Blackhawks vs Canadiens5-2 Win Recap

"11th Hour"

by Gatekeeper

The weather in Chicago was frightful but the Blackhawks play was Africa hot, as of late. The Blackhawks came into Sunday night's game riding a 10 game winning streak, and sitting atop the Central division. Patrick Kane came in hot as well, getting his first regular season hat trick against Toronto, on Friday. The Canadiens, on the other hand, came in 1-3-1 in their last 5 and 3-6-1 in their last 10. Even better yet, they are the team responsible for keeping #AllStarJohn Scott out of the All-Star game, since they traded for him and buried him in the AHL. Eat a dick, Mark Bergevin. Can't you find an ounce of compassion to put just a little fun into that piece of shit All-Star garbage? Anyway, on to this frosty Sunday evening tilt with the Montreal Canadiens.

The Blackhawks started the first period in promising form, but that was quickly snuffed out. The Blackhawks scored in the first couple of minutes of the game, but the Habs came right back and tied the game. All that aside the Blackhawks also led in shots 10-6 as well. After the initial two goals, the game kind of settled in.

The second period was more promising than the first. The Blackhawks built a 2 goal lead after a slow start, and out shot the Canadiens once again, this time 14-10. The Canadiens put themselves in quite a hole, heading into the final twenty minutes.

The Canadiens tried to make the game interesting, cutting the Blackhawks lead to just one goal. As has been typical for the Hawks during this streak, they came almost immediately back which put the game away. The Hawks were out shot for the first time in the game, but they made their shots count. This was all good enough to extend the Hawks winning streak to 11 games.

The Good

• It only took two minutes and forty seconds for the Blackhawks to take a 1-0 lead and it was two of the least expected player that were in the middle of the play. Gustafsson made a really nice play a the Habs blue line and deked a Habs forward and was in with Richard Panik. Gus fed Panik with a saucer, and Panik one timed it past Scrivens for the lead.
• Late in the second period, the Blackhawks took a 2-1 lead during a short powerplay. Marian Hossa led the rush and sent a difficult pass to Kane. Kane had to spin to receive the pass, and because of that could not get a shot off. He dished back to Jonathan Toews. Toews was not able to control either, but kicked the puck just past the far post to a circling Marian Hossa. Hossa was able to scoop up the puck and wrap it around the post. Toews got credit for the goal, but I didn't see it that way.
• With under a minute left in the second period, the Blackhawks used a little help from the referee. A negated icing thanks to a hustling Andrew Shaw turned into Jonathan Toews circling from behind the net and reaching around Scrivens to tuck the puck into the net.
• Artemi Panarin extended his honeymoon just over a minute after the Habs cut the lead to 1 goal. He chipped and chased the puck into the Canadiens zone, and dumped the puck off to a foolishly wide open Patrick Kane. Kane just one timed the puck past Scrivens and the lead was back to two goals.
• Corey Crawford played yet another solid game, stopping 27 of 29 shots including one highlight reel toe save.
• The Hawks 4th line was all over 9 minutes, which is much better than we have seen with Bickell playing there.
• The Blackhawks won 55% of their faceoffs.
• Erik Gustafsson made his triumphant return. Everybody hop aboard the #GusBus.
  

The Bad

• Four minutes after the Panik goal, the Canadiens tied the game. Jeff Petry was given about a day and a half to walk in and size up Corey Crawford. Crawford made the save but the Hawks defense was sloppy cleaning up the rebound. Lars Eller scooped up the puck and beat Crawford.
• In the third period, the Canadiens took advantage of a Trevor van Riemsdyk delay of game penalty and cut the Blackhawks lead to just one goal, briefly. Corey Crawford made a couple of saves, but eventually Max Pacioretty was able to out muscle Niklas Hjalmarsson and direct the puck into the net.

The Ugly

• As we've become accustomed to the Blackhawks gave up a shorthanded breakaway on their first powerplay and then had it negated with a penalty of their own.
• With this loss, the Canadiens have lost 16 of 20 games for the first time since 1940
• Bryan Stinkell was sent to Rockford before the game, after clearing waivers.

The #Fatrick Stankus Fatsy Stats

• Duncan Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson had a rough possession night a worst on the Hawk.
• Best possession defensemen were Trevor van Riemsdyk and Michal Rozsival, of course they had very few defensive zone starts, so that certainly helped. At forward Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin led the Blackhawks.
• Alex Galchenyuk got completely worked, for the Habs.
• Max Pacioretty led all players on the ice with a +12 corsi.

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

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Gustafsson - Seabrook
Rozsival - van Riemsdyk

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Blackhawks at Maple Leafs 4-1 Win Recap

"The Mountie"

by Patrick Stankus

The Blackhawks traveled to Toronto on Friday night to take on the Maple Leafs in the second of a brief back to back Canadian road trip. The Hawks came into Toronto off what can only be described as a goalie win in Montreal on Thursday night. After bailing the Hawks out, Corey Crawford earned the night off, and it was #LemontNativeScottDarling taking to the net for the Hawks. We all know what happened last time I recapped a game in which Darling was in net. Safe to say, it couldn't get much worse than that.

