Blackhawks Survive Sabres in Shootout
The Blackhawks players have acknowledged that every game is a must-win at this point. At least they have in interviews before and after games.
Their play recently has not reflected that sense of urgency, however.
Thursday night’s first period looked like the Hawks showed up to play. Duncan Keith scored his fourth of the year 16 minutes into the game to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane were credited with assists on the goal.
Kane was back in the helping business less than 90 seconds later. This time Artem Anisimov was the scorer.
The second assist of the night was a historic one for Kaner.
Passing greatness.
With two helpers today, @88PKane has passed Steve Larmer to take sole possession of 4th in points in franchise history. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/CCXWSVdo3S
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 8, 2019
And that is your weekly reminder that Steve Larmer’s number 28 should have been retired a long time ago, and he should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Chicago held a 16-14 shot advantage and a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes of hockey.
Things appeared to be going fairly well… then the second period happened.
Vladimir Sobotka scored at 3:16 into the second. Brandon Montour tied the game 1:23 later. And then Zach Bogosian scored a short-handed goal two minutes later to give Buffalo a 3-2 lead.
The wheels were off. Corey Crawford looked lost, the defense was gone and the Hawks power play was a dumpster fire again.
After 40 minutes of hockey, each team had 28 shots on net but the Sabres were leading by one.
Chicago fought back in the third, however.
Anisimov scored his second of the night and 13th of the season at 4:48 to tie the game at three.
The game remained tied for less than three minutes, unfortunately. Kyle Okposo finished a nice passing play that undressed the Hawks “defense” to give Buffalo a 4-3 lead.
But Chicago wasn’t done. Brendan Perlini tied the game 37 seconds later.
Toews picked up his second assist of the night and 40th helper of the season on the Hawks’ fourth goal of the evening. That represented the most assists Toews has had since the 2013-14 season.
Chicago had a 38-34 shot advantage after 60 minutes of hockey but the score remained tied at four. So on to overtime we went.
The Hawks had the better chances throughout overtime but with 13 seconds left in overtime the puck was loose in front of Corey Crawford and there wasn’t a whistle. The Sabres got a few good whacks in before the officials finally stopped the play.
For the second time this season the Blackhawks went to the shootout.
Toews, Kane and Alex DeBrincat all scored in the shootout and the Blackhawks emerged victorious.
Toews had two assists and won 10 of 23 faceoffs in 21:53. He now has 69 points, his highest total since the 2010-11 campaign.
Kane also had two assists and put four shots on net in 25:00. Perlini led Chicago with six shots on net in 10:48.
Before the game the Blackhawks honored the late Ted Lindsay.
I could easily make comments on the negative stuff, which were plentiful, but instead I’ll keep it positive and congratulate Kaner on reaching another milestone tonight and comment that Perlini has played better the last 2-3 games. He seems to have more purpose like he knows what he’s doing which is a hopeful sign that maybe he can develop into a useful player.
Individual goals and signs of player development is about all the remainder of this season has to offer and we got one of each tonight which is a good thing.
Columbus has 2 draft picks in the upcoming draft. Two ! And they are out of playoff contention. Unreal.
On another note. I cannot believe the 180 Perlini has done. He looks like a force out there. Colliton obviously has gotten through to him. His desire to be a player and difference maker on every shift seemingly came out of nowhere. Up until the Los Angeles game he seemed to be just a floater.
Craig, Columbus is not only missing the draft pick they spent on UFA’s Duchene, Dzingel and McQuaid – they most likely will be missing those soon to be UFA’s after July 1st. Likewise their own UFA’s Panarin and Bobrovsky.
On Perlini, I don’t want to get too far out ahead of this because it’s only been a 2-3 games – but wouldn’t that be nice if proves to be a good player that just needed a little extra time to find his stride with his new team.
re: “On Perlini… wouldn’t that be nice if proves to be a good player that just needed a little extra time to find his stride with his new team.”
(gets in time machine back to 2010-11)
“On Viktor Stalberg… wouldn’t that be nice if proves to be a good player that just needed a little extra time to find his stride with his new team.”
