Blackhawks Fall To Sharks In Shootout
Corey Crawford made 38 saves and played a fantastic game, but his effort wasn’t good enough as the Blackhawks dropped another game in a shootout.
Both netminders played exceptionally well, and all of the scoring in the game took place during a single power play. Brad Stuart went to the box at 5:43 into the third, opening the “flood gates” for the game’s two goals.
Joe Pavelski scored a short-handed goal, his 29th of the season. Only 73 seconds later, a sequence of great plays ended with Brandon Saad scoring his 18th of the season. Brent Seabrook held the puck in the offensive zone, passing to Marian Hossa who flipped the puck to Kris Versteeg. Versteeg found Saad on the opposite side of the crease, and the young forward finished the play and tied the game.
And that was the sum of the offense for the night.
Brandon Pirri only took three faceoffs – winning two – in the game in spite of getting 11:43 on the ice. Versteeg and Andrew Shaw won four of six faceoffs each and Ben Smith won four of seven at the dot; Jonathan Toews won only six of 19 in the game, and Michal Handzus won only one of five. Marcus Kruger won five of 12 in the game.
Defensively, Duncan Keith led the team with three takeaways and three blocked shots in 26:26, the team’s highest ice time total as well.
The Blackhawks improved work on the penalty kill continued, successfully handling four short-handed situations. Chicago extended their streak without allowing a power play goal to eight consecutive games.
For the Sharks, Niemi stopped 29 of 30 shots to earn the victory. Forward James Sheppard was credited with only three hits in the game, but he agitated the Hawks the entire night. Brent Burns and Tommy Wingels were credited with seven shots on net each to lead San Jose’s effort.
Q decided to dress Handzus again, presumably to take advantage of any “fired up” emotions that might have been lurking within, but there were none…notwithstanding that Zus did a decent job on the PK, but his 5 on 5 play was a waste…it also meant that the Hawks ultimately only “rolled” 3 lines…which was good enough for a point, but not the win…and if you have watched the Hawks in OT and in the SO over the last 2 months, its now so clear what the problem/issue is…THEY ARE TIRED…this is the benefit to dressing 4 lines that can roll and take up valuable ice time so that fresh legs are available in OT…
Like it or not, the NHL’s OT policy is 5 minutes of 4 on 4 and then the shootout…if the Hawks expect to win their division then the HAVE TO start earning some of these points…but as good as Crawford was in regulation tonight, he was again, god awful in the SO…I guess the only silver lining is that playoff games are not decided this way…but Crawford has to be part of the solution, not problem, if we are going to start keeping some of these extra points…
Ultimately, it was pretty simple…both teams are elite within the NHL…it was a great game, and both goalies played well…the Hawks showed character to come back on the same PP to tie up the game after giving up a heartbreaking SH goal…so there is lots to take away from this game…BUT, Q CANNOT continue to rely on Michael Handzus as a regular in the lineup…at some point either Bickell has to play and get better, or one of the young guns from Rockford has to come up skate those valuable minutes…take Zus’ 4+ minutes on the PK away, and he barely contributed 5 on 5…he’s just not good enough to allow us to roll 4 lines…
Finally, I thought Pirri looked good again…as he comes back into game shape, his game is starting to take strides…and what a shame that our 4th line only played about 10 minutes of 5 on 5 ice time…I thought they looked good again…
That’s a Playoff game in Feb. Thought we played well. With the improved PK lately, which was my main concern, I would have expected better W-L results but we just have to keep after it. I was happy with the effort. You can piss and moan about shootouts all night but it will solve nothing. You have to think the ot/so tide will at least subside after the break. And I’ve resigned from commenting further on pissing points away so… My only concern tonight is 19 being below 40% last 2g at dot, hopefully just a hiccup.
Q gonna be Q
What exactly was the rationale for going to the 2 referee system again?
Maybe the esteemed board should revisit that for evaluation. I just don’t
see how 2 guys, see so little??
That Pavelski would look good in red/white
Brad, may appear i directly addressed you a bit, not so, thought the board was still empty when I posted. Nice take tho
What exactly was the rationale for going to the 2 referee system again?
