Blackhawks vs Kings Round 3

[The Q stache]

4 more wins

 

[gmalis1]

4 more wins

Great win, great series by the Blackhawks. 4-1 series win over the Kings. Patrick Kane responding to all challenges in Game 5 with the hat trick, including the 2OT winner.

The bad:

1 Hawks surrender a two goal lead, then a one goal lead with less than four minutes remaining when the Kings score with 9 seconds left in regulation. OUCH!

2 Bryan Bickell's idiotic icing with about 15 seconds to go. Wow, was that ever a bad decision. Just hoist the puck to the neutral zone and the game is over.

3 Jonathan Toews inability to win the faceoff. Jarrett Stoll had his number all series.

4 Brent Seabrook in La La Land totally ignoring Mike Richards right in front of Crawford. Duncan Keith a bystander as well.

5 Hawks power play putrid. Actually worse than putrid by giving up a shorthanded goal

6 Speaking of the shorthanded goal, plenty of blame to go around there. Why is Q putting Patrick Sharp at the point with a two goal lead on the power play? Dumb...use two defensemen. Why is Nick Leddy so slow that Justin Williams can go right around him? Williams had that same move (perhaps his only move) all series long, so it wasn't as if they hadn't seen it before. And Patrick Sharp was just plain awful getting back. I know he's not a defenseman, but that was a sorry piece of work. Really changed the momentum of the game.

Pluses:

1 Corey Crawford big again when needed. Two rebound goals let in...so maybe a little blame there, but no chance really. Unlucky break on the game tying goal with 9 seconds left. But outstanding in the OT sessions. Still wondering how he gloves that short shot that Oduya tipped right into his glove that would have been in the net otherwise.

2 Kaner rising to yet another level.

3 Strong game by Toews...probably his best of the playoffs despite not scoring. And Bryan Bickell is just a beast out there. His "trip" that wasn't (relook at the replay, it's not a trip) gave Kane the goal late in the third period.

4 All six defensemen played well for the Hawks.

5 Third and fourth lines were putting pressure on the Kings all night long. Seems to be the difference between the Hawks and other teams. Hawks have four lines that can all be effective. It wears a team down.

Now on to the Stanley Cup Finals against Boston.

1 I stated that before the playoffs started, anything besides getting to the Finals would be construed as a failure due to the Hawks magnificent season. Mission accomplished there.

2 Tuukka Rask is playing lights out. Where have we heard that tune about a goalie before? One series never carries over to another serieis. To me, it's zero-zero even in the stats department.

3 Boston will be physical. But more physical that LA? More than Detroit? Are they faster than Detroit? All I know is that this should be one heck of a series.

Trivia note: In all the years the Hawks and Bruins, two original six teams in the NHL, have played, they have NEVER played each other in the Stanley Cup Finals. Unbelievable.

 

[averagejoe]

Speaking of the shorthanded goal, plenty of blame to go around there. Why is Q putting Patrick Sharp at the point with a two goal lead on the power play? Dumb...use two defensemen.

IDK g, as much as I was disappointed by the Kings battling back, I guess I don't find so much blame with the Hawks.

Goals were very hard to come by in this series. Quick and Crawford were both playing great. The Hawks came out aggressive and scored two fast goals. Maybe they were confident in the 2-goal lead? Maybe it was confidence in Crawford and having a stingy, deep defense? Maybe it was being on home ice? Even before the PP, I noticed that the Hawks seemed to slow down the pace and the aggressiveness.

Then on the PP they were lackadaisical, and it suddenly implodes and the Kings score a shortie. I still didn't seem to see a sense of urgency in the way the Hawks played. The whole team played like this. Seemed like Hossa was the only one who didn't fall into this mindset (seemed to have more jump in the 3rd period). And though I've been critical of Bolland, he probably played his best game (though still sub-par compared to the 2010 run).

I credit more the Kings knowing they were facing elimination, rather than jumping all over the Hawks. Like I said, despite the drop in aggressive play, I still thought the Hawks had better puck control and had a better handle on the outcome of the game. Maybe it's just the way I saw it?