I wouldnt count CLB out yet, there only a couple games behind 3 seed and if they get lucky and beat TAM they might have a chance at winning the Cup.
I do not think it matters, unless we play bad and other team play good like that BOS and CLB game, who we play top 10 team or bottom 10 team the score and games are prob close win or not rest of way.
Again Seabrook was the most reliable D man for the Hawks – KK was very limited in minutes and deservedly so based on his turnovers
Dahlstrom was barely hanging on in the D zone, Keith and Murphy were average at best
Gus is better in his D zone exits than he used to be but that ill advised pinch with the score 3-3 in the 3rd allowed the 2 on 1 that resulted in the Sabres 4th goal was classic Gus – being aggressive when the smart play based on score and time of game is to defend – will he ever learn? Same thing happened in LA, same score same time of game
Shootout was awesome but that’s not gonna win you a cup – ever
Agree on Perlini having another good game (and Hayden not) – let’s see if Brendan can keep it up
Am I the only one that thinks John Hayden is a 4th line player at best, and that’s only if he plays a physical game. Hands of stone and thinks he’s a possession player when he isn’t. I understand trying to spread out the scoring but leave K & T alone and let them run, they do a pretty good job. Just my rant for the day.
Columbus is still very much in wild card contention. However, they will soon lose a boatload of UFAs and gutting their draft picks. Their GM made a high-risk bet and makes me appreciate Bowman.
Good analysis by Wrap on our D. Expect a signing or trade for a good veteran this summer.
Did anyone see the interview with Perlini after the game? He expressed being under stress to perform but that he is now trying to play more relaxed. Good for him. We all want him to succeed and it’s great to see him upping his game of late. Needs to win puck battles. If he makes the line-up next year, then Stan killed it with the Schmaltz trade.
Hayden shows very little and I would be surprised if he is on the team next year.
A quote from 2010/11 pretty much seals the deal … doesn’t it.
Hawks fans that frequent Tab’s site probably don’t express our gratitude often enough to him for providing this space for us to immerse ourselves in Hawks conversation with fellow Hawks fans – or “brethren”, if you will. So, thank you Tab and thank you for cleaning up after the idiot poster so the rest of us can enjoy and appreciate your site.
It was nice that the Hawks won, but after losing all the ground they fought for to get in the playoff race, the win honestly felt a little hollow. I am rooting for individuals stats rather than wins now; them fighting to try and make the playoffs will do nothing but hurt their draft position. I want a top 5 pick more than them playing well enough to just miss the playoffs.
As far as the line juggling goes, I am not sure I understand the point of that. Hayden starts with Saad and Toews but plays only six plus minutes? Kane is playing with Anisimov and Kahun but is double shifting with Toews? I get that it may help trade Anisimov if you can show he can still produce, but does it really help if it happens only when he plays with Kane? Making Anisimov more effective only helps if doing so doesn’t make Kane less effective. Yeah Kane still got a couple of points tonight, but how much will Kane have in the tank next year or the year after if he is being ground into dust now?
Anyway, it was a very entertaining OT and shoot out, but the game was more than a little, meh, for me. Glad for the win, but had the Hawks lost this one, I would not have been that upset. Still love the Hawks, still want them to be good, but a hollow win though still a win is just hollow. If Detroit ends up with Hughes or Kakko and the Hawks end up outside of the top four or five picks I won’t be assuaged by the fact they beat Buffalo last night… I’ll be assuaged by the fact that I will only see Detroit twice a year and not reminded of what might have been…
Re: Perlini. Lighting the lamp helps but more than that he seems to be playing with purpose and getting to the right spots. His game reminds me a little, “little”, of Saads in that when they are playing well, they are going to the net and drifting into the slot. When they aren’t, they look lost out there. Hoping his play continues to evolve, be great to have another bottom 6 for next year.