The game got off to a sloppy start for the Hawks. Patrick Kane took a high sticking penalty just over three minutes in, but luckily the PK killed it off. As for Kane, we might hear from him again in this recap. Andrew Shaw thought he had tallied the game's opening goal in the first period, but Leafs coach Mike Babcock challenged a potential offsides call against Marian Hossa. After a review, it was determined Hossa was offside, and the goal was taken away. The rest of the period was so good that we'll just move onto the second period.

The second period was simply the #AK72Line show. The tandem of Kane, Anisimov, and Panarin were on full display at even strength and on the power play. Kane opened the scoring just past the midway point of the game, after picking up a loose puck in the goal mouth, and put the Hawks up 1-0. Kane and the #AK72Line weren't done yet. A little over four minutes later, Kane fired a wrister on the power play from the bottom of the circle past Reimer to increase the Hawks lead to 2-0. The Hawks pretty much dominated play in the second period, thanks in part to the careless play of the Maple Leafs that resulted in four penalties. When the period ended, the Hawks would out shoot the Leafs 11-8, en route to their two goal performance in the period.

After a late second period penalty by Nazem Kadri, Roman Polak followed that up by taking a cross checking penalty 12 seconds into the third period. The Hawks wasted little time in making the Leafs pay. Just nine seconds after the Polak penalty, Artemi Panarin scored on the 5 on 3 to give the Hawks a 3-0 lead. Just under four minutes into the period the Leafs would get one back. Morgan Rielly used all the time and space that was given to him and fired a puck past Scott Darling to pull the Leafs within two. Despite getting two power plays later in the period, that's as close as the Leafs would get. Patrick Kane added an empty netter to record the hat trick, and give the Hawks a 4-1 win in Toronto.
 

The Good

• Patrick Kane had himself a bit of a night. In addition to the hat trick, he also assisted on Panarin's goal for a four point night.
• Speaking of Kane and Panarin. That #AK72Line is pretty good. I'm glad someone got to see in person that honeymoon is still going strong.
• The power play went 2 for 6 tonight. We can thank the shitty Leafs for those late Christmas presents.
• Andrew Shaw and Andrew Desjardins continue to be more than adequate. Both had solid games tonight. Enjoy this while it lasts. We all know how quick these two can crash back to Earth.
• Scott Darling had a nice bounce back game for me to recap. He saved 28 of 29 shots faced, and made a couple real nice saves.
• The Leafs had three power plays, two of which came in the third where they had a chance to get back in the game. Fortunately for the Hawks the penalty kill came through when needed.

The Bad

• Two penalties by the Hawks right after the Leafs scored to cut the lead to two. Nothing like trying to hand a team a game on a silver platter. Luckily the Leafs tried to capitalize with paper plates instead.
• I wanted more hats on the ice for Kane's hat trick. That's a tradition that is fun, and never gets old.
• My God the Leafs are a feast or famine team. I pray for you Mike Babcock.

The Ugly

• I enjoyed the outrage of the overturned Andrew Shaw goal. All I hear when it comes to replay is "we want to get the calls correct." Well I know from the one angle you saw it looked like Hossa's skate was on the ice, but sorry the NHL has a lot more looks than us. Plus on the one look you can see Hossa's skate come in contact after he crosses the blueline, thus making his skate airborne, not on the line like you want to believe. So stop criticizing the 4 inch tablets the linesemen use because Greg Wyshynski wants you to, Toronto is also watching the play. And most importantly, you wanted more replay, so deal with an overturned call.
• If someone can explain to me what the fuck Rob Suckderi was doing on Morgan Rielly's goal, I'd love to hear it. I'm still trying to figure it out, and its almost 1:30 am.
• Speaking of great defense. How much longer before Jake Gardiner is considered a swing and a miss. He was flat out awful for the Leafs tonight.
• Fuck it, I've had Uverse problems all night, so my apologies for this slow posting recap. I'm ending the recap here before it goes out again.

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Blackhawks at Montreal2-1 Win Recap

"Devil's Son"

by Gatekeeper

The Blackhawks headed to the birthplace of Corey Crawford, Thursday night, to face the historic Canadiens. Before the game, the Blackhawks announced that Erik Gustafsson was injured at the morning skate and Artem Anisimov hopped a flight from Chicago to make the game. This meant that the #Scrozsival monster was going to grace us with their presence. Just swell.

The first period went quite well for the Blackhawks as they came out with some energy. After a few solid chances both ways the Blackhawks traded goals with the Habs, before taking the lead back. They also out shot the Canadiens 12-11 before the period horn sounded.

To the naked eye, the Blackhawks were in deep trouble for most of the second period. If you just read the box score, it told a different story, though. The Hawks were only out shot 12-11 but it certainly didn't feel that way. Just before the period ended, I mentioned that it was one of those "just a matter of time" moments, before the Habs tied the game. Luckily the Canadiens ran out of time.

The third period was even worse for the Blackhawks, but their goalie was unbeatable. The Canadiens peppered the Blackhawks with 17 third period shots, and not a single one ended up in the net. How the Blackhawks managed 10 themselves is a miracle. It seemed like the entire period was in the Hawks end. After weathering the storm, the Blackhawks walked away and headed to Toronto with a hard fought 2-1 win, Joel Quenneville's 783 regular season win, a 9 game winning streak, and a tie for first place in the division.

