Blackhawks Shutout in Boston
The Blackhawks returned to the scene of their Stanley Cup triumph, but the Bruins weren’t willing to let the Hawks leave town as winners again. Tuukka Rask made 28 saves – all of the shots Chicago put on net – as Boston earned a 3-0 victory.
Patrice Bergeron scored two of the Bruins’ three goals and won 15 of 21 faceoffs for the winners. Carl Soderberg scored the other Boston goal to begin a sequence that saw the Bruins score twice in 13 (not 17) seconds to blow the game open.
For Chicago, Corey Crawford made 20 saves against 23 shots but was good for most of the night. The third Bruins goal came after he misplayed a puck behind the net, though.
Teuvo Teräväinen skated 13:48 and was credited with a team-high three takeaways (tied with Brent Seabrook), but won only two of his seven faceoffs.
Jonathan Toews took 22 of 53 faceoffs in the game and won half of his draws. Only one Chicago forward – Patrick Sharp – skated more than 20 minutes in the loss, while only Duncan Keith and Seabrook saw more than 20 minutes of ice time. Seabrook led the team with three hits to go with his three takeaways. If you are staying at a hotel in Boston you should check out one of the games.
Chicago’s penalty kill only needed to work two minutes in the loss, and they were successful. Unfortunately, the Hawks power play came up empty on both of their opportunities.
Jeremy Morin dressed in place of Peter Regin, and coach Joel Quenneville once again played roulette with the lines. Ben Smith was back with Marcus Kruger and Brandon Bollig, and the only forwards to skate less than 11 minutes were Bollig and Morin.
The Hawks play in Ottawa against the Bobby Ryan-less Senators on Friday night.
will Tukkaa’s save % regress to the Mean??? Should- so B’s may never win another game!!!
This was one of those games where the Hawks outshot the opponent but got very few rebound opportunites and even fewer grade A chances. The Hawks played hard but they didn’t win draws and they didn’t pass very well and when they don’t do either of those it’s very tough for the Hawks to win – especially against an elite team like Boston. That’s not to say they didn’t have some stretches where they had good offensive zone time because they did, but usually it amounted to nothing more than keep away for 30 seconds with no scoring chances.
Crawford – please don’t ever attempt to use your goal stick for anything except stopping the puck ever ever again. Be it in front of the net or behind the net – just stop the puck and then go back to the crease and play goalie.
Saad looked like he had another gear over everyone else on the ice tonight. Man that kid can move, and often right through people. But, he is not a good finisher (yet) and I’d much rather see him reunited with Toews and Hossa on the first line.
TT came back to earth a little bit. Had some nice plays, especially in defensive coverages and some noce stick work to get 3 takeaways, but he flubbed a couple plays too. He also got introduced to a real NHL faceoff opponent going 2-5 at the dot. I still think he needs linemates that can play/think as quckly as he does and Smith (last game) and Morin (this game) aren’t the right guys. Put Sharp on his left and Versteeg on his right. Both can shoot and both play quick.
Q wasn’t happy with the push back after he said they started the game well. When asked about TT, he said “OK” which usually means not so good. It will be interesting to see if TT is in again tomorrow against Ottawa. A side note on playing Ottawa is that Karlsson was TT’s teammate on Jokerit during the lockout last season. TT said he learned from watching him, especially on the PP.
If Kaner was on another roster and not our Injured reserve we would have had a better chance of winning tonight.
I said it a few times and I am not going to say it anymore… we were 8-1-6 against top6/elite teams this season, now were are 8-2-6. Still better than the other elite teams records against each other.
Like that fellow said a few wks ago, for whatever reason this yr, in the reg. season, we are not getting our share of the bounces. Its been like a 20-80 split, were the other team gets a goal on a nothing play like the first goal tonight otherwise its 0-0 after 2nd.
Since were not scoring enough, every game/reguardless of opp., These are the times Q resets the lines…
20-19-81
10-86-23
29-65-28
52-16-12/26
This yrs stats/record/trends are basically the same as 2010.
We got beat by a better team…plain and simple…Crawford wasn’t bad (although that 3rd goal was frightening again), and the D wasn’t bad…the kids weren’t bad (in fact Morin may have been our best player)…its just Boston is on a roll…they are healthy…they were at home, and they have a world class goalie…the 2014 Hawks just got a glimpse at what it is going to take to win a Cup this year…and that makes this game worthwhile…
Can the Hawks challenge the likes of the Blues and the Bruins for yet another Cup? The answer is yes, but the Hawks need everyone to be healthy, and we need Crawford to step up his game even more…
We got a taste of the best in the league tonight, now let’s see how the Hawks respond…
Full props and marks to the Bruins! They are a hard working team and a very good one that is deep down the middle. The best thing about the game was when the SportsHub in Boston named the BFD as the #1 star. A classy move!
that was a really fun game to watch (aside from the result). good, clean, hard-nosed, respectful hockey. had that same tempo from last year’s finals.
great comments so far. agreed with all of them.