Hawk One, you and I are on the same wavelength. I came on here to post that I thought Perlini’s play had been similar to Saad’s when he was going through that very rough stretch early on. Perlini has always seemed to be active and competing, but the perimeter game didn’t help him. For whatever reason, like Saad, he’s getting in the middle of the ice and getting more opportunities. Play him from here on out, let him get into training camp next season, and see what he can contribute.
There were some signs of this Perlini earlier when he got here, but the pucks weren’t going in the net. Then he badly relapsed and looked bad. Now he looks good. Maybe there is hope, but the Stalberg comparison is a bit unsettling.
People can call it a gimmick if they want, but it is impossible to deny that 3 on 3 OTs are some of the best entertainment around. That was fun last night. But an OT win should not count as much as a regulation win. The 3, 2, 1 point system is the ultimate.
Hopefully, Delia will be in the net tomorrow night. He needs the games.
Miro, like you I want the Hawks to lose a lot of close one-goal games in regulation. Let’s get a high pick for the last time, because starting next season, things are looking up to get back to being a serious contender. If Stan makes some good picks, signings, and trades this summer, the Hawks will be back among the elite teams in two years.
I haven’t seen any news on Caggiula – hopefully he returns to action soon. He’s not a prototypical top-6 guy but he plays a disruptive style that facilitates Toews and Kane playing well together. Likewise Perlini may provide the style of play that works well with Cat and Strome. It’s kind of a two star and one facilitator line configuration.
I don’t think the Hawks are going to just miss the playoffs – they’re currently 9 points back of the 2nd WC with 4 teams to pass – IMO they miss the playoffs by a good margin – they can’t keep the puck out of their own net
Currently they sit 7th worst overall with a 6.5% chance of winning the lottery – if they move up a little and finish say 10th worst overall their percentage chance goes down to 3.5%
In either case it’s a long shot to move up to a top 3 draft position and your chances at #7 are only very slightly better than at #10 – even at 4th worst your chances of #1 overall is only 9.5%
So I say just enjoy whatever success the Hawks have in the remaining 14 games because wherever they finish they’ll just have to get really lucky on draft lottery day
Having watched the Hawks for oh so many years, I noticed a very distinct pattern in the past 10 years. We have one defenseman who has been exposed to more 2-on-1 breaks against him (he is the one left to defend) than any other Dman on our team (and quite possibly the league), and by a hugely wide amount. Fortunately for us, he is probably top 5 in the league when put into that situation. I guess practice makes perfect! Yes, Brent Seabrook is the best 2-on-1 defender on our team, and I doubt we will have a better one in my lifetime. There is one reason, and only one, that he has had the opportunity to earn this distinction.
The irony of Gus’ bad pinches last night was not lost on me.
+1 SS
Silent Spot, I have a feeling Seabs will continue to have plenty of opportunities to show his 2 on 1 defensive skills for some time. Well, until he gets a new partner anyway! Then we will just give up a lot more 2 on 1 goals… guess we should add Panarin so we can just try and outscore the other team instead of learning how to stop them from scoring.
Early in the year I recall more than one occasion where Gus made a bad pinch and then did the same thing either a shift or two later. It’s as if his mind completely erases any memory of his recent mistakes and fully resets so that he is then free to repeat them. I’ve don’t recall seeing anyone quite like this. I’m going to call this a Gusian Loop.
Gusian loop – that’s a good one.
Nice one Jordy – how about Gustaffian Loop for a little more scientific cred
Original, yea wasnt what you guys were saying about CLB just that they are deep, this yr/now, and have a really good chance at the 3 seed which could knock PIT out to play TAM in first round.
Miro, yea I want that top 6 skill pick. We could still make playoffs but those two games COL/DAL were the stayed tied both the 7 and 8 seed teams separation. Also those two BOS/CLB games where we did not play good and those two teams did for, those, games was a wake up were not deep yet and not the players fault. Better to get another top 6 skill pick and have two studs to go along with the other blue chip players we have coming.
Like someone else said a wk or so ago, this team this yr is just like the 2008 and 2011 teams. Not full roster yet and has several good pieces and needs to add to get roster full. Cant draft the entire roster.
