Hawks Drop Game 1
Hey, the Blackhawks played last night too and their game was fairly exciting. The Blackhawks wish they could have played a few overtimes though, because that’s where it looked like the game was heading when Dave Bolland tied the game at three late in the third, but it wasn’t to be and the Hawks ended up on the wrong side of a 5-3 score.
After falling in a 3-0 hole going into the third period, Patrick Kane brought Chicago storming back. It started when he roofed a shot a minute into the period, then followed up with a power play goal with just under 10 minutes to go. When Dave Bolland put back a rebound with 5:29 remaining, it looked like the Blackhawks were going to steal Game 1.
The Hawks had all the momentum, aside from one quick flurry in front of Khabibulin, Chicago had all the late chances. Then, with one botched play in the offensive zone the Canucks broke out in a 4-on-1 and after a great save by Khabibulin on the first shot, Sami Salo chipped in the game-winner. How does a 4-on-1 even get started? Ugh.
Even after the goal the Hawks kept the pressure on with a couple of great chances to tie the game up. Pahlsson was fantastic with the faceoffs, but when the puck got by Brian Campbell on the boards (a terrible play), Vancouver had another break that led to the empty netter to put the game away.
This is a tough, tough loss for the Blackhawks. They made a great effort to come back and tie the game and looked poised to take the win either in the last few minutes of regulation or in OT. Still, it’s only 1-0 and your job as the road team in these series is to steal one game on their ice. The Hawks can take plenty of positives from Game 1 and build on that for Saturday’s game.
From what I saw, Keith and Seabrook did well on the Sedin line, though they did combine for one goal. The key to the series was to make other guys beat you and last night it happened. Goals from Kessler, Demitra, and Salo were the difference.
The series looks like it will give the physical brutality we thought it would too. From the first couple minutes of the game when Ben Eager got slammed face first into the glass, the hits were a-plenty. Look for more of that in the games to come. Game 2 is Saturday and once again starts at 8PM CT.
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