stars goal, the Hawks would get another power play chance, and much like in the first period, nothing would come of it. Dallas would add two more goals before the 11 minute mark of the period to increase their lead to 4-0. That would also spell the end of the night for Corey Crawford, as Scott Darling came in. The Hawks would show a little life, as Teuvo would score after a nifty pass from Fleischmann to cut the Stars lead to 4-1. At the end of the sammich stanza, the Hawks would trail the Stars 4-1.

The final 20 minutes would simply be played in the "hurry up and lets get the hell out of here" mode. The Hawks could only muster six goddamn shots, which would end up giving them a total of 23 for the game. With just over eight minutes remaining Q decided to be an asshole and pull Scott Darling for the extra attacker, and shockingly, it wouldn't work. The Stars added an empty netter to increase their lead to 5-1. Late in the game, Fleischmann would add just about as meaningless of a goal as possible, draw the Hawks within three. For the love of God, the horn finally sounded, and the Stars defeated the Hawks 5-2.

The Good

• If there was a bright spot for the Hawks, it was the "WTF Line" of Weise-Teravainen-Fleischmann, as they had both of the Hawks tallies. All wasn't great though with this line. (See later points)
• You're kidding if you think there's anymore good.

The Bad

• The Hawks had two power plays in the first ten minutes tonight, and got nothing to show for it. Oh and did I mention Andrew Shaw negated the final 22 seconds of the second power play by taking a lazy tripping penalty. To top off that stellar open to the game, Jason Spezza scored on a 50 footer from the blueline on the power play.
• The parade to the box continued after Shaw's penalty. Fleischmann and Weise marched their way to the box in the first period as well.
• Corey Crawford was the only reason the Stars didn't ring up 7 or 8 goals. The Hawks simply hung their goaltender out to dry tonight.
• The Hawks ended the game with an embarrassing shot total of 23. What makes it embarrassing is, they could only find the net six times in both the first and third periods. Great way to start and close out a game.
• Dallas managed to block 26 shots tonight. Way to skate to find open shooting lanes by the Hawks tonight.

The Ugly

• Pat Foley certainly gave the Hawks power play the kiss of death. Before the first Hawks power play, Foley mentioned the Hawks had power play goals in five straight games, and were "sizzling." The Hawks followed up this statement by going 0-5 on the power play. DRINK.
• Speaking of special teams, the penalty kill continued to suck up the joint of late. The Hawks took six penalties, and yielded two goals to the Stars tonight. Suddenly that Marcus Kruger contract doesn't look so bad after all.
• The TVR-Gus pairing is about as good as a goalie tandem of me and Gate. That's not a compliment.
• The Hawks introduced a new sponsor tonight called turnovers. I lost track at how many there were. Absolutely pathetic.
• Of course Q gave Gate the ultimate birthday present, and pulled Scott Darling for the extra attacker with eight minutes remaining. On the count of three say it with me. One. Two. Three. WHAT AN ASSHOLE!!! I'm so tired of this idiotic move.
• Could you pick two worse cities to take the Hawks' moms on? Seriously? St. Louis, "the puke on the sidewalk capital of the USA" and Dallas the "strip club capital of the hockey world." Nothing says thank you mom like a trip to those two cities.
• Lastly, one last happy birthday to Gate. Apparently he celebrated at Mullet's in Homer Glen. That's ironic since mullet and Gate haven't gone hand in hand since 1989. Otherwise known as the year he went bald. I hope they served you your cake on a cheap, flimsy paper plate.

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Blackhawks vs Stars4-2 Loss Recap

"Down in a Hole"

by Gatekeeper

After the big news Thursday afternoon, regarding the 2017 NHL coming to Chicago, the Blackhawks had to face the pesky Dallas Stars. This came on the heels of a bring and uninspired 2-0 loss to the Sharks two night previous. This would be the first regular season back in Chicago for Blackhawks Stanley Cup vets Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya which definitely strike up some old feelings. This was all, of course, irrelevant because the Stars had already been awarded the 2016 Stanley Cup after their 4-0 shutout win the day before Christmas, which had the Chicken Little brigade crying doom and gloom.

The first period didn't help the matters any, either. The Blackhawks came out and gave up not one; not two; not THREE; but FOUR first period goals to dig themselves a huge grave. Two of said goals were on the powerplay. Not much more really needs to be said. The Blackhawks were out shot but not like you might expect with a 0-4 hole, 18-12. Now two more excruciating periods. That's what we get for allowing Stankus to go to a game.