Hawks had lots of jump in the 1st, but nothing to show for it. Bruins then tightened it down and cleared all the loose change near their own net. B’s do an excellent job of choking off plays. They swarm to the puck and close down shooting lanes. As said already these guys played a good game and deserved to win. While perhaps senseless to discuss now, I thought if the Hawks had grabbed the lead in the 1st this game would have been very close. B’s held and interfered with the best of them, especially in the 1st and were not whistled. Bruins riding the hot hand. Same with the Blues. When you are hot, the puck rolls your way. Apart from 3rd Boston goal CC was very good last night. TT showed some flashes, but it was Morin and Saad that really skated well for the Hawks. We miss Kane, and yes Bickell. A healthy Hawks team into playoffs will help loads.
It’s a back to back with Sens up tonight. Those guys have nothing to play for, except their home fans. Hopefully Hawks jump to an early lead and take the crowd out of it. Home ice against the Avs is important.
Lets Go Hawks!
The Hawks are missing too many people to beat the healthy Bruins at home, when they are on a roll and out for revenge. If the Hawks are healthy and play the Bruins in the finals I think it will be a totally different game.
Boston is the best team in hockey right now. Much like St. Louis, they don’t allow you quality shots on goal. Hawks had little happen consequential in the zone. Rask had a relatively easy night of work.
Net presence non existent. Credit Boston for that. But also a damning indictment of several Hawks.
TT is a highly gifted work in progress is my charitable way of saying he was schooled by a veteran Boston team on several plays.
Crawford was great safe for the 3rd goal. H
Brad – don’t forget to mark that one down as a loss when they rolled four lines.
Bottom line is Boston is good and the Hawks need to find that next level of play in order to make a deep run in the playoffs.
The Hawks have been shutout twice ever since the best player on the team went down with an injury. The only other time they were shut out on the year was when Kane was at his Grandfather’s funeral. This is not a coincidence.
Can we talk about Bollig’s failed clearing attempt followed by him not covering his man that led directly to a goal? Or do we just ignore when he makes terrible mistakes that would get more skilled players benched.
To be fair to Crow on the third goal, Hammer wasn’t skating back hard enough to give him an outlet. Still a bad play by him, by Hammer really should have been more aware or communicated to him what to do with the puck. If the Hawks are going to beat St. Louis, Crawford will HAVE to play the puck to limit their forecheck. Has to be better.
Hawks had great success in the first period because they were moving up the ice together. After that, it was stretch pass city and none of them connected. Frustrating to watch.
Wall- Rask’s career save percentage is .928. He’s got a .931 this year. Rask gonna Rask.
Well considering Rask’s save % is over 93 and he let up two goals the first game it isn’t surprising that he played well especially since he has been on fire the last month. Sooooo over enough games it evens out. Perhaps if they generated 37 shots like they did last time It would have been a different story.
And Patrick Kane is clearly the most important player on the Hawks and finding him a NHL commodity to compliment his game in the off season must be a priority. He can carry a mediocre team when the “captain” is out whilst playing out of position (center). However, with an absent Kane the Hawks seem to be pretty far from dangerous.
NJ Dave you are right…its the first loss for the Hawks in the New Year when they roll 4 lines, and for the whole season, only the 4th time…
AJ, Kane is a valuable player but he is NO WAY near as important as Tazer or Hoss…and likely not as important as Keith…he’s a great talent who has learned to become a leader, but the backbone of the Chicago Blackhawks is Jonathon Toews and always will be.
Hawks played okay but in the Boston Garden Ok is a recipe for disaster. Saad played at his old speed and looked like he was the only Hawk ready to play. Hawks do not have any players that FINISH AT THE NET, Shaw was exhibit A for effort as he turned his shoulder to attempt to get to the NET, but Hawks as a team fade, drift and pull up 99% of the time, they need to go to the NET HARD. Towes at times does but Sharp and company drift, and avoid the contact always. Weak at best! Our defense men and point play needs to crisp and quick and a “one timer mentality” still too much waiting, skating and slowing down play and looking for lanes the NHL does not give you lanes, too big, to packed in too and congested with shot blockers.. Crawford is the worse goal tender with his stick, the game before he gave up a goal with a missed poke check on the puck, tonight he saved a goal with a poke check and then put one in his own net. One Fan said and it is the only REAK INSIGHT to hawks winning is that CRAWFORD must learn to play the puck behind the net, Hawks lose only when teams dump and crash and bang our defense men, get the off balance. If Crawford can play the puck it’s like another player on the ice, but right now his is hideous. With some LUCK Hawks might make it to the Conference Finals. Play Morin more, he has the size, speed and skills and enegry. Coach Q stop with this BLENDER of the lines, if YOU can not get these guys to PLAY without changes lines like socks we’re in trouble. Consistency is King.
