Toews, Kubalik Top Senators In Overtime
The Chicago Blackhawks skated into Ottawa on Tuesday night to face a Senators squad that had lost seven straight and 10 of their last 12. Robin Lehner, originally a second round pick of the Sens back in 2009, got the start against his former employer.
With forward John Quenneville reassigned over the weekend, Chicago had 12 forwards available. Yet Jeremy Colliton waited until the second period to put Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Dominik Kubalik back together.
Connor Brown and Chris Tierney gave the Sens a 2-0 lead in the game’s opening eight minutes. At the end of 20 minutes both teams were credited with 12 shots on net but the Hawks were chasing a couple.
Colliton put together the best line he has healthy right now to open the second and surprise! it produced a goal. It took more than 17 minutes to get the puck into the net but Kubalik redirected a Kane shot into the cage to cut the lead in half.
Kane’s assist gives him 996 points in his career. Toews was also credited with an assist. The goal extended Kubalik’s streak to five straight games with a score.
Dominik Kubalik extended his goal streak to five games – tied for the second-longest by a rookie in @NHLBlackhawks history. #NHLStats pic.twitter.com/iso5MacsPD
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) January 15, 2020
The Hawks clamped down well defensively against a bad Senators team, holding the home team to five shots in the second period. Chicago was credited with nine in the second and trailed by one heading to the third.
A little more than three minutes into the third Toews found Kubalik streaking up the ice and the lead was no more.
Toews picked up his second assist of the evening; Slater Koekkoek also picked up an apple on the Hawks second goal of the night. For the Blackhawks captain, Tuesday marked the fourth time in six games since the calendar flipped to January that he’s recorded multiple points in a game and the third straight game he’s had two points.
Kubalik and Kane both had a good look at the net in the final few minutes of regulation but neither could pull the trigger. After 60 minutes the game was still tied at two. Free hockey!
The Hawks allowed 10 shots on net in the final 40 minutes of regulation; Chicago held a 29-22 shot advantage after three periods. Lehner wasn’t tested much but he was on point after the first period when he needed to be.
Kubalik was credited with nine of the Hawks 29 shots on net in regulation.
On the opening shift of overtime, Toews danced two Senators and then circled the offensive zone after Marcus Hogberg lost his stick in net. Toews unloaded a missile from the center of the ice and the game was over.
Including his three points on Tuesday night, Toews now has 36 points in 36 games since Nov. 1.
Kane added a second assist on the game-winner, giving him 997 points in his remarkable career.
There is no excuse for Colliton to continue starting games with Kubalik, Kane and Toews separated. Put them together and leave them there for the entire 60 minutes and watch the scoring become easier.
Erik Gustafsson had a team-leading three credited giveaways in 17:39 on the ice. Only Koekkoek was on the ice for less time than Gustafsson, who probably could have added a couple giveaways to his credited total.
Koekkoek and David Kampf led Chicago with four hits each.
Connor Murphy was credited with three hits and a team-leading three blocked shots in 22:28.
Welcome back, Zack Smith! pic.twitter.com/oHmCGReLRR
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) January 15, 2020
Two points closer to a playoff spot vs. two points farther away from a top 5 pick.
Oh well, they looked pretty good at times, albeit against a pretty weak team.
I wonder how many tough hits Dach has absorbed this year? He seems resilient.
Tomorrow-Shea Weber.
The top guys took over the game in the 2nd period as they should all of the time.When you sport those rings you are leaned on,good work by them.As short of a sustained attack that they have now due to injuries,its just stupid to not have 19 8 and 88 together and from that you can double shift 19 or 88.The 1st period was bad by 56 and 22.After watching both of them lose their checks and half ass the 1st goal they both should have been sat.77 has got to find the slot areas and has to shoot the puck.If you are not going to give Sikura any leash bring up Hagel now.27 played well and is getting better at gap and positioning.The Senators are just awful.
Any fan of the game knows what line combo needed to happen but this coach is either to dumb or to bullheaded to do it.
I would say he is both
I doubt we are the only people during post game, when they say next they are going to interview it’s time to turn off post game
I wonder what the Vegas odds will be on JC starting the MTL game with 8-19-88
It’s so freaking obvious that with the injuries the Hawks have that the big boys have to carry the mail so give them their best chance at success by playing them together along with the 3rd best FW right now (Kubalik)
The other lines hopefully will get inspired and maybe score now and again but if you don’t put 8-19-88 together you have no scoring lines at all
That line is basically their only shot right now to win games so will JC start them together next game or wait until they’re behind again before putting them together?
I hope for the former but expect the latter because JC
DUMB is what the coach is! Does he think he has an elite roster upfront past 19 & 88? Of course not, so if you want to save your ass and show your GM that the roster still sucks because all we have in Rockford is Sikura, then play 19 & 88 and forget the rest!