The Good

• Halfway through the first period, Andrew Shaw used his recently found offensive game to set up Jonathan Toews for a back door goal. Shaw lost a defender on the half boards and made a bull rush towards the net. He tried to take a shot that Michael Condon bit on, but Shaw never got the shot off. Shaw instead dumped the puck off to Jonny Toews, who found a wide open cage in front of him.
• A few moments after the Canadiens goal, Ryan FartButt grabbed the lead back for the Blackhawks. The play was a fairly harmless one, with FartButt finding a loose puck at the half boards, and just unleashing a clapper that surprised Condon.
• Corey Crawford. Plain and simple. The hometown kid came back and made 39 saves. The series of saves he made in the second period were insane.
• The Hawks were over 55% at the dots. Only Anisimov was under water.
• In a game with a lot of action, there were only 2 minor penalties.

The Bad

• Just a few moments after the Toews goal, Paul Bryon scored a goal by going hard to the net. Byron drove the net and David Desharnais threw the puck towards him, from a tight angle. The puck hit Byron in the leg and ended up in the net.
• As previously mentioned, rookie Erik Gustafsson missed the game with a lower body injury that he got in the morning skate. Hopefully this won't last long.

The Ugly

• After having the luxury of #GusBus for a while, seeing the #Scrozsival pairing out on the ice is panic inducing. Every time they are on the ice together, the Blackhawks seem to get pinned in their own end.
• During a third period penalty kill, Marian Hossa took a Galchenyuk follow though right in the grill. He went down and didn't get up until the trainer brought a towel out. Clearly he was in some distress. Like the Terminator that he is, he only missed a couple of shifts and was right back out on the ice.
• The Blackhawks defensemen did their goalie NO favors, and he bailed them out SEVERAL times in huge fashion.

The #Fatsy Stats

• Not Patrick Kane's best game. He was second worst in Corsi, behind The Great Suckderi
• That said, the Toews line was solid in possession numbers.
• Subban was up near the top of Canadiens players in possession, as you might expect.
• Montreal led in just about ever possession category, which just goes to show how important Corey Crawford was in this one.

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

Keith - Hjalmarsson
van Riemsdyk - Seabrook
Rozsival - Scuderi

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Puckin Hostile Shoutcast - Episode 47

In this Puckin Hostile Shoutcast number 47, the Great Suckderi episode, the Puckin Hostile team are back for their first episode of 2016. Gate is back to clean up the mess of McRib boxes that #Fatrick left all over the office while Gate was in sunny CoCal.

The group discuss the following:

-We usher in 2016 with a Blackhawks 8 game win streak, and several boring games.
-G8's air travel nightmare.
-#Fatrick needs anger management.
-#TRADEZ
-World Junior Championships end with yet another American disappointment, but not as disappointing as Canada.
-Games vs Sabres, Predators, Senators, as well as two each vs the Penguins and Avalanche.
-Blackhawks roster moves including a Blackhawks trade, David Rundblad to Europe.
-Another listener question from Matt Grunow, and a new question from "Catch ItAll".
-As always, an abundance of inappropriate references and jokes in very bad taste
-AND, We spend way too much time talking about the growing weight problem with NHL coaches.

You can find the episode on iTunes by following this link: iTunes

Puckin Hostile Shoutcast - Episode 47 MP3 Direct Download
You can listen below on the Talkshoe player:


Get the Shoutcast on Soundcloud here:


Also, Please check out and share the Puckin Hostile Stanley Cup Highlight video:


Music by "The Bloodline"

For all your custom jersey needs visit Black and Tan Sports at:
http://www.facebook.com/BlackAndTanSports

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Blackhawks vs Predators3-2 Win Recap

"Wanna be in LA"
by Gatekeeper

After spending 5 days in warm, sunny Anaheim Ducks country and after spending 9 hours in a plane for a trip that should have taken 3 1/2, what is my reward? The Nashville Predators. Nothing better than coming back to recap a game that has the high likelihood of a low score to cheer you up.

That said, the Blackhawks "welcomed" the spineless Predators organization into the United Center Tuesday night. This would be the first time that the Hawks have faces newly acquired Ryan Johansen in a #PERDS uniform, after they sent former 1st round pick Seth Jones to #LOLumbus for Johansen. Now we all get to see just how fat an out of shape he really is. In a late surprise, just before the game, Artem Anisimov was scratched with an illness, so Richard Panik made his Hawks debut.

The open to the game was pretty sloppy. The Hawks gave up a few really good chances and they had quite a few less than impressive clearing chances. The Blackhawks sure didn't make things any easier by taking three straight penalties, after their own fruitless powerplay, early on. Luckily, the Blackhawks were able to grab a last minute flukey goal, and go into the first intermission up 1-0. The Blackhawks amazingly out shot the Preds 11-10.

The Blackhawks definitely capitalized on their chances in the second period, putting 2 more goals on the board. Two goals on only SIX shots, that is. Not exactly what you would expect to hear in a game facing "All-Star" goalie Pekka Rinne. The Preds, on the other hand, struggled to get one goal on TWENTY shots. The one goal they did manage to score was pretty flukey. We'll take it.

