Last night, the Chicago Blackhawks faced off against, to my surprise, a very good Boston Bruins team. The game started off almost the entire opposite way the game started off Sunday night against the Flames with the Hawks on the powerplay for the majority of the first period. Despite getting off 18 1st period shots, the Hawks were unable to find the back of the net.
From my thoughts at the game, our powerplay was pretty poor last night. They had trouble gaining the zone and once they did, it was tough to keep the puck in for an extended period of time. When they did get shots off, they were not the high quality chances you like to see on the powerplay. Most of the shots came from further back in the zone and when it looked like they had set up a good screen, the shot wouldn’t find its way all the way to the goaltender. When a team spends that much time on the powerplay in the first period and cannot convert, it usually doesn’t bode well for the momentum and confidence for the rest of the game.
After the first period, the Bruins seemed to gain almost all of the momentum from then on out. They notched a key powerplay goal late in the 2nd period. Jonathan Toews did tie it at 1-1 on a powerplay goal midway through the 3rd period, but were clearly outplayed after period one. The Bruins, after the 1st period, outshot the Hawks 33-14, including an 8-1 advantage in the OT.
The Hawks had a golden opportunity in the OT when Patrick Sharp was hauled down from behind when he was on a breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot. Unfortunately for the Hawks, Sharpie didn’t convert and they eventually lost in the shootout.
The biggest story of the night (after the Pilote/Magnuson retirement ceremony of course) was Nikolai Khabibulin’s play between the pipes last night. The guy was absolutely magnificent last night. He wasn’t just making all the saves he should make, he was making all the saves he should not have made as well. He had multiple saves stretching from one post to the other, was in great position all night and just absolutely stood on his head for the Hawks. The Hawks really had no business receiving any points last night, but Khabibulin almost earned that point for the Hawks entirely by himself. I don’t care that Tim Thomas got the win or played pretty well himself, Khabibulin was better last night…albeit in a loss.
After the game, during my drive home, I heard Adam Burish talking on the radio. He talked about how that was a good game and test for them to have. Sure, they would always like to win 6-2 and have the ability to relax in the 3rd period, but last night’s game resembles playoff hockey. I know people don’t like to hear the “it’s a good learning experience” line, but for this team, it was.
Few Notes:
-Jonathan Toews scored his 2nd goal in 2 games. After going goalless for the first 12 games, he now has a goal streak!
-Our penalty kill continues to play extremely well. I think Burish had four blocked shots last night. If people still have the qualms about him, fine. But at least admit his work on the penalty kill this year has been tremendous.
-The ceremony for Pilote and Magnuson was a really awesome experience to witness first hand. I knew a little about Magnuson (and have his autograph) before last night, but outside of a short email from my Dad yesterday, knew nothing about Pilote. The #3 on the Hawks sweater will forever be represented by two great hockey players; and more importantly, great people.
-To the kid sitting next to me last night, you were probably the most annoying type of Hawks fan around. Constantly complaining about their play and saying "Come on Campbell (or insert popular player's name)" like it was cool that you knew who all the popular players names were. It was great to hear you say "This is bullshit" referring to the Hawks powerplay exactly three seconds before they scored. Get over yourself.
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