And I think 27 is getting better but Gus is a great PP guy! He should be on the first PP unit! Then 27 & 2 on the 2nd unit!
How many years did Bowman sign Carpenter for? JOKE! Noel Acciari was available!
Backstrom signs extension? Wow, who are the great accountants and the GMs of the PENS and CAPS because apart from Mike Green and Marc Andre Fleury….Kessel, these teams have kept their stars, paid their stars, drafted other stars and keep getting low draft picks but surprise surprise, they have a competitive roster every season, BOWMAN stop hiding behind these CAP ISSUE talk, it’s all bull! The smoke screen works for those who don’t know hockey but the proof is in Rockford. I mean, reading that article on 5’10” Beaudin, a late 1st round pick dman makes no sense. Why we drafted another smallish dman is simply incredibly dumb when we need forwards. Same with slow skating Vlasic in the 2nd round this past year. Both never made the Junior tournament roster for Canada nor USA!
And by the way, this was OTTAWA. Montreal is a much better team.
Re: Kubalik — I didn’t mind him.
1-and-0 with 4 games to go before the break. This is a key stretch.
Bigger picture : 1-and-0 with 15 to go before the trade deadline.
Kubalik can certainly play. This is turning into an excellent signing.
Gustafsson has said in the past when he loses his confidence he tries to carry the puck up the ice and then “pitch it” high in the air for no real rhyme or reason other than to get rid of it. I noticed on Saturday he was pitching the puck again frequently. Gosh I hope some team desperate for a left-shot defenseman makes Stan an offer that he simply cannot refuse.
The lack of size and physicality really show with the Hawks forwards on the bottom 2 to 3 lines.92,95,36,77,22 just have no chance to get to the slots and front of the net.The only shot at offense is from 12 getting his shot off..Until they get 20 and 17 back their defense are going to have to jump up and provide some offense.
They should call up Hagel. He plays a game similar enough to Saad.
Isn’t hull the same biased blithering bumbling rambling idiot who repeatedly called Kubalik an AHLer?
Wanna see a dumb coach?
https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2020/01/14/minnesota-wild-bruce-boudreau-lineup-mistake/
77 is 6’4…
Yeah besides Kessel, Marc Andre Fleury, Connor Sheary, Trevor Daley, Nick Bonino, Ian Cole and Olli Matta.. Pittsburgh really kept the team together. And what have they done in the 2 years since?
Regarding size, Nashville is by far smaller. Even Calgary is smaller.
Mike Green never won anything in Washington btw.
Rusty,You are not accurate with the Calgary and Nashville size references.Both teams players are much heavier weight wise and obviously more mature than what the Hawks have on the ice.Its not close.
The Predators and Flames both have 12 players on their Nhl rosters over 200 Lbs.The Hawks have 4 .
Anyone watching the 2 games against those teams this last week can easily see that.Calgary pushed them all over the ice.
Shame on you Stan Bowman for trading for Dominik Kubalik, he is too small to play the front of the net. You gave up a 5th rounder for our second leading scorer. Memo to Stan, we are trying to tank so signing Kubalik hurt us from the Monday morning QB’s whiner and diner club led by Hull65. How dare you draft Kirby Dach who is about equal with the two drafted ahead of him? Boqv should not be on the #1 PP as if GUS was doing any better.
Coliton, you suck as a coach. Only 30% of your team is on IR and Dcat maybe hits 25 goals this year. News flash to all, the Hawks are not that good without Saad, Shaw, Strome, DeHaan and Seabrook yet are still in the playoff hunt. Highmore, Sikura, and Nylander are your complaints. Why not start to call out Dcat and Keith (NAS/CAL) play sucked. Nope, we would rather complain about AHL guys, Stan and Coach.
The scary thing for me is how bad San Jose and Nashville have been this year. The Hawks were not even suppose to be in the picture with these 2 teams, yet we are within 1 point of NAS and 2 pts ahead of San Jose. Either of those teams get hot, the Hawks may kiss the playoffs good bye. Heck, we win the next two and are only 2 pts behind Vegas. All of this from a team that Hull65 and company doom and gloom no future Hawks.
2020
So you think w/o out all the injuries this would be a good team.
Every team deals with injuries to some degree, that is part of the game.
I think they would be still average/ slightly below average. If Lehner next year is playing any where else next year, it might be a struggle to be even average.
2 points is 2 points, take it, slow start but hopefully better start tonite.
Sikura has to find room in offemsive zone and make himself a threat to score, if he is just going to be a responsible player, there are better options.
Nylander plays better away from Kane although still too many useless shifts. Keep 8, 19, 88 together. Kubalik needs to play with them right now at least, until he plateaus.