BTW, there is lots of yammering about the rookies whenever they make a mistake, but very little when they shine…Jeremy Morin, who has been unjustly in Q’s doghouse all season, shines IN Boston, in a physical tough game, and not a lot has been said about it…big time performance by that young man in the most difficult of places. He’s going to be a good NHL player.
I thought Morin was just ok. He has trouble receiving passes unless they land on his tape, and even then they seem to bounce off. Maybe it’s nerves since other times I’ve seen him play he doesn’t seem to have this issue.
He also has a tendency to engage in board battles on the far side of the rink which puts him out of position if the other team comes off the boards cleanly. I would guess that this is one of the things that annoys Q.
Still has a hell of a shot and a high motor. Lots to like about him.
Pretty sure, as their various records indicate, that the Hawks do OK without Hossa, do decent with out Toews and suck hard without Kane.
Toews is a great player and Hossa wields the Power of Grayskull but Kane appears to be the engine that makes the Hawks go.
Though I will agree with Keith, especially when you factor in dollars and term, that guy is the anchor of the back six and pretty irreplaceable. Seabrook on the other hand is dropping down the depth chart.
JS, Morin a lot better than OK…he was a presence for the Hawks on a night when there weren’t many…
A couple of other thoughts…Bollig hasn’t been playing as well over the last couple of weeks, and we need that trend to change before the playoffs start…another weak turnover that led to a goal…
BB just isn’t good enough to be our 6th DMan in games like this…I said last week, Rozy can’t get healthy fast enough. How can Sheldon Brookbank playing a rotational 7th DMan be a better choice than say Clendening or Dahlbeck? I know the kids are better off getting full ice time in Rockford right now, but not for much longer…that 2nd goal would never have been scored had BB done his job…and he’s done this every game for the last few.
AJ, not even close…there is no argument about this…the Hawks collapsed the 2nd half of the season without Toews in 2o12 and we just saw, again, what life is like without Hoss…Kane is a great offensive hockey player and his playmaking is missed…but Toews does EVERYTHING for the Hawks and does it all at a high level…
Good game with disappointing results. Once Boston got ahead early they really clamped down on their own end. Once they grabbed a 2 goal lead with the Soderberg goal the Hawks unraveled. The Hawks showed some fight but couldn’t beat Rask. Good game for the visistor but fortunate bounces for Boston last night.
Are we forgetting the hawks were blanked by Boston last year in the finals with Kane in the lineup? The engine that was Kane must not have been running…
Going 14-5-4 is hardly collapsing. The 19 points in 23 games Kane put up as the 1st line center effectively backed that team, that was barely in the playoffs, into the playoffs. Out of position and with an inferior team to this one should be taken into consideration as well.
November, January and the first half of February is when they really rode the struggle bus which was before Toews got his brain rattled. March was the best month they strung together that entire year.
I mentally conceded that game to Boston before it started. My concern was avoiding injuries to key players. Hopefully the Hawks will be in the finals against Boston with all their(Hawk) players. If that happens. then I think the Hawks will be the first team to repeat since Detroit in the late 90’s.
Ok lets pick outliers and regarding Hossa. They did OK in 09-10 with him playing 57 games and in 10-11 when he only played 65.
I’ll admit they were lost without him against the Coyotes in the playoffs but they still generated an ass ton of shots and you can only lose so many stars with the blatant lack of scoring depth that team had. Plus Mike Smith went all Stone Wall Jackson.
Regarding how the team plays when missing a certain player: Other coinciding injuries would have to be taken into account (such as Bickell right now), the teams played during the time of the injuries, and the makeup of the team itself. It’s difficult to compare apples to apples when arguing who is most important to the team, especially comparing year to year with different overall rosters.
Considering Kane has missed like 15 games in his career it’s hard to talk about his value to the team over someone else.
However, it’s pretty obvious from the games he’s missed this season that they have a hell of a time entering the zone without his wizardry.
Kaner has been out since the second period of the St.Louis game, and the hawks are 2-2 since then and they haven’t exactly been playing outstanding hockey with Kaner in the lineup, so let’s keep this in perspective please. But really, saying Kane is the best player on the hawks roster is silly, he is the most dangerous player when he has the puck for sure, but you don’t build a team around a player like that. It has been argued by many, that Toews is the NHL #1 consensus player to build a team around, with all due respect to Sidney Crosby. Never heard Patrick Kane’s name mentioned once in these conversations.