Get a top 4 defenseman and 1 or 2 decent FW players/centers for faceoffs and PK kind of players. If we do not have any Shawzers in prospects, get one ufa/trade.
Miro, DET only plays 5 bad teams in last 15 games, they could get top 3 unless LA stays there and CHI wins top 3 lottery draw.
OTT- 16
LA-11
DET- 9
NWJ- 8
ANA- 7
gap
VAN- 3
CHI- 2
NYR- 1
Adam Boqvist 1g 1a game winning goal in overtime
Wrap, I am banking on not thinking of top 3, unless we lose 5-7 in a row, and thinking top 6 skill pick is a better player for first 6ish picks. After that the player might not be a stud, just a really good player. So yea thats crazy 6.5 to only 9.5 for 4th, ouch. Just want a top 6 skill player/stud. Hit the lottery top 3 thats hockey Gods with that.
Original, ones things for sure the past 2 yrs are past and playing with a short handed roster will not happen anymore. No more tank ufas or waiting to reload roster for the right timing of getting top 6 skill players and waiting foe the blue chips to developed since drafted.
We now can start adding, even if its somewhat quite july 1. Because were not going to be a mid tier team anymore. Once we get more players added and each yr a couple young drafts are NHL ready. Still might look a little thin in the fall/season 20, and then season 21 we might have too many players at once.
Going to happen. Tehse two yrs of short handed roster and waiting are over. From this fall and on we add as we go along to stacking roster again.
Get that Defesnemen.
Boqvist scored the GWG in OT tonight for London. The London goalie made a lass right up the middle to Boqvist who broke in alone and buried a nice top shelf wrist shot for the winner. It was Boqvist’s 20th goal of the season which is 2nd in the OHL for goals by a d-man and the guy who is the leading d-man goal scorer is an over-ager two years older that Boqvist and playing in his 4th OHL season.
Stape and ER, thanks for keeping us up-to-date on our young studs in training. Boq is going to be a great one. Hope they give him time to develop. Needs a lot of work on D. Will probably not be ready to put on the Indianhead sweater until 2020-21. The moment he was drafted I thought of Paul Coffey. OK, don’t want to get ahead of myself. He and Beaudin may make a nice 1st pairing in a few years.
Mo, hope you are right that we get a top 6. We play the Avs and Coyotes twice and Canucks once. Let’s lose some close one-goal games. And we need EDM, NYR, and BUF to play at least .500 the rest of the way.
Of the 15 games remaining – only 1 game is against a team (L.A.) with fewer points than the Hawks. There are no guarantees because the Hawks can beat good teams and lose to bad teams – but on average they should lose more games than they win and will probably stay in the 7-10 draft range, which means the Hawks would have to get lucky with ping pong balls to draft a player ready to play in the NHL in 2019/20.
But, thinking optimistically, maybe Perlini will continue to play like he has the last couple games and he becomes the player we add to the top-6 instead of Hughes or Kakko. It’s a large ask for sure – but in the spirit of optimism late on a Friday night – I’m going there.
ER-Boqvist is an offensive force-have seen him play twice from a rink this year. His instincts and comfort to join the rush, get into a spot to score is great. His ability to pass is impressive-but he needs to improve in two key areas-number one is strength and 2nd positioning with forwards (not saying he won’t, he is young)
He doesn’t get caught as much as Gus does, but let’s say at this point Gus is so much stronger physically and in the ‘O’ #3 gets manhandled quite often. There hopefully will be some time to develop-grow before he’s thrown into the NHL with faster, bigger men.
Speaking of London, Columbus has a possible impact player with Foudy.
Thats the thing, we do play 14 of last 17 games against good teams/top 10 and mid tier. Though we are a mid tier team without a full roster, so we can win 5 or 7 in a row and if we do that were right there for playoffs again just missing/or close. We do what we ve been doing since we won 7 in a row, 4-4 were right there with a couple other teams for 6th pick.