The third period was more of a lockdown period for the Blackhawks and they were out shot once again 13-6. The only goal scored was a very late Preds goal, and just for good measure they added a little drama in the final seconds. As it has been for most of the season, Corey Crawford held them in the game. Next up, a tilt against former Blackhawks player and front office member, Marc Bergevin and his Montreal Canadiens.

The Good

• With Anisimov out, Teuvo Teravainen took his spot between Kane and Panarin. So we got to see the "Kanes of 1000 Nations" line. The Finnish Kane, the Russian Kane and the Real American Kane.
• With under a minute remaining in the first period. Andrew Shaw picked up a loose puck to Rinne's right and just threw the puck back at Rinne as Rinne was scrambling to get back in the crease. It hit Rinne on the inside of the left leg and dribbled into the net.
• The rag tag combination of Rasmussen, Hossa, and Shaw put the Blackhawks up 2-0, early in the second period. Hoss made a great play at the Preds blue line to turn the rush back in the Preds direction. Rasmussen dropped to Hossa, who got a shot through the defender. Rinne slid out of his net and the rebound laid in front of a gaping net, that Andrew Shaw swept into the net, in pretty unspectacular fashion.
• The Blackhawks started to pull away slightly past the halfway point of the second period, with a pretty Patrick Kane / Brent Seabrook give-n-go goal. Seabrook tee'd up from the ladies tee and sent a heavy cannon past Rinne. An NHL player with a chance like that SHOULD score on a look like that at least 75% of the time.
• Let's all enjoy Andrew Shaw while we can, because he is going to be shoved down our throats for the next couple of weeks, after the last couple of performances he's had.
• Marian Hossa celebrated his 37th birthday with assists on both Shaw goals.
• Joel Quenneville got his 782nd career regular season win, tying Al Arbour. That's pretty damn good.
• I find myself very satisfied with the Hawks top 5 defensemen. The Scrozsival two headed monster has been adequate as well. I think the Hawks are finally onto something, after trying to fit that square Rundblad peg into the round hole for half the season.

The Bad

• Some of the penalty calls were serious head scratchers, both ways. At least they were consistent. I won't complain too much because at least they stuck to the bar they set for both teams.
• The Preds got a late powerplay because of a Brent Seabrook holding infraction. Corey Crawford made several nice saves, but the Preds eventually cut the Blackhawks lead to one goal with Forsberg bunting a waist high puck past Crawford.
• Richard Panik made his debut and was invisible. I can see the Richard Panik phase passing quickly but did we really expect much more, for the smoldering career of Jeremy Morin?
• Scuderi was pretty bad in puck possession, as well, and his zone starts were much more even.

The Ugly

• Eighteen seconds after the Seabrook goal skidmark Mike Ribeiro got a bit of a gift goal. He picked up the puck behind the net and took it towards the crease. Crawford cheated a little and went down early. Ribeiro just jammed the puck into Crawford and it somehow popped up, off Crawford and into the net. Bad goal, but whatever.
• According to the "high on acid" official scorer, Mr. Carrie Underwood led the Preds with 7 hits. In what bizarro universe, may I ask, did this happen?
• How is that Cody Hodgson deal working out for you, Smashville? He had a minus 4 Corsi in just over 10 minutes.
• Speaking of bad nights, let's all take a gander at The Manshitter. A minus TEN Corsi, and was out there for a goal against. Granted his offensive zone starts were almost nil but c'mon. Seriously, Bryan Bickell is worse than this guy?
• Speaking of the huge orange boat anchor named Bryan Bickell, he was was scratched; again. This has gotten thoroughly embarrassing. Do something, ANYTHING.

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

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Gustafsson - Seabrook
van Riemsdyk - Scuderi

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Blackhawks vs. Avalanche 6-3 Win Recap

"Skille Competition"

 
by Patrick Stankus

The Blackhawks continued their home stand on Sunday night, as they played host to a divisional foe in the Colorado Avalanche. This marked the second time the Hawks had faced the Avs in the last 10 days, after they defeated them in overtime on New Year's Eve. Some of the pregame rumblings that make the most news were Bryan Bickell bitching about his lack of playing time. Tonight he would see as much ice time as all of us, as he would be a healthy scratch for this contest.

The first period started out slow, especially for the Blackhawks, who finally got their first shot on net just after the six minute mark. The Hawks seemed to wake up after Niklas Hjalmarsson had a terrible giveaway in his own zone, but luckily the Avs couldn't capitalize on. The fourth line would get the Hawks on the board first, as The Manshitter found some loose change in front of the net, and put the puck past Varlamov. In the final five minutes of the period, the #AK72Line would strike to increase the Hawks lead to 2-0. The Hawks would have a couple more chances as time wound down, but they couldn't add to the lead, and it would remain 2-0 after the opening frame.