Maybe the esteemed board should revisit that for evaluation. I just don’t
see how 2 guys, see so little??
RD, I think they see the stuff and are ignoring it on purpose, trying to call about the same amount of penaltys to both teams regardless of how many more one team commits then the other. Overall that’s BS. We should start committing 12 penaltys a game and only get called for 4. Then maybe will be 14-6 in shootouts.
Mo, while I was being a bit of a facetious smart aleck, I think there is a lot of truth in what you say. Try to keep it even, don’t call so much you slow the game down etc.. I dont think the league has much to be proud of when reviewing on ice officials. Its not isolated, its every night, no matter who’s playing. And where will it lead once the post season begins?
It just seems like we used to have some well respected, take charge types that just never were replaced with anything close to that. Does ”it all evens out” really justify what we see nightly? Lets work on consistency first, and go from there. I’ve never been one to bash refs, and I can live with bad calls, but its as out of sorts as Ive seen
This was a very entertaining game to watch. Playoff type stuff. As correctly pointed out by RD and Mo, I thought the refs were brutal last night, and it benefited the Sharks as they took more liberties. Sharks could have had 10 penalties called easily. In that kind of environment I sometimes wish the Hawks would bring some extra physicality to the game, but that does not seem to be in the DNA of this team. How could Sheppard not get called for a crosscheck on Versteeg that I initially thought broke one of Steegers ribs? That guy was running our players all night, with no retribution from the Hawks. Eddie O then goes out to say that Sheppard played a great game! I thought Pat and Eddie were terrible last night. Not sure what game they were watching. I was waiting for Bollig or someone to give the Sharks back some of their own medicine, but the Hawks chose not to finish checks. The hard crosscheck Thorton has used for years against Toews following faceoffs was used against Kruger last night. Ref saw it and skated away. Hossa blatantly tripped at blue line that resulted in a turnover was also within 15 feet of a watching zebra. Overall, there are more poorly officiated games than good ones in the NHL these days. Same in the NFL. How can it get worse with and extra ref in the NHL?
Next game I see on TV or at UC that goes OT and I just feel like not watching. At UC games I usually skip half the shootouts as it is. The Hawks as Sr Brad suggest just look out of gas as perhaps the lineup has been stretched. No intensity from the Hawks in shootouts either. If CC is going to let teams run the table on him in shootouts at least challenge the shooters. How many points if you even factor in split decisions have been squandered? Even a 30% win rate would have the Hawks leading the conference by a wide margin.
Mo, I don’t think you are far from the truth…there are a lot of teams that do exactly what you said.
Brad- I am not getting the 4 line roll rant from this game vs. Canucks… Yes – 26 skated more PK vs 5/5 in Sharks… AND yes – “Core” forwards skated more minutes vs. Sharks… But that’s mostly cuz we had nice lead and Nucks weren’t really effective all game…
Q “played” 4 lines… The Third line has been mediocre to bad most of the year…
Mostly because Bickell or 26 have skated on it!!!!!!!!! 26 has been an asset on PK- that is about it… and Pirri as 2nd C is most likely Hawks best option -now- But he just isn’t special enough (skating especially) to be a solution/difference maker…
Crow was very good
16,81,28 had great games (wait I think I said that before)
23 played a much Smarter game… nice to see
Pirri was average/invisible except for that 1 wicked snap shot that almost put a whole in Niemi (nobody around for a rebound)
Sharp – had a bad game
Saad- doesn’t seem to have same power moves skating RW
Brad- the key continues to be Bickell ( due to his contract/size/production)- He is not as easy to “fix” w others in Hawk’s system…AND if his injury lingers (Rusty Olesz like)-his contract will limit SB’s moves… TT is a 1 year away (or less???) so Hawks will be better w TT over 37/26 option…
IMO- Hawk’s Forward prospects can’t get here soon enough… And I like the Guys that are NOT in Rockford Most…so that Might mean they are 2 years away…
The more I see Hinostroza- the more I like… and It’s very easy to compare Hino’s #’s and career track to Pavelski’s (very similar- thus far)- very quick/agile skater/w Hands.