EDM been flucuating for awhile now, win some lose some win some, ptreey much went from 0 to -3 to 0 to -4 to 0.
NYR been at .500 since game 1, stay there bitchs.
BUF should be good enough team to stay above but now that they realize there not that good yet, they might go sissy and lose games because they not try last 10. Hopfully they play as good as they are enough to stay there to.
ER, I am not going for the lottery pick, we get it thats hockey Gods and we deserve it if we do. I am going for straight on top 6 skill pick. Then we get a stud and not just a really good player. Not sure isint it once you get in that 8/9 and on area the players drop. Were going to win the draft no matter what because we get a free pick 32-38 that would normally be 50-60 and can trade up to around 20ish someway. I like that.
We need two top 5 kind of players, and several good draft player, to reload good. BoQ and this draft top 6 skill pick is exactly what we want.
Noonan, you right and hopefully BoQ comes to Chicago to train for the summer when he gets here like it has helped others get stronger in those things.
Noonan, besides getting stronger and better at those things, in developement time. Theres having a full roster, so BoQ is not the target and is part of a wave. In terms hes not having to carry the load, like 19 and 88 do last/this yr. When roster is deep, you really see how good these guys are because teams cant target both at once. They pick one and the other eats them apart. So, strength in numbers we want.
Going to be a thing of beauty to see the guys play as good as they really are, once we have full roster again. People that pick on and nap about certain players/people will have their mouths full of Crow. From this summer and on were deeper better then deep in 2 yrs. This is the end of the transition yrs 18 and 19.
As Bolly says, Suck on Thaaaaat.
Even though 3 on 3 is exciting, maybe for bottom 10 and some mid tier teams. Theres no 3 on 3 for Stanley Cup. Theres no shootout for Stanley Cup. One penalty shot yes.
There isint anything anywhere near as close as Fools Gold in hockey as the 3 on 3. What the 3 on 3 is is really an All Star game. Fake.
Teams should Not get more point for regulation wins, because a win is a win. But teams should not get a free point because of a tie game. After the 5 min OT, a tie is a tie. One point each. Be interesting to see what teams make/do not make playoffs, like those 8 seed teams like LA and NAS. Building roster for playoffs but cant make 7 seed.
3 on 3 OT is great and should not change. However, I agree with those who want to get rid of the 3 point game. If tied after OT….1 point each. I hate the whole concept of shoot outs. I also hate the 3 point game. You want a winner, make the 3 on 3, 6 or 7 minutes
I respect that. Just stay with 5min OT.
Stan mentioned in a recent interview that he views next season as rebuilding toward the 2020/21 season where they may be ready to contend for the Cup again. I think most fans agree that, short of catching lightning in a bottle, the holes in the Hawks game will not all be fixed this summer and during the season next year. The objective for this summer is to improve the team while leaving enough 2020/21 cap space to re-sign RFA’s Cat, Strome, Kahun and others.
So, how best to use the 2019/20 cap space that doesn’t affect the 2020/21 cap space?
One way is a trade proposal I made previously that is essentially to take the last year of Horton’s $5.3M contract off Toronto’s books in exchange for a deal that brings Kapanen to the Hawks. In that scenario Horton’s cap hit disappears after 2019/29 but Kapanen’s cap his would extend beyond 2019/20 and would probably be in the $5M range.
Another proposal along those same lines would be to trade with T.B. to take the last year of Callahan’s $5.8M contract off TB’s books in exchange for either Anthony Cirelli or Taylor Raddysh – both or whom would carry a much lower cap hit than Kapanen beyond 2019/20.
In both of those cases it would essentially be a way to acquire a good young player who will be part of the retooled core group by using 2019/20 cap space but not hamstringing Stan from re-signing Cat and Strome.
Sure. But these shit season are over. Were going to be, Way, better then these two transition yrs of 18 and 19. 2021 were much deeper. 2020 were on our way, like 2009 and 2012.
The Four Horsemen will be NHL ready for 21 season or close. Bowman prob saying it wont be until then do we have the group of D in place.