Hull seems like Bowman can only find Ahlers until they leave then suddenly they are budding superstars who Bowman got outsmarted on, lol.
2020, agree on injuries but no excuse for a coach not doing the little things to help his team win. When was last time you saw him use s timeout to slow things down, not putting hot scorers out when goal needed and game on the line some games, refusing to use line combos that work etc.
@Ian – or one of my all time favourites – putting Kampf out in OT in 3 on 3 becasue he saw more offensive skills there than anyone else
IIRC that was even to start the 3 on 3 OT but I could be wrong – anyway it’s telling that once JC stopped doing it he hasn’t gone back to using 64 in OT
BH02, I have gone on record to say the hawks need to 2 forwards to be competitive for the Cup. I am making huge assumptions that the Hawks keep Robin, Corey or both and Boqv/Mitchell become top 4 and DeHaan comes back from his injury.
They need a wing to compliment Dach/Kane Line and a Wing to compliment the Dcat/Strome line. I like the Toews/Saad/Kubs and the Carp/Kampf/one of the AHL’s or Smith.
I could see Shaw on the Dcat/Strome line if he gets healthy and hopefully Barrett is the answer for the Kane/Dach line. I do hope they trade Gus sooner rather than later but that would make a big hole for this year. The hawks are not a bad team and are a few players to becoming a competitive good team. I dont see anyone in AHL helping the Hawks outside of a Backup goalie and maybe Beaudin in the next year or two with the current roster,
Ian,
the Coach is the Coach, there were times Q drove me nuts on your exact points. They could have tied either CAL or NAS but they did not tie the game. Very frustrating as they had chances that did not go in before pulling the goalie and after. I could care less if he uses his timeouts and truthfully what players he puts in at the time. He should know the right players and leave it up to him. Without saad, strome and saad, to the end the game makes it even harder to score a tying or game winning goal.
Best quote of the year so far, “…the smokescreen works for those who don’t know hockey…”.
A simple LOL does not do justice to that one. Moronic nonsense. Irony is dead.
Wow
Can’t believe the news out of Vegas. Firing Gallant
It must be hard to get pumped for a game when there is no energy in the building, only 12000 fans. Luckily most were wearing Blackhawks sweaters. After a dismal first period the Hawks were lucky to still be in it. It really looks like there is a lack of team play because of all the line juggling. With all the injuries, not much choice. Kubalik could easily have had two more goals. He really has a nose for the net.
Deboers got himself a nice job there.Vegas is loaded not only at the Nhl level but also prospect wise.Their play this year is confusing.There are times in their games where they absolutely dominate.They definitely are not as relentless as their Stanley Cup run year.When Stone and Pacioretty came in there with huge contracts things changed.
2020 comparing a successful team with a highly successful coach in Q , trying to take them to another level beyond that. To a rookie coach with a struggling mostly young team is hardly apples to apples. If the coach can’t do the little things, how can he ask his young players to, and turn this current team around.
Calgary averages 0.7 lbs heavier per player.
Nashville averages 1.2lbs heavier per player.
Size isnt a noticeable difference.
Ian, no comparisons by me. Your message actually states why they should keep Colliton because to be 1 game over 500 with this teams injuries, career AHL’s, and holes is actually really good.
Now, the Bears coach sucks. I cant watch them at all.
2020 you can read what you want into for your opinion, thats all it is, not mine at all.
If someone out there watches the Hawks and thinks they are not getting pushed around and manhandled by Western Conference teams Stan Bowman would like to take you out to dinner. The next thing I am going to hear is the Blues players only weigh 1.4 Lbs more and it really isn’t noticeable.
1.4 pounds is just extra water weight from bloating…
Hey Amy, the 1.4 lbs is not water weight, it’s all that extra “protein” you take in on a nightly basis.
Toews has 36 points in his last 36 games.
Malkin-47 PTs in 33 Games Bergeron-39 PTs in 39 Games. Stamkos-45 PTs in 43 Games McDavid-74 PTs in 48 Games Draisaitl-73 PTs in 48 Games MacKinnon-68 PTS in 46 Games Eichel-61 PTs in 46 Games Matthews-57 PTs in 47 Games Scheifele-52 PTs in 47 Games Barkov-49 PTs in 45 Games.
What’s the size of the Hawks minus Gilbert and Seabrook? Same figures? Also, why comparing Nash and Cal? What are the differences with teams like St.Louis (Stanley Cup Winner)?
That was Rusty who picked out Nashville and Calgary not me.Trip,you dont want to know the difference between the Hawks and Blues.It is large.I tried to keep it simple and initially just counted players that are playing now,not on i.r,that are 200 lbs and over.I dont know what metric that Rusty used but like I said it is 12 to 4 for those 2 teams.The Blues to a man are even bigger.Thick and heavy on their skates up and down the toster.