KHayes
Hartman ( I can see this guy Playing w/ Hawks before McNeill/Danault)
Nordstrom
AND-
Let’s see how this looks for 2-3 games-
10/19/88 (88 needs to get going)
20/37/81 ( 2 of Hawks best D -wingers – covering for Rookie) + Hoss can hold puck and set-up shooter 37
23/26/65 ( a lot better if/when 29 gets healthy)
52/16/28 ( 52 playing better- but still can’t finish) this line will be better if 42,11 or Hartman can make it next year…
You are right Wall, Bickell is the key at $4 million per year…he has to play well and they need to be top 9 meaningful minutes…
Interesting that Q has sat Bickell 2 in a row and 3 of 4…resting the knee? Could it be more than just a message?
The Hawks energy problem Wall gets fixed by Bickell…he has to skate those 14-15 top 9 minutes per game…that means 4 lines rolling and problems solved…and Bickell has been back long enough to have his legs “underneath” him…so either he plays and does his job, or put him on LTIR and bring someone up to replace him…the Hawks need to make a decision in this matter soon.
geat game, but as stated early here the Hawks are a little “tired” going into OT and five on five. Even if they rolled 4 lines the STYLE of play which is hard skate, quick sticks and chase the PUCK like theres 6 seconds left in the 3 period is why they win and why they lose. NO team skates that hard, for three periods, so they are tired in OT. Sadly most of the offensive pressure and presence is by our D Men not just controlling the point but aggressively playing below the line, so this makes an average offense a great one meaning it makes the 4 lines look better than they really are. Even on shoot outs we struggle to put the puck in the net. Reminds of our BULLS play they play at 115% for 4 quarters and lose by 3.
Can’t roll 4 lines when Bickell has been horrendous. The repeatable commentary of Sr. Brad Parrot notwithstanding.
This was a playoff style game and for a rare change this season Crawford was outstanding. The shootout is terrible. Don’t like it and it needs to be eliminated. That said, our failures in the shootout are equal parts Crow and equal parts Q not having a decent complement to put out there with Toews and Kane as the first three.
Seabrook was horrendous for the first 15 minutes of this game. Playing very lethargic and inconsistent and the Olympic break can’t get her soon enough for #7.
I’m getting precariously close to ripping the crap out of Sharp. He needs a talking to. Getting a lot to bit arrogant out there on the ice and needs to go back to less selfish play and more harder work.
Sharp looks gassed…
TT will be a fixture in Shootouts – soon!!!
I hope Pirri goes on a little point streak- so we can trade him for some value…
Why is there a presumption that TT will be here soon. He’s never played on a North American style rink before to my knowledge. The two names to watch for being here next year – not this season – are TT and Clendening. McNeil and Danault appear as though next season will mean more developmental time in the AHL. A wildcard? Two of them…Johns and Kevin Hayes.
I thought the Hawks played an excellent game over all. The 4th line played well again. The PK was strong, and the Hawks skated 4 lines. However, I didn’t think Toews and Sharp had their best game. Saad on the other hand continues to take is game to another level. Several times in the offensive end he is is over powering guys, is strong in the corners on the puck, and was making plays in open ice. Hard to believe this kid was a 2nd round pick.
I thought Crow had a great game. I’m not going to fault Crow on the SO, Little Joe and Big Joe are great players and Marleau is no bum either. Crow gave the Hawks the chance to win but 1 goal isnt enough for 2 points against a solid team like SJ.
I can’t believe I am saying this but the 4th line was the best line on the ice last night (for both teams). It was amazing the dominant cycle time they had. That certainly bodes well for the Hawks. Otherwise thought it was a tight game that could have gone either way in regulation. Sharp was noticeably off – terrible pass that led to the shortie against us and then a stupid penalty late in the 3rd. While the PK continues to get better results we still play a very passive system that makes it stressful to watch.