As uneventful the first period was, the second period ended up being the opposite. Marian Hossa got the scoring going just over 90 seconds into the middle stanza to increase the Hawks lead to 3-0. That lead would prove to be short lived however. Just under four minutes later, Matt Duchene would get the Avs on the scoreboard to cut the lead to 3-1. Following Duchene's goal, the momentum turned in favor of the Avs, and they didn't waste time cashing in on it. Four minutes after his first goal, Matt Duchene added his second to slash the Hawks lead to 3-2. In the second half of the period, the Hawks would receive the game's first power play, and made sure to put a stop to the Avs momentum. Patrick Kane scored his second of the game to put the Hawks on top 4-2. That would also spell the end for Semyon Varlamov, as Kane's goal would chase him from the net. The scoring explosion in the second period would continue as Jonathan Toews blasted a slapper past Calvin Pickard to make it 5-2. That wouldn't be the last of the scoring. Late in the period, Marian Hossa added his second of the night to increase the lead to 6-2. Whew, its ok to catch your breath now, as that would be the score at the end of two periods.

The third period had a lot to live up to after that second period. As expected, the pace of the game slowed down, despite the Hawks opening up the period on the power play. After killing off the penalty, the Avs found some momentum, but thanks to the play of Corey Crawford, couldn't cut the Hawks lead. With 11 minutes remaining, Patrick Roy decided to be Mr. Asshole, and pulled Calvin Pickard for the extra attacker while down four goals. For the love of hockey's sake, the gimmick didn't work. After the Hawks killed off a Rasmussen penalty for interference, Roy continued to play musical goalies, and put Pickard back in. With just under five minutes remaining, Nathan MacKinnon fired a wrister past Crawford to cut the Hawks lead to 6-3. With the Avs net empty, the Hawks tried desperately to get Hossa the hat trick, but it was to no avail, and went onto win by the final of 6-3.

The Good

• Brandon Mashinter scored. That is not a typo. To follow that opening goal, he also had a breakaway in the 1st period as well. If he would have buried that breakaway goal, Bryan Bickell may have never seen the ice again in Chicago.
• The #AK72Line had another Harlem Globetrotter-esk shift in the first period, in which the puck found the back of the net. This time it was a Kane twisted wrister.
• Much like the Brandon Mashinter line, this is not a typo either. Marian Hossa got the monkey off his back, and scored a goal for the first time in almost forever. An honorable mention goes to Hammer for the sweet setup. If one wasn't good enough for you, Hossa added a second goal late in the second period. I still say the Hawks got the Hossa over Havlat thing right.
• Whatever problem the Hawks had facing Semyon Varlamov, they've seemed to solve it now. Tonight Varlamov yielded four goals before being replaced.
• Whether its even strength or on the power play, that #AK72Line is a fun, fun line to watch. See Kane's second goal of the night.
• Six goals in the second period. How's that for the "Make The Nets Bigger" crowd??
• That paragraph on the second period was long enough, but Corey Crawford was HUGE in net during that period for the Hawks. He made a great post to post save on a 2 on 1, which was followed by Hossa's second goal of the night. Normally you see the big save lead to a goal happen in the playoffs. That was not the case tonight.
• Tazer's goal was an absolute bomb, and a perfectly placed shot. Just a thing of beauty.
• Wasn't it nice to see the balanced scoring tonight??? Finally.
• Corey Crawford stopped 34 of 37 shots. By all means though, go ahead and criticize that you select few haters.
• Thankfully Gate will be back on Tuesday, we know you all missed him.

The Bad

• Niklas Hjalmarsson just about gave everyone a heart attack with a terrible giveaway in the Hawks zone in the 1st period. Luckily for Hammer, Nathan MacKinnon fanned on a pass, and everyone was able to get back in position before it became a problem.
• After Marian Hossa's goal early in the second period, the Hawks were guilty of taking their foot off the gas. After Hossa made it 3-0, Matt Duchene himself made it 3-2 in a matter of four minutes.
• I'm stretching here, but the Hawks were a little sloppy early in the third period, and took two penalties. With a big lead like they had, you'd like them to not take penalties like that, and give the opposing team the opportunity to get back in the game.

The Ugly

• Here's the definition of "sluggish start." - Not registering a shot in the opening six minutes of a game.
• Matt Duchene's second goal was a product of a pair of tired defensemen stuck on the ice. Its made even worse when that tired pair is already the slow tandem of TVR and Rozsival.
• Patrick Roy and his coaching are a complete joke. His musical goalie act is tiring. And the pulling of the goalie with 11 minutes to go, well Mr. Roy, here's to ya.
  

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Blackhawks vs. Sabres 3-1 Win Recap

"Heat Of The Moment"

 
by Patrick Stankus

With Gate in Anaheim Ducks country this weekend, he entrusted me with the keys to Puckin' Hostile, which meant I drew the short straw to recap a game against the Buffalo Sabres. After seeing how entertaining the first matchup of these two teams was, I was simply doing cartwheels all day in excitement. Screw it, this is a game against a boring Eastern Conference team, lets just get right to the game.

The first period actually wasn't that bad when comparing it to the last matchup of these two. Throughout the period both teams would trade chances, but a lot of them were the famous one and done chances. Both teams would end up in double digits for shots, as they would have 11 each in the first period. Late in the period, Niklas Hjalmarsson would put the Hawks on the scoreboard first with his second of the year with just over minute remaining in the period. With little time on the clock left, the Hawks would end up taking the one goal lead into the first intermission.