Morin can’t snag a puck on the pass. Morin should not dress most nights. He just shouldn’t. He doesn’t fit and this nonsense of him providing physicality is silly/. The next time he gets in front of the net will be his first time too.
With all due respect to Kane, the most vital Hawks are Toews and Keith. No question about that.
I hate to say this based on the wretched season he’s had, but Bickell was missed last night.
The last couple of months have been a bit frustrating for Hawk fans. Playing at a .500 clip, making some odd trades (maybe not bad, but odd), reluctance to use the system’s youth (enthusiasm and speed) , revolving 6th Dman etc. Eventually the Hawks need to gain and maintain greater consistency, otherwise the playoffs are gonna be really tough.
And injuries are not the problem. All teams deal with injuries. Depth over comes injuries. I find it odd that Hawks (considered a top 10 farm system) had to resort to trades to bolster depth. And those trades (Regin, Runbad and PMB) did not give us players that are any better than the Hogs not given the opportunity. The every day use of Zues is baffling as well.
The Hawks do have huge depth. Missing Bicks and Rosy should not even cause a blip in play. Losing Kane is is another matter BUT…. Look at last nights line up. Even with Zues and BB, how many teams would not trade their roster for ours????? That said, consistency of play is the key and Q had better fig’r it out..
Apologize in advance friends…I must vent…
#1 – The Hawks have won two – (2) Cups…Inspite! of Q.
#2 – Tazer/ Hoss / Core / Kids / All f’n Rock! Great Team, Great Depth, Great Future.
#3 – Crawford is good for two goals / every game….If I where a betting man, the hawks spot two before the puck drops…I’d a made a mint…except for 2 (two shutouts).I think that makes 4 or is it 5 total in three years?
#4 – I thought Q was a Putz, until Nolan put John Scott on the 1st line in Buffalo, now he’s just a Doofus…
#5 – The Hawks Will win another cup…Despite Q.
and #6…Bickell needs to take his teeth back out..he not only looked better but plays hockey like a manace…
nuff said …for now…whewww…better now….
Rufus, Morin does crash the net. Remember last year’s game vs Detroit where we scored this goal?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7jtamjzUbw
He is fairly physical for a skilled guy.
Nick, Rufus just really has a thing against skill guys. Yet, he will defend a Bollig to the death even though he makes stupid plays on the regular, can’t pass, can’t shoot unless a defender falls down, and rarely gets to the front of the net.
On the Toews/Kane thing. Kane is one of the more underrated players in the league. Think of the hilariously bad centers he has had over the course of the past 5 seasons and then check out his production. Guy is incredible and he gets no help. The last handful of games without him should just show you how valuable he is. The Hawks couldn’t get a zone entry to save their life yesterday.
For the Q lovers that think he can do no wrong, can someone tell me why they keep trying the stretch passes against disciplined teams that don’t give them the lanes?
4th line has been a tower of strength for the Hawks all season. Bollig is a member of that line. Nobody claims he has a lot of tools. But regardless he has been a solid fit and contributor in the defined role he is here to serve. Nuff said.
Q doesn’t like young player? Could have fooled me. Seems to me that Saad, Bickell, Kruger, Shaw, Smith, Bollig, Leddy, Crawford all graduated onto this roster under the Q watch. And last time I checked they all contributed to raising another Cup.
Some of you have a hard on for Pirri, Morin, Olsen, Jimmy Hayes. And if every player who puts up an attractive line in Rockford shall be destined to play a role on an elite level NHL club. Can’t fix shit fucking stupid thinking.
End o’ subject
Vik Stalberg was another limited player that the idiot brigade had orgasm for and used to rail Q on for not playing him. The same Stalberg who has been a colossal bust in Nashville and has a singular trait of note….the ability to skate fast. He can’t carry the puck and plays like a pussy. And he has never been anything but a severe liability in the two way game.
So yep, Q and Barry Trotz must be idiots for banishing Stalberg to the fuckin doghouse.
I thought the same thing about Bicks teeth when he wasn’t playing good because he wasn’t 100% in JAN. Take the fake teeth out, but thats kind of things that happen when you get married.
Love and Marriage… Love and Marriage… It goes together like a Horse…
Who mentioned Q not liking young players?
And again, Saad was sent down last year in favor of Daniel Carcillo skating first line minutes.
Viktor Stalberg, while he has his problems, was benched in the playoffs in favor of Dan Carcillo. That same Dan Carcillo that is consistently a healthy scratch for the New York Rangers and the LA We-Have-No-Left-Wing Kings.
Anyway, TT is a scratch tonight. Q wants to try something new. Brookbank as the 2C?
Leads was only up because of being short on D men, Bollig was like 25, etc.
I am calling for a huge win, like 5-2 or 6-1/7-2 type win.
Well that didn’t work, delete that.