Thought Pirri looked ok – will be interesting to see if SB pursues one of the veteran UFA centers at the deadline (Ott, Goc, Legwand, etc.). My guess is that it would take a prospect and a mid level pick. Also did anyone see highlights of the Blues? Their goalie tandem is sure struggling – Elliot let in a couple of very weak goals last night. Unfortunately Nashville is just as bad as the Hawks in overtime/shootouts.
Rufus- when I say soon- I mean next year… (but it really could be end of this year- If he continues on the pace he has been since WJC’s)… as much as I would like him to play… probably not best move for the Organization-IMO- to burn 1 yr. ELC…
Still- if TT continues near current pace- And the Hawks continue to “search” for their game… could see TT get several games this year- for SB/Q to see if it’s worth burning the full year and taking a chance at another run…
Yes, McNeill and Danault really might only fit as bottom 6 forechecking/energy guys- 2-3 years away…
First it was Kane needed Pirri, now it’s Toews. I don’t get which it’s supposed to be.
To MS—Hawks don’t have a lot of cap space, so who do you propose to deal away to get one of these UFA’s?
Regarding officiating last night – as was talked about by Pat and Eddie, the Sharks are the least penalized team in the league. Yes, I saw the uncalled penalties cited in earlier posts, but the Sharks are the least penalized team for a reason – they don’t take many penalties. There are always uncalled penalties, whether the refs decide to let one go or the game is simply too fast and fluid for two sets of eyes to see everything. We have the vantage point of replays from different angles – the refs have only one angle to see the play and they only get to see it once in live action with the 10 players buzzing around them. Is that making an excuse for the officiating? I suppose so but that’s the reality of it. Add to that that there is a fine line between what rises to the level of penalty for cross checking and roughing and other things. Players get cross checked in the back dozens of times every game – which one goes “too far” is a judgement call and therefore always will be open for criticism and second guessing.
The beauty of hockey is the speed at which the game is played. There is nothing better than a fast flowing game. Conversely, a game with lots of penalties slows the game down, not only by the whistle stopping play, but also by the ensuing power play which takes the 200 foot game and turns it into a station to station stand around pass-a-thon which greatly diminishes the appeal of the game.
Sometimes the officiating affects the outcome of the game, but I think it’s a lot less than all the complaining about officiating would suggest. I’d rather have fewer penalties called than more.
Crawford played like a $6M goalie last night. There are no shootouts in the playoffs.
I hope they keep Bickell out until after the Olympic break and have him work on getting those knees better. We need him down the stretch – not some ghost of him in the last three games before the Olympics.
Hinostroza is a smurf – 5’9″ / 170 lbs. There are a few smurfs in the NHL, hopefully he will eventually be one of them.
ER, voice of reason as always. I am adopting the motto ”you’ll know its a penalty, when they call it a penalty”. Otherwise, you saw nothing! I try not to comment because i know it’s a dead end. I love refs, if not for them we wouldn’t have ”Have another donut” and who could live in a world without that!
Sharp has been money on shootouts this year unlike previous. Assume that and 88s nosedive is why he shoots 2nd rather than 3rd so I don’t know what Q is to do. He has 3 guys that are no brainers, 2 doing great, one who has struggled but has a reel full of shootout highlights prior. You want 88 to sit? 10? 19? and last night was not the first time 88 never got a shot attempt in the 3 slot
Dave – We may be able to add Goc if Brookbank was part of the package. For the others the current team is definitely going to have to retain some salary to make it work. Since it is only the prorated remaining salary that is not too big of a number. I am also assuming that Leddy stays since I don’t see us moving him for a possible short term acquisition. I am no cap expert so it is entirely possible that my logic is flawed.
ER- Re: Hino the “Smurf”
What about???
Kane, Marchand, St. Louis, Cam Atkinson, Conacher??? Are they too small to Succeed in NHL??? Johnny Guedreau for BC- Probably best player in College??
Hino- will be a good pro!