Whatever excitement there was in the first period, the second period sucked the life out of me. The Hawks would pepper Chad Johnson with 19 shots, but none of them would find the back of the net. Midway through the period, the Hawks were forced to kill off a Hjalmarsson slashing penalty, which they did, to maintain their one goal lead. Corey Crawford kept me from completely falling asleep as he made a few nice glove saves throughout the period. When the horn mercifully sounded, the Hawks would continue to lead 1-0.

Finally in the third period, The UC awoke from the slumber they had been in for the first 40 minutes of play. The offense finally got going just after the midway mark of the third period. However it was the Sabres who would get on the board first in the third period. Ryan O'Reilly fired a wrist shot that beat Corey Crawford to tie the game at one. The tie would prove to be short lived, as Phillip Danault took advantage of the space given to him and blew a twisted wrister top shelf past Chad Johnson to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead. Jonathan Toews would add an empty netter late to seal the 3-1 win over the Sabres.
The Good

• Artemi Panarin answered one of my questions I have about him. In the second period, he was in a spirited battle in front of the goal crease with Zach Bogosian. Despite the size difference, Panarin didn't back down after the first cross check he received. He simply gave one back to Bogosian, and the battle was on. It reminded me a lot of this.
  
• Panarin again showed in the third period some of that heart and toughness again. This time he came to the aid of Patrick Kane in a post whistle scrum.
• Corey Crawford came up large again for the Hawks. If there are still any doubters out there, I simply don't know what else you are looking for from a goalie.
• Phillip Danault scored his first career NHL goal, which proved to be a thing of beauty and the game winning goal. Danault continues to impress game after game. I know, I've already set aside money for a (insert new NHL team here) Marcus Kruger jersey for next season. I'm aware its a business folks. I'm not really pissed off about it. It happens, you move on. And if anything, Danault gives me and everyone else on the brink of 30 that needs hip surgery some hope.
• The PK was called upon twice tonight, and both times they delivered.
• Erik Gustafsson had a solid night as well. He assisted on Hammer's opening goal, and was effective on the power play too.
• 3 of the 4 lines played really well tonight. Its hard to say the fourth line actually played tonight. I actually feel bad for Moose, as he stuck centering two ECHL caliber players in Garbutt and Bickell.

The Bad

• The shot totals for the Hawks tonight were; 11, 19, and 15 for a total of 45. A lot of those chances were only one and done. You'd like to see them get a little more traffic, and more net front presence when the pucks are getting through like that.
• Speaking of shots, who else thought after a scoreless second period in which the Hawks had 19 shots, that we were headed for one of those famous 45+ shots on goal, but end up losing nights?
• I'm going to let Danault enjoy his night, I won't point out his one negative that I saw tonight. Enjoy your first NHL goal kid.
• Garbutt and Bickell continue to dress for 5 minutes a night. This is really tiresome.

The Ugly

• The first 50 minutes of this game were B-O-R-I-N-G. Bigger nets wouldn't have made this game more exciting. It was a victim of boring Eastern Conference hockey.
• Good luck on Sunday to Evander Kane with his return to Winnipeg. You're gonna need it.

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Blackhawks vs Penguins3-1 Win Recap

"Clouds Over California"

by Gatekeeper

I'm not exactly just how to top the overtime period that was played Tuesday night in Pittsburgh. "Sudden Death" style shootout?

Scratch that...

I don't want to tempt fate after Cheer the Anthem's recent interaction with ISIS. I'm not even joking, either. Just click that link.

ANY-WHO, The Blackhawks dragged the carcasses of the Pittsburgh Penguins back with them Wednesday night to play the ass end of a home-and-home. No doubt the Penguins were going to be fired up, after missing several wide open chances the previous night. Sidney Crosby was going to be out to prove that his all-star snub was just that. I'm sure the Blackhawks were absolutely thrilled about that on WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIVALRY NIGHT.

The Blackhawks came out and played like we all hoped they would, out shooting the Pens 9-3 in the first half of the period. This isn't to say that there weren't scoring chances, either. There were plenty of defensive lapses, but most were by the Penguins. The Blackhawks finally took a lead late in the period. The final shot total was pretty embarrassing for Pittsburgh at 15-3, but they were luckily only down 1-0.

The Blackhawks held the momentum for the beginning of the second period as well, with the help of a powerplay. This didn't stop the Penguins from taking advantage of their powerplay and tying the game up. The second was certainly a more boring period than the first and the shots were much more even than the first, with the Blackhawks leading 10-8.

The third period looked like it was shaping up to be a real woofer, with the Blackhawks grossly out shooting the Pens but still locked in a tie game. Artemi Panarin took care off all that. Throw in an empty netter and the Blackhawks have themselves a season best 5 game winning streak.

This sucker is off to California....