Scott Darling came out in net for the second period, as one might have predicted. Not only that, but Quenneville pulled the old lineblender and fired it up on the "liquify" setting. Neither event did much to help the Blackhawks, as they went into the second intermission still down 0-4. The shots were 12-12 but the Hawks still looked off.

The Blackhawks actually looked like they cared about what was going on, or what wasn't going on, when they came out. The Hawks almost immediately put a goal on the board, and followed it up with another one before the period was half over. Amazingly, the Blackhawks out shot the Stars 21-2 in the final period, but none of that would be enough. You simply cannot spot most any team 4 goals and expect to make that up.

The Good

• It took almost 41 minutes for something good to happen for the Blackhawks, but just 32 seconds into the third period Duncan Keith took a long point shot that deflected off two Stars players and past Kari Lehtonen. Life.
• With 12 minutes remaining in the third Patrick Kane got the Blackhawks back within 2 goals. The faceoff was won by Jon Toews right to the stick of Kane, who sent a shot through about 5 players and over Kari Lehtonen. Looks like the Blackhawks actually cared whether the game was even interesting or not. Go figure.
• Fatrick's biggest fan in Lemont will be happy to hear that Scott Darling came in and stopped all 14 shots he faced, looking much better in the process. This, of course, was 4 less shots than Corey Crawford faced in the first period alone. Hey, small wins, right?

The Bad

• With barely 10 minutes gone in first period, the Stars took a 2-0 lead on a 4-on-4 situation, after Travis Moen and Brandon Manshitter took their personal grooming discussion to the penalty box. Teuvo Teravainen looked to put in a less than stellar effort into his back check with ended up leading to young defensive sensation John Klingberg banking a backhand shot off the inside of Nik Hjalmarsson's leg and through Corey Crawford's legs.
• The Stars followed up that goal with another first period goal to take a 3-0 lead before the Blackhawks even made it to the first intermission. Once again Patrick Eaves was the goal scorer.
• The Stars weren't done yet. Patrick Eaves finished up his first period hat trick on the powerplay with under 30 seconds to go in the first period. Hjalmarsson and Keith weren't able to tied up Eaves after a rebound came off Crawford's pads.
• Artemi Panarin missed his second straight game, with an illness, and no one was able to fill that hole successfully. Get well soon, Kiddo.
• Corey Crawford wasn't exactly sharp at all, not that anyone helped him. When the Hawks needed him to be their best player, he was about as good as the rest of his teammates. That just wasn't going to be good enough.

The Ugly

• Just a couple of minutes into the game, with the always stellar Blob Suckderi on the ice, Patrick Eaves sat in behind the Hawks defenses and roofed a shot over Crawford from a tight angle. The fact that he was able to hit the small space over Crawford's shoulder, on a one timer, from that angle has to be a little impressive.
• After the first period, the geniuses on twitter were yapping at the beat writers about what bust Teuvo Teravainen is. Shut up. The guy plays with offensively anorexic linemates and you expect him, at 21, to carry theses players. Get the hell out of here.
• Blackhawks were 0-2 on the power play and the Stars were 2-2. That's the game, folks.
• Can we please throw Blob Suckderi into the sea? We've seen way too much of this worthless pylon.
• I don't care what they thought they knew, the Boston Bruins are dumb as all hell for trading Tyler Seguin. The guy is a bonafide "star". See what I did there?

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• Despite being shielded, Trevor van Riemsdyk was eaten alive with a -7 Corsi.
• Duncan Keith was pretty bad i nthe first period, but rebounded for a team leading +8 Corsi, with his goal.
• Fourth line? Not good. Rasmussen and Manshitter were pretty heavily under water, while each playing under 10 minutes.

And to my friend Selina, in Dallas, you're awesome as hell but:

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

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Gustafsson - Seabrook
Scuderi - van Riemsdyk

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Blackhawks at Stars5-1 Win Recap

"2 Fast 2 Furious"

by Patrick Stankus

The Blackhawks visited Dallas on Saturday night, looking to end their 3 game, post All-Star break road trip on a positive note. The Hawks were coming off an ugly overtime win in the desert on Thursday night. Tonight's matchup featured the top 2 teams in the Central Division, and some familiar faces now in Dallas green.

