Lackluster Hawks blanked 3-0 by Ducks
Black Friday became a day to mourn the death of the Chicago Blackhawks' eight game winning streak. The Anaheim Ducks, behind three powerplay goals, dealt the Hawks their first defeat in three weeks with a 3-0 victory.
A list of post-Thanksgiving activities include shopping, eating leftovers, napping, installing storm windows, etc. Any of these would have been preferred to watching the Hawks play uninspired hockey. The end of the win streak was inevitable, but going down without a fight is as hard to swallow as another slice of turkey. If you missed today's game, don't bother watching the replay. That is, unless you need a reason to doze on your couch.
The game was as undescriptive as Mike Haviland's second intermission interview from behind the Hawks' bench. The extended travel appeared to catch-up to the road weary Hawks who played their fifth straight away from home in eight days. Checks weren't finished, board battles were lost and passes were poor. Soon after the opening faceoff, it was evident that the Ducks were ready to battle and the Hawks were hesitant to respond to the challenge.
Teemu Selanne scored twice for the Ducks with the man advantage. The first was a result of a nifty touch pass across the goal crease from the Ducks' Corey Perry. Selanne's powerplay goal at 19:18 of the first period came with the Hawks' Duncan Keith in the penalty box for slashing. Keith received the minor infraction seconds after the Hawks killed the Ducks' first powerplay of the night.
During the eight game win streak, the Blackhawks feasted during the second period. On Friday, it was the Ducks who were licking their chops as they outshot the Hawks 17-11 during the middle frame and held a decided advantage in play. Selanne struck for his second powerplay goal of the game at 7:50 of the second period. The Hawks' Brent Seabrook stepped up to attempt a play at the blueline resulting in Selanne being left alone at the net to backhand a rebound past the Hawks' Cristobal Huet.
There were few bright spots for the Hawks, but Huet was one of them. The Frenchman made several tough saves and stopped 31 shots overall. If not for Huet, the game may have spiraled further out of control. On the Ducks' third powerplay goal of the game, Huet was screened and never saw Nick Boynton's slap shot from inside the blueline at 10:26 of the second.
The Blackhawks responded in the third period with a 10-6 shot advantage, but there was to be no miracle comeback this time. It was a game where pucks were jumping over sticks and Ducks defensemen did well to tie up sticks during the Hawks few scoring opportunities.
In a rather lackluster effort, there was a brief exchange between the clubs in the second period that saw Huet make a great save, Ducks goalie Jean-Sebastian Giguere go post-to-post to rob Andrew Ladd and then Huet again making a tough stop. All the action happened within seconds, yet the final result was another Anaheim powerplay.
During the middle part of the game, with the Hawks desperate for a wake-up call, I was anxious to see a big hit or even a scrap. Unfortunately, Giguere threw the only punch of the night after he was toppled over by the Hawks' Dustin Byfuglien. Buff drew a minor penalty as Giguere's swinging right arm was ignored. Hawks fans can complain about the injustice, but the game's outcome would not have changed as a result.
The win brings the Ducks to within one game of .500 on the season and they deserve credit for capatilizing on their powerplay opportunities. The Ducks were especially strong on the forecheck during the opening period which further complicated matters for a Hawks team that was out of ryhthm. Anaheim's defense limited the Hawks' offensive opportunities as Chicago never threatened the Ducks' net for long durations until the third period.
Just as the San Jose drubbing was only good for two points in the standings, today's loss does little to derail a Blackhawks club that has a very promising future. A little fight earlier in the game would have been nice, but I'll take a win tomorrow in Los Angeles to make this one of the most successful November road trips in franchise history. Until then, it's back to the leftovers.
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4 Comments
Dave Morris said:
Mark, IMO it's only fair to give the Ducks and Giguere full marks for this win. They played a perfect game, giving the Hawks absolutely nothing from the start.
A disappointing effort from the Blackhawks for sure, who never looked to have any kind of energy or focus--not to mention lack of physical play--this afternoon.
Whether the result of incremental fatigue, a letdown after the big win in San Jose, or whatever...
The Ducks were ready, the Hawks, with the exception of Huet, Toews, Kane and Hossa (who were blanketed by the Ducks' excellent checking) were not.
4-1 on this trip is commendable...but a bounce back tomorrow would be preferable.
iplagitr said:
I agree with Dave - give the Ducks credit for playing an extremely strong game from start to finish. They never let the Hawks get settled for much of a single shift. I also agree with Mark that it was just one of those games where every opportunity turned into a puck bouncing over a Hawk stick or somehow sliding out of their control. They've had a lot of bounces going their way lately, so they were ripe for a game like this.
The previous game was the culmination of their season thus far, and there was bound to be an emotional let-down coming. I also thought their "Harlem Globetrotters" style play (as Pat Foley would put it) went to their heads just a bit in this game. I thought they spent a little too much time trying to force the perfect play when they really needed to get some hard shots on goal - especially with the way the Ducks were checking.
The word is out around the league about the Hawks. They have to deal with teams coming at them with their A-game from now on. It's not easy to stay on the top when everyone's gunning for you.
As noted, no one can complain about being 4-1 on the circus trip. Let's hope they can regroup for LA. A 5-win finish to the trip would be better than any of us could have hoped for!
nklhd12 said:
Can't say the Hawks "played down" to the Ducks level on this one. The Ducks brought a mostly solid effort and that was all they really needed. To me, the Hawks just looked kinda tired or disinterested from the get go. Here and there, they showed some nice flashes and I thought they could have turned the game around several times with just a bit more effort. Unlike other "shoulda won" games against clearly weaker teams, I really didn't think this game was that bad. Huet and the team as a whole have caught some REAL good bounces during the last eight games and some of those went the other way today, it happens. If they bounce back tomorrow, great. If they don't, it will just be a downer note on what has been a really good trip. Strangely, I'm somewhat satisfied that they lost as a team rather than because just one or two guys (like Huet, Campbell or Barker) made major errors that resulted in goals. Hopefully the Hawks step it back up against a better team tomorrow.
Matt Lo Cascio said:
Agree with all of the comments. Giguere was awesome, and he gave it to Byfuglien, which I thought was pretty tough. 28 shots wasn't a bad effort either.
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