The Good

• Artemi Panarin picked up where he left off Tuesday night, giving the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead, his 14th goal, with about 4 minutes remaining in the first period. The #AK72 line held the puck in the Pens zone for almost a full minute where the Pens never even touched the puck. Eventually Panarin circled the zone and made a very Kane-esque play with a nice deke to shed a defender, and cut to the net. Once he cut to the net, he had Fleury dead to rights.
• Panarin made it 2-1 with eleven minutes remaining in regulation. It was a simple 50/50 faceoff that Panarin just stepped over to and snapped through the legs of Pens defenseman Brian Dumoulin, beating Marc-Andre Fleury to the glove side.
• Teuvo Teravainen was able to get one of his easiest NHL goals, an empty netter, when Ben Lovejoy basically handed the puck to Teravainen on a silver platter.
• Scott Darling only had to make a handful of tough saves, but he made them, saving 17 overall.
• Across the ice, Marc-Andre Frenchy had himself a helluva game too. He saved 34 of 36 and deserved a better fate.
• With the way Panarin played the Blackhawks #AK72 line had some cartoonish Corsi numbers, which was the complete opposite of last night in Pittsburgh, but same result.
• The Hawks not only dominated in possession, but they won 53% of faceoffs, too, with Danault winning 8 of 11.

The Bad

• Patric Hornqvist is an annoying little punk, who probably needs to have his teeth put down his god damned throat.
• Jonathan Toews was not at all happy with Kris Letang trying to take a shot at Artemi Panarin very late in the game. And Letang wonders why everyone tries to ring his fucking bell.
  

The Ugly

• After a failed Blackhawks powerplay that was partly negated by a Jonathan Toews high sticking call, the Penguins were able to take advantage of their own powerplay. Phil Kessel set up Evgeni Malkin for a long one timer that seemed to beat Scott Darling pretty cleanly. Hornqvist WAS in front screening Darling, but Darling has 6 inches on Hornqvist, so you'd like to think he could see over the little skid mark.
• No one on the 4th line could manager over 6:30. The Hawks NEED more from these three and Quenneville needs to put them out on the ice more.

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

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Gustafsson - Seabrook
van Riemsdyk - Rozsival

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Blackhawks at Penguins3-2 OT Win Recap

"The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh"
by Patrick Stankus

The Blackhawks took to the road on Tuesday night to pay a visit to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins. Tuesday marked the beginning of a home and home, back to back against the Penguins. It also marked a rematch of the 1995 Stanley Cup Final in which no one won, in addition to the 1992 Stanley Cup Final which saw the Penguins sweep the Blackhawks. As if that wasn't enough with the storylines, Tuesday's game also saw the Blackhawks face their former "analytics darling Trevor Daley."

The first period started out slow, but as the period went on, the pace of the game picked up. After a few minutes of getting the legs going the scoring chances picked. Both goalies were on their game, making key saves in the period, especially Crawford. With just under 5 minutes remaining, the Hawks would go on the power play, but nothing would come of it. After 20 minutes, both teams would end up with 7 shots each, but the game would be scoreless.

After the puck dropped for the second period, it seemed for some reason the Hawks took their foot off the gas, and nearly got caught because of it. The Penguins dominated play early on, and it looked a lot worse do to the sloppy play and turnovers by the Hawks. Just prior to the midway mark of the game though, the #AK72Line would bail the Hawks out. Kane and Panarin would be in on a two on one, and Panarin buried it to give the Hawks a 1-0 lead. After that goal however, the Penguins would continue to keep the pressure on the Hawks. The Hawks would catch another break late in the period, after a Brent Seabrook slapper hit Jonathan Toews in the back and trickled past Fleury to increase the Hawks lead to 2-0. Thanks to a huge period from Corey Crawford in net, the score would stay that way after 40 minutes.

The third period continued right where the second period for the Penguins. The Hawks were able to muster a handful of shots early, but couldn't add to their lead. Just over 5 minutes into the period, the Penguins would cut the Hawks lead in half after a perfectly placed wrist shot by Crosby. With the Penguins continuing to dominate play, you could sense a goal was coming for Pittsburgh. After a lost defensive zone draw by Anisimov, Kris Letang fired a wrister past Crawford to tie the game at two. As time wound down, neither team would be able to break the tie, and we'd head to overtime.

I'll go with the popular opinion that the overtime was exciting, but I'm not on board. Both team would have countless chances to end the game, but both goalies stood tall for all goalies in saying 3 on 3 is ridiculous. Nevertheless, Panarin would end the shenanigans with a twisted wrister, and send the Hawks home with a 3-2 overtime win.

The Good

• Niklas Hjalmarsson made a great play in the first period to break up a prime scoring opportunity for the Penguins. Hammer tied up the stick of Phil Kessel and prevented him from getting to a loose hamburger and avoided a penalty.
• Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin in on a two on one. Need I say more? Yes, I do. #AK72Line
• Its never a bad idea to shoot the puck on net. Brent Seabrook's slap shot late in the second period, that hit Jonathan Toews was more evidence that its not complicated. Pucks on net, and traffic in front. Its hockey's version of peanut butter and jelly. They just go together.
• Artemi Panarin had two goals tonight, including the game winner. I'm glad the honeymoon with him and the #AK72Line is over.
• Corey Crawford stood on his head tonight, despite allowing two goals. Anyone who disagrees, well then I give up on explaining what good goaltending is.