Once the puck the scoring would not be far behind. The Hawks got on the board first, just 34 seconds courtesy of a bomb by Brent Seabrook on the power play. After lull in scoring for about 15 minutes, the scoring would return in bunches over the final 5 minutes of the period. TVR would find a loose puck at the bottom of the circle, and hammer it past Niemi to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead. Just under 90 seconds later, Tyler Seguin would cut the Hawks lead in half with a rebound goal just outside the crease. Not happy with their lead being cut in half, the Hawks would respond a little over a minute later. Jonathan Toews lead a great rush up the ice shorthanded, Hossa followed up Toews' shot and was rewarded with a juicy rebound off of Niemi's pads. Hossa buried the puck past Niemi to make it a 3-1 game when the first period came to an end.

The second period would be a lot like the first period. It was filled with end to end action, but also featured a little more goaltending than the first. Corey Crawford absolutely stood on his head while the Hawks killed off back to back penalties midway through the period. As if Crawford stoning them wasn't bad enough, Artem, (not Artemi, Mr. Konroyd) Anisimov would add salt to the wound and score shorthanded on the second Stars power play. Later in the period, the #AK72Line struck, with a snipe by Patrick Kane to make a 5-1 game after 40 minutes.

The final 20 minutes of the game would prove to be a lot quieter than the opening two periods. The Hawks killed off an early third period penalty, and would basically be on cruise control the rest of the way. The highlight of the period would be the crowd breaking out a "Corey, Corey, Corey" chant in the final minutes of the game. When the final horn sounded, the Hawks would thrash the Stars by the final of 5-1.


The Good

• Corey fucking Crawford. Lets revisit that sequence of saves he made in the second period while the Stars were on the power play. Seriously, if there are any Crawford haters left, they can all go to hell. In the end he made 36 saves on the night.
• How important are face offs? See the Hawks opening goal. Anisimov wins the draw, Seabrook lets one go from the point, and into the back of the net it goes. To make it even better, it was on the power play.
• Artem Anisimov had himself a nice little night. Anisimov had a goal (shorthanded) and 3 assists on the night. The honeymoon is still going strong with the #AK72Line.
• The Hawks PK units were on their game tonight. They killed off 6, yes 6 Dallas power plays.
• After being dominated at the dot on Thursday, the Hawks responded by winning the faceoff battle 33-24.
• On the backend, TVR and Hjalmarsson both had solid games. They also had 2 points a piece tonight.
• Remember when Marian Hossa was struggling? Yeah I don't miss that time.
• A power play goal, 2 shorthanded goals, and the PK goes 6 for 6. I'd say the Hawks special teams had a good night.

The Bad

• Jonathan Toews took a hooking penalty off of a face off draw just two seconds into the Hawks second power play of the night. Thanks for that Captain Serious.
• This one is just for @UncleRozsival , the Hawks took 6 penalties tonight. Most notably was the one Rozsival took in the third period. All I can say is fucking Rozsival.

The Ugly

• The Stars defense and goaltending is, well, not good to put it politely.
• Lets ask Antti Niemi what he thought of the Blackhawks fans chanting "Corey, Corey, Corey" in Dallas, during the third period.
• The Blackhawks did Antti Niemi's receding hairline no favors tonight. The Hawks chased Niemi after the first period in which he yielded 3 goals on 11 shots. We're still counting the rebounds he was kicking out.

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Blackhawks at Dallas4-0 Shutout Loss Recap

"Merry F#%king Christmas"
by Gatekeeper

Here it is, Folks. The big one. The division leading, back-to-back off-season champion Dallas Stars. The Blackhawks rolled into Dallas with some bumps an bruises. Marian Hossa was out with an upper body injury, and the Hawks were still getting adjusted to the loss of 4th line center Marcus Kruger. The Stars had been whipping some NHL ass, coming into this one. Their record was 25-7-2 with 8 more points than our heroes, at 52. The Blackhawks road record was a paltry, almost putrid, 6-7-3. To drill things down even finer, Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Patrick Kane had themselves a fine little points race going on. They were 1-2-3 coming into the game, and 1-2-4 in the entire league goals. For those looking for that narrative, the Blackhawks were to face former Hawks cup winners Patrick Sharp, Johnny Oduya and Antti Niemi, while the Stars were sure to get a tepid dose of Ryan Garbutt. Probably just enough to remember why they don't miss him.