Wall – first let’s remove Kane from your list of Smurfs – Kane is not that small. There’s a big difference between a 5′ 9″ / 170 lbs guy and a 5′ 11″ 185 lbs guy. Second, I acknowledged there are a few smurfs in the NHL and hoped that Hino would become one of them. My point was that the probability of a 5’9″ guy making it in the NHL is considerably less than a bigger “non-smurf” sized guy. Third, circumstances often times make a difference in whether a guy catches a break and gets a chance to make it in the NHL. A contending team with few roster spots up for grabs versus a team in rebuild mode that is willing to give a long-shot player a chance.
I’ve seen ND play a few times on TV and I like what I see in Hino. He’s a freakin waterbug on skates – very quick and dynamic. But I think the odds are stacked against him unless he grows some more. Not impossible, just more difficult than his skill level would suggest.
Bickell really has to get it together. Replacing his size on a team like the Hawks is tough. I know everyone likes TT, Nordstrom, Hino, etc. as do I, but we surely could use a little bit more physicality. Our forwards were tired the last 15 playing minutes. They took an awful lot of physical play without the power to hit back. In this respect Hartman is showing his future value in the wild OHL. I believe he too is just a year away from a shot.
Entertaining game, CC played well as did Niemi. Clear and interesting difference in styles as physical team vs. finesse team (and it looked to me like SJ outplayed us if just barely.) Agree with poster that stated our 4th line was best on ice for us, while the Thornton/Burns line is also a tough matchup (particularly for us.) As playoffs approach you can forget about moaning about refs, we’re going to get clobbered physically and will need to answer in kind and man up if we’re going to capture another cup. Biggest issue from my view is struggles of PP over past few weeks. While PK looks better (and would have benefitted from Zus winning an inzone FO or 2), the PP was brutal for long stretches last night. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sharks had more official scoring oppty’s than Hawks while they were shorthanded and of course scored their only goal on PK. Like last year, hope we don’t continue to degrade after good start to season when at times I would have refused the penalty.
The players in Rockford that are ready to contribute now are Morin, Ross, Nordstrom, Clendening and Dahlbeck…anyone of these guys would help to spark the Hawks…but, as Wall has noted, everything is difficult to navigate with any moves because of Bickell’s contract…that’s why I said, either Bickell needs to skate 12-15 minutes a night or needs to go on LTIR…
not seeing Morin again, or Ross as yet, should be suitable for prosecution in Illinois
Counselor!
We have plenty of cap space for some of those players mentioned. Before 37 came up we had 1.1, so for games60-80 we could add a 4.4m player (I think, does anyone know for sure how the cap space is prorated). Even if its not prorated the 1.1 & Kostkas 600 gives us 1.7 and that is what Goc is at… Whatever Bowman does at deadline we will be able to add a player to the roster, keep Kostka by just having him on ahl roster. He still can play when we need/if someones out.
I didn’t blame/moaned about refs. I agree with ER, that the refs can only see ‘stuff’ from their angles not the tvs, its hard to ref, they don’t see replays, sometimes they don’t even see it, they make mistakes too, etc. all of the ways… but Theres no excuse when one team commits 12 & the other 5 and then they call 4 to each team. When the ratio is like that, if the refs only call 4 against them then they should call about 1 against us. I also, think it slows down the overall game flow and would rather have less called in the game then more too, but it needs to be at the right ratio and not this try to call about the same amount to both teams BS. Even if that team is one of the least penalized teams, they wernt that game. You would think that after a second player got taken out into the post/crossbar that might be over the line for crosschecking penalty. The third one wasn’t bad but Sharpy told that guy, don’t do that, never never.
I was just stating that the refs are far worse overall this year then they’ve been/were 4or5 yrs ago. I know that they let more go in playoffs, that’s fine its always that way. I just want a evenly reffed game/consistently & when the ratio is 12-5 in penaltys or 30-15 (for a playoff game) then call penatltys at the same ratio, like 4-1 or 5-2 (playoff)
I don’t care/blame the refs anymore, I gave up on that 10 yrs ago. I am way more understanding of all of the things… Their always going to make mistakes, bad calls, etc. That’s ok, it happens. Just want it to be evenly reffed in terms of ratio…
T could play in 8 games & it not count against ELC. Theres only about 20 after OLY. break
Does anyone know about the playoff eligibility, etc. stuff about this. No one answered Walls question from the other wk.