The Bad

• Yes the Blackhawks scored two goals and capitalized on their chances in the second period, but overall they were severely outplayed in the middle stanza. They can thank their goaler for bailing them out.
• Seriously, how bad was the second period? The Hawks yielded 14 shots to the Penguins.
• The Hawks lost the faceoff battle 28-22. (See ugly on Anisimov's lost draw)
• Phil Kessel was a -2 tonight. On the positive side, he might have dropped a few pounds after skating around for 22 minutes.
• Apparently Bryan Bickell played tonight. He was on the ice for 5:39 tonight, and had his presence felt with one hit. TALK ABOUT USELESS.

The Ugly

• These 6 o'clock starts absolutely suck when you're trying to get home from work.
• Late in the third period, Artem Anisimov lost a defensive zone draw, and Kris Letang tied the game. I don't recall if Anisimov got the Danault treatment for losing a defensive zone draw that led to a goal.
• For the most part, the Penguins out played the Blackhawks for the majority of the game. Thankfully Corey Crawford was on his game, and gave the Hawks the chance to win the game.
• As exciting as that 3 on 3 overtime was to people, it should have never gotten to overtime. Need I remind you the Hawks blew a 2-0 lead in the third period?
• Jonathan Toews left the game in overtime. I'm sure that won't go in the "3 on 3 overtime is soooooo exciting" category. According to Q's post game press conference, Toews is fine, but still. Just wait until a star player is lost for the season from an injury as a result of the pace of 3 on 3. I'm sure that will change some people's opinion on it.
• Trevor Daley clearly #MassivelyOutperformed Brent Seabrook tonight. By that I mean he had nearly 6 minutes less of ice time than Seabrook. Two less assists than Seabrook. Two less blocks than Seabrook. And 1:14 less of power play ice time than Seabrook. If that doesn't scream #MassivelyOutperforming, than I don't know what does.

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Blackhawks vs Senators3-0 Shutout Win Recap

"Sober And Irrelevant"

by Gatekeeper

The Blackhawks took on the Ottawa Senators for their first game of 2016, Sunday night at the United Center. Previous to the game, it was announced that David Rundblad had basically played his last game in the Hawks organization, and was sent to Switzerland to play for the ZSC Lions. The Blackhawks also honored Patrick Kane and his point streak with a video montage on the scoreboard, before the game. This, of course, dredged up some stale feelings. All this while everyone sauntered by, and possibly took pictures with, a huge Bobby Hull statue on the way in the building. Tell me all about your outrage, intarwebz!

By the way, the reason that this isn't a #Fatrick recap is that no one was going to be throwing McDonalds burgers on the ice. Call it a hunger strike, which means he'll be good until the end of Duncan Keith's contract.

Forgive me if I wasn't at all impressed with the first period of this tilt. The scoring was sparse, rather non-existant, and the shots weren't far behind. Both teams got a shot at the powerplay, and neither could manage to get their act together long enough to accomplish anything of substance. The shots were only 7-6 in favor of the Blackhawks. There was literally nothing more to report.

The Blackhawks made sure that the second period was SLIGHTLY better than the first, scoring the first goal of the game in this frame. Other than that goal, you could count the number of total quality scoring chances on one hand. The Hawks led in shots 11-9, but if you count a couple of post shots, the Sens would have tied that total.

The third period was much more of the same muck but the Blackhawks were able to get some breathing room. The period was so exciting that the Blackhawks announced a trade, smack dab in the middle. The Hawks scored their second of the game and added an empty netter towards the end. On to Pittsburgh......

The Good

• It took nearly half the game to get any sort of pulse in this game. Duncan Keith gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead on a long half clapper that #ParkRidgeNativeCraigAnderson should have probably stopped. Marian Hossa set a nice screen that most assuredly had some bearing on the play.
• Artem Anisimov gave the Blackhawks a 2-0 lead, six minutes into the third period after a Patrick Kane feed to Michal Rozsival led to a nice tight angle shot on Anderson that was saved. The rebound plopped down at the feet of Artem Anisimov who just poked it into the net.
• Andrew Desjardins scored his 4th goal in 3 games, albeit an empty netter. Congrats to the big guy.
• Sorry, but I'm an Erik Gustafsson fanboy. I love that he can step right in and play second pair with Seabrook and not be a downgrade.
• Corey Crawford saved all 26 shots he faced for his league leading 6th shutout. Crawford haters are all but extinct right now.
• Too bad the honeymoon is over with that #AK72 line. They were only tops in possession numbers. Bums.
• Poor Jeremy Morin was finally given his reprieve, getting sent to Toronto for Richard Panik. That's how eventful this game was. They had enough time to initiate a trade.

The Bad

• I know they were on the ice for the Anisimov goal, but the pair of Trevor van Riemsdyk and Michal Rozsival are pretty fucking slow. You might say, "But, Gate, they can't be any slower than Scrozsival". I would agree, but they aren't far behind.
• How do you watch that game, credit the Sens with SIXTY hits, and Mark Borowiecki alone with 11? Fucking christ that stat is terrible.

The Ugly

• The first period. The second period. The third period.
• The line of Stinkell - Rasmussen - Fartbutt averaged 8:30 TOI and did nothing.

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

Keith - Hjalmarsson
Gustafsson - Seabrook
van Riemsdyk - Rozsival

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