The pace of the first period as everything we were hoping for, but the scoring chances left alot to be desired. The Blackhawks were given two powerplays, but couldn't muster more than 3 shots total. The Stars actually had the majority of the few scoring chances that were generated. If I told you that these two teams would combined for 10 shots in the period, you would have told me to shut the hell up.

The second period showed a little more promise than the first, for both teams. The Stars got their power play "even up" calls, and they took advantage on one of said power plays. Believe it or not, the Blackhawks actually out shot the Stars by a pretty decent margin, 14-8, but all it took was one for the Stars to take a lead. This game was starting to give one the feeling of one of those "former teammate bites the hand that fed him" games, with the way Antti Niemi was playing, and guess what?

The third period was a fucking abortion. The Stars scored eleven seconds in and ran away with the game. The Blackhawks managed THREE lousy fucking shots in the third period, and a total of 20 overall. That will win you exactly no games. Now we all have to munch on this shit sandwich for 5 days.

The Good

The Bad

• The two first period powerplays were just brutal. In fact, the Hawks gave up a pretty decent shorthanded chance to Jamie Benn, early on.
• Ryan Garbutt and Andrew Desjardins had a pretty good second period 2-on-1 chance with one little problem, it was Garbutt and Desjardins. Not so much Garbutt, because he was able to get a good shot off and produce a rebound for Desjardins, who then put it right into a prone Antti Niemi.
• Just eleven seconds into the third period, Patrick Sharp snuck in behind Duncan Keith and Jamie Benn was able to drop a pass in on Sharp's stick. After shooting on Crawford for years in practice, Sharp knew just where to deposit the puck. We miss you, Sharpie! Wish you didn't make so much damn cabbage.
• Rob Scuderi took a puck in the beak, in the third period. That required some stitches.
• Crawford was exposed pretty bad in this one, but it could have also been 6-0.

The Ugly

• I can only hope that Quenneville found some warmth in that cold dead heart of his, when he started the 4th line, and Ryan Garbutt against his former team.
• Halfway through the second period, Jason Spezza finally opened the scoring. Spezza worked a ice little one touch give-n-go with Patrick Sharp, and had Crawford dead to rights. Crawford actually covered the post pretty well, but the puck snuck through. I would have though that Spezza would have gone long side, but he didn't.
• Antoine Roussel is a flaccid penis with ears. I may only hate one player more, and that is Steve "The Pirate" Ott. Fuck both of those guys in the bung with a sizzling soldering iron.
• Just under three minutes after the Sharp goal, Colton Sceviour redirected a long Jordie Benn shot past Crawford, to give the Stars a 3-0 lead. Call me #TeamMiserable, but there is little chance you're going to come back against a team with this fire power, especially one that has scored the most 3rd period goals in the league.
• The Blackhawks had pretty much just given up by the time Mattias Janmark used Michal Rozsival like the pylon he is, and banked the puck off him into the Blackhawks net.
• The Blackhawks were shut out by the team ranked 17th in goals against. Let that sink in.
• Hello, Trevor van Riemsdyk! Here is YOUR -3 for Christmas.
• I'm so glad Brandon ManSHITTER dressed for 5:56. At this point the fact that he is actually paid a salary is fucking larceny. He should be forced to pay his way onto the rink like rat hockey players do. Can Q put an actual useful player on the ice, and knock this shit off?f
• Speaking of useless sacks of shit:
  

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

Keith - van Riemsdyk
Hjalmarsson - Seabrook
Rozsival - Scuderi

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Preseason: Blackhawks vs Stars4-0 Shutout Win Recap

Super Baun Baun

by Gatekeeper

The Blackhawks had their final preseason game versus the Dallas Stars Saturday night and also had to face a few familiar players. Antti Niemi, Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya were all wearing green instead of red which was awkward to everyone. On top of that, the Blackhawks had made some curious moves Friday, waiving Bryan Bickell and sending youngster hotshot Marko Dano to Rockford. That whipped the fan base into a frenzy, but Bickell was right back in the lineup Saturday. On to the highlights:

The Good

• Artemi Panarin came out in one of his first shifts and dangled his way through all 3 Stars forwards. If we can see much more of this, that would be just fine by me. He dangled some more later in the first, feeding Kane. Still, though, Let's not all swing on his nuts just yet. Let this play out.
• Just after the halfway point of the second period, the Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead on the powerplay. Jonathan Toews took all the focus and fed Artemi Panarin on the back door with a nice spin around pass. Panarin's one timer was actually saved by Niemi, but the rebound was flopping around and was slammed home by Marian Hossa. 1-0 Blackhawks.
• Just over a minute into the third period the Blackhawks won a faceoff deep in the Stars zone. Artemi Panarin gathered the puck, spun, and fired the puck at Kari Lehtonen, who had just entered the game. The rebound dropped to Lehtonen's right and Kane chipped it into the net.
• Late in the 3rd period, Marian Hossa caught Kari Lehtonen cheating as Hossa was heding around the net, and banked it off Lehtonen into the net.
• With a minute to go Andrew Shaw, who was bumped to the third line, Stole a Stars pass at their blue line, deked the ever loving shit out of Jason Spezza, and then beat the Stars goalie for a pretty goal.
• Crawford and Darling combined for a 29 save shutout.

The Bad

• Word has it that Corey Crawford was supposed to play the entire game, but #LemontNativeScottDarling came in halfway through the second. I'm not too worried. He took a few high shots and there is no reason to beat the shit out of the goalie in the preseason. Of course Pat Foley had to attempt to send everyone into a panic by saying it was very concerning.
• Teuvo Teravainen was moved from 3rd line center to first line left wing, but it may have been because he lost 6 of 7 faceoffs. Anything to get Shaw off the first line, right?

The Ugly

• Super Baun Baun came out in his first game after almost assuredly securing a spot on the Blackhawks by taking back to back penalties late in the first period. He took three full shifts in the second and five in the third. Did no good for that spot he supposedly won.

The Lineblender
Shaw - Toews - Hossa
Panarin - Anisimov - Kane
Bickell - Teravainen - Garbutt
Desjardins - Kruger - Baun

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Svedberg - Seabrook
Daley - van Reimsdyk

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Blackhawks at Stars4-0 Shutout Loss Recap

The Big "D" (Disappointment In Dallas)
by Patrick Stankus

On Saturday night the Blackhawks continued their four game road trip, this time visiting the Dallas Stars. While the Stars will miss the playoffs, and have nothing to play for other than their paychecks, the Blackhawks, on the other hand, can have first place in the Central Division at the tip of their fingers with a win. Since its a Saturday night and there's beer to drink, lets get right on to the recap.

As the puck dropped it looked like the Blackhawks were missing that extra jump in their step. As the period went on that became more and more evident. Despite having two power plays in the first six minutes, the Blackhawks looked out of sorts. Their passing was off and were careless with their decision making. The Stars managed to find some momentum off those two PKs, and would score shortly after the second Hawks power play. Late in the period the Stars would add their own power play goal, and take a 2-0 lead into the first intermission.

The second period seemed like a repeat of the first. The Stars absolutely dominated the Hawks through the first 15 minutes of the period. You can argue if the Stars had actual talent not named Benn, Seguin, or Spezza, they could have easily been up 5-0. Luckily for the Hawks sake, the Stars have Cody Eakin, and he is apparently allergic to hitting a wide open 6x4 net. In the final minutes of the period, the Hawks got some chances, but couldn't solve Lehtonen. After two the score was still 2-0 in favor of the Stars.

Whatever momentum the Blackhawks had at the end of the second period, it quickly vanished in the third period. Brandon Saad had an opportunity on a penalty shot, but was denied by Lehtonen. The careless, and sloppy puck decisions continued, and of course the turnovers wound up in the back of the Hawks net. The Stars tacked on two more goals in third period, to give them a 4-0 lead. While at the other end of the ice Kari Lehtonen stopped all 33 shots faced, en route to the 4-0 Stars win.

The Good
- Mercifully this game ended in just about 2 1/2 hours so we no longer had to see the assholes in the 100 level stand up, turn, and wave to the camera anymore.
- Unlike Steve Konroyd said, there were no positives, but like Jan from Toyota says, let go places. Like to the bad and ugly.

The Bad
- The defensive zone breakdowns allowed Dallas to have all the time and space in the world they wanted tonight. (See Spezza goal for prime example)
- Corey Crawford wasn't great, nor was he terrible. When your defense hangs you out to dry for most of the night what do expect is going to happen?
- In a game like this, it was pretty obvious from the start that the Blackhawks didn't have it or give a shit. So with that in mind I have a problem with Q giving Duncan Keith 25 minutes of ice time.
- When the best shifts in the first 2/3rds of a game are from your fourth line, that's a problem.
- Its hard to knock the PK because they've been so good for so long, so I'll put them in the bad and not ugly tonight. Either way, they yielded two power play goals to the Stars tonight.