Jokeirt season sch. is mid-March, so T could be available in beginning of April/mid-April.
ER- with all due respect… Kane is NOT 5’11”!!!!! seen him in practice several times…
secondly Hino is 5’9″ 175 lbs. and 19 years old… Kane is 5-6 lbs. heavier, and more than 5 years older… safe to say they are pretty much the same size… and if Kane is 2-3 inches taller… Hino is actually more massive/muscular considering only 5 Lb. difference!!!
MAYBE Crow should have stopped the Marleau shot. Otherwise you’re drunk and can’t accept an incredible shootout move. The fact that they got a point should be a big pat on the back to Crawford. Saturday was a goalie win even though it was only worth one point.
PK was perfect when Handzus was gone. Crediting him for the resurgence feels weird. They changed their strategy. It actually works better with 4 people that can skate.
SJ is also a finesse team, unless you don’t watch them enough. They are trying to replicate the Hawks. They do it really well when everyone is healthy.
Wall, Kane may not be 5’11” because often times the posted height/weight isn’t accurate. But then Hino’s may be smaller than his posted size too.
I stand by my statement that Kane isn’t as small as the guys you listed – Marchand, St. Louis, Atkinson, Conacher and Gaudreau.
Not that 5-10/180 is the cutoff height to ride on the nhl rollercoaster but I think Kaner been that every year since he was a rookie.
The thing is a lot of these smaller guys are dang good. T is another one of ‘those’.
Yea, every site has a different size/weight for the guys too. Chicago, Rockford, prospectcamp/trainingcamp/etc. rosters are all different for the same player…
Changing subjects to the Olympics for a minute. Just read an article about Datsyuk and the Olympics and really was surpised (not shocked though). Goes like this. Datsyuk has missed 30+ games this year including the past 3 weeks. He may be available for their last couple of games before the Olympics. When the Wings GM was asked his opinion he said he rather see Datsyuk sit out the Olympics but was POWERLESS to stop him from playing. I thought WOW. I wonder if this is a) in HIS contract or b) part of the new CBA. Anybody????????
Mike- I just did a quick glance through the CBA download on the NHLPA site, and i didnt see anything that said “players have the the right” to play, or on the other hand anything that said owners could “prevent a player from playing” so it seems very grey. It MIGHT be something in HIS contract, that he retains the right to play in all international competitions Russia is participating, or it might just be that the CBA doesnt specifically prevent players from competing in Olympic/International events.
That was an interesting point.
Other fun thought for the day: Blackhawks vs Kings… Bulls vs Kings… wonder how often something like that happens where 2 teams from the same city play teams with the same mascot on the same day.
These 9:45 puck drops kill me. Now I understand why my dad used to complain about the west coast games back when I loved them. I’m getting too old for this!
@JS: “SJ is also a finesse team, unless you don’t watch them enough.”
Hmmm… notwithstanding semantics, I’d venture to say there are “finesse” teams teams that are capable of being physical and “physical” teams that can play with speed and some finesse. I’d put SJ in the latter despite having Pavelski, Hertl and Couture on their roster. While SJ intentionally acquired more speed and dumped guys like Clowe to be able to better hang with speed/skill teams like the Hawks, regardless, compared to the Hawks, they are FAR more physical and it showed again as they outhit us 30-9. Their O guys are more physical and can and do bring the wood when they play us. Thornton has been beating on Toews for years (with a frustrating lack of payback to show for it), and Burns, Marleau, Shepperd etc all play a physical style on us. Not saying it’s “better” (we have the 2x Cups), just noting clear the difference in style and what we’re going to have to overcome in our quest for #3…
JS, not so bad out here in Montana. Although the last “live” game I’ve seen in the good’ ol windy city was at the stadium. Never been to the UC. Someday, I hope!
JS, that is 10:45 for me….so nap until 10:30, watch game, work at 6:30am
ICYMI: the Canucks acquired defenseman Rafael Diaz on Monday for winger Dale Weise.
Neggz- I’ll no doubt agree that they are more physical than the Blackhawks… butttttt
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