The Ugly
- Looks like Kris Versteeg's turnoveritis has reappeared. He was a big old pile of dog shit tonight. How he got over 16 minutes of ice time is beyond me.
- Lets not single one defenseman out, lets just say the entire defense was awful tonight.
- In the "hits are meaningless category" the Blackhawks were out hit tonight 26-15. Last I checked weren't they the ones chasing the puck tonight?
- Stop being Johnny Positive everyone, and lets accept the fact that so far Antoine Vermette hasn't lived up to the expectations. Sure, he's still adjusting, but by now you'd like to see some sort of progress.
- Remember when we were drooling over the power play? Well tonight they were an 0 for again. This time, 0 for 2.
- Its sad to see Pat Foley can't remember what a good body check is. I'm speaking of course about Jordie Benn's hit on Andrew Saad, I mean Andrew Shaw.
- Fuck it, I am singling out a defenseman. Michal Rozsival was the only Blackhawk that was a -2 tonight. I've seen turtles and snails that are faster than him.

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Blackhawks vs. Stars 6-3 Loss Recap

                      Back To Back Misery

Stop me if you've heard this before. The Blackhawks were playing a team that was on a back to back playing in Dallas the night before. Unlike Friday night, where Winnipeg visited the UC, tonight, the Dallas Stars were paying a visit. Oh and it was a joyous one as well.

The first period could have easily been one of the worst periods of hockey I've seen played by both teams. Five goals total, three penalties, 34 total shots, a shorthanded goal, and a power play goal. Got all that? Good, because after all that the Blackhawks trailed the team that played 22 hours the night before 3-2 after one.

Things changed in the second period. I don't know how many f-bombs Q dropped during the intermission, but it seemed to work......for at least the second period. The Blackhawks dominated play, outshooting the Stars, 16-6. Brandon Saad added his second of the game, and after two we were tied at three.

Remember how I said Q's speech worked for at least the second period? Well just look at the complete shitshow that took place in the third period. The Stars completely out played the Blackhawks and looked like the team that hadn't played the night before. The Stars rang up 3 goals in the third en route to their 6-3, lets call it what it was, ass kicking on the Blackhawks home ice.

The Good
- Its pretty sad that the Blackhawks have to rely on the NHL to make the obvious line changes for them. I present the case of Gorilla Salad who will have a hearing for his cross check from Friday night. With Gorilla Salad out of the line up Joakim Nordstrom found his way back into the line up. Its about damn time. Hopefully this is the end of Gorilla Salad in Chicago.
- Despite being a -1, I'll give Saad a tip of the cap. He at least did look like he gave a shit tonight.

The Bad
- Yes, Patrick Sharp held his own with his fight with Shawn Horcoff, but who the fuck cares that it was his first fight in 6 years? Give me a break.
- Its becoming quite clear that the worst contract on the Blackhawks is that of Michal Rozsival. $2.2 million  to be a pylon. 

The Ugly
- Back to Gorilla Salad, I like how the Blackhawks are trying to cover his ass for that cheap shot, by saying he now has a knee injury. If that's true, I hope its from a fellow teammate, who like any normal fan, has had enough of his shit, and realizes there's other capable players of taking that roster spot.
- The defense the Blackhawks have been playing of late is beyond atrocious. See, well look at any goal you want really.
- The Stars first goal was a nice clusterfuck courtesy of the Blackhawks. Lost defensive zone by Kruger, Nordstrom can't handle the lose puck, and Shaw does a fly by. Two thumbs up there.
- Speaking of Shaw. He sucks, period. Can we all get over the bloody face picture of him hoisting the Stanley Cup? Andrew Shaw is nothing more than an average 4th line player at best. Oh, he was also a -3 tonight.
-  Tim Erixon made a brief appearance to the line up, and I mean brief. 7:28 to be exact.
- Dallas blocked 20 shots tonight. Just keep shooting pucks into the opponents shin pads by all means. I bet Chinese knockoff jersey guy is still screaming shoot right now.
- ENOUGH OF THE FUCKING FORWARDS PLAYING THE POINT ON THE POWER PLAY. Does the line blender not work for special teams?
- And with this loss, the Blackhawks now find themselves just two points away from falling into a Wild Card spot. As we speak Winnipeg is leading, so all you Johnny Positive fans can take off your positivity glasses and look at the problems the Blackhawks have.

 
 

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