Hawks Start Long Roadie with a Win

Adam Burish got things started early for the Blackhawks and Chicago managed to hold off the Ducks for a 3-2 win. The victory comes in the first game back from the all-star break and the opener of an eight game road trip.

After losing three of four going into the break, the Hawks really needed a good start going into the second half. A major difference in this one was the presence of Duncan Keith. Keith didn't play his best game; he was out of position and took some unnecessary risks on some plays that I saw, but he made a beautiful play on the game winning goal.

It was a 2-1 Hawks lead in the second when Keith took a penalty. As he came out of the box, the Hawks were just breaking out after a huge save by Khabibulin and Patrick Sharp fired a cross ice pass to Keith who looked to be in great position for a shot. The Ducks' goaltender Jonas Hiller thought the shot was coming, but Keith dropped it to Toews for the one-timer and the captain connected.

The Ducks added a shorthanded goal late in the second to make it 3-2, but Khabibulin was too much in the third period. Actually, he was fantasic the entire game, stopping 36 shots. Anaheim actually carried the play most of the time with big hits and 11 more shots than Chicago. However, Burish, Kane, and Toews buried their chances and Bulin did the rest.

I know I have said this before, but this was the goalie the Hawks thought they were getting a few years ago. Sure, there wasn't much defense in front of him back then, but last night, unlike a few years ago, Khabibulin was able to carry his team to a big win. The road trip, which will be the longest for an NHL team this year, continues tonight against the L.A. Kings.

Kane and Toews get a Goal Each, but East Wins All-Star Game

A game that features over 100 shots and 22 goals in regulation is an offensive player's dream. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews fit that description nicely and both performed well in their first all-star appearances.

In a game that victimizes goalies and defensemen, Brian Campbell was able to add an assist to the gaudy statistics in Sunday night's event. Campbell, Toews, and Kane all started for the Western Conference, but the East was able to pull the game out on penalty shots when Alexander Ovechkin netted the winner after a shifty move.

With no hitting in the game, we got to see some amazing passing and some moves that prompted me to rewind on the DVR. Evgeni Malkin had one of the moves of the night and it didn't even result in a goal. The Pittsburgh forward took a pass on the right side and tried a spinning between the legs shot that should have counted for a goal regardless of whether it went in.

As for Kane and Toews, the young Hawks both had goals that had chances to be game winners. Toews roofed a shot about two minutes into the third period to give the West a 10-9 lead that stood until Martin St. Louis evened the game about 10 minutes later. Then Kane scored on a breakaway with 4:41 to go for an 11-10 lead, but that advantage lasted just over a minute and the game headed to overtime and the eventual 2-1 loss in the shootout.

All in all a good showing from the Blackhawks in the game. Kane and Toews looked like they were feeling things out at the beginning, but once they got in the flow of the game they put on a show just like everyone else. Kane had an assist to go along with his goal. Hopefully the goal for Kane will help him break out of his scoring slump. This is likely the first of many experiences at the All-Star game and Kane and Toews are off to a good start.

The Hawks start a long road trip Wednesday night at Anaheim.

Blackhawks go to All-Star Break with a Loss

The Blackhawks had lost just one of their first 43 games at the United Center this year in regulation. Two games later, that total is up to three with a 4-1 loss to Minnesota Monday and a 2-0 loss to St. Louis last night.

The Hawks enter the all-star break having lost three of four and seem to be having some trouble putting the puck in the net. Chances that were sure goals a month ago just aren't finding the twine, including a great chance for Dustin Byfuglien last night. The breaks that were going Chicago's way are now near misses, like a play last night when Matt Walker had a goal, but for a whistle sounding just before it was in.

People always debate about timing in sports. Does it pay to have a longer break before a playoff series? Is it a good thing to play a rival during a slump? I tend to think that these things don't matter as much as we think. Whether the team wins or loses determines what the media says in these situations and you have a "post hoc, ergo propter hoc" situation. Yeah, I'll bring the latin.

In the case of the Blackhawks though, I'll say the mini-slump comes at a good time, as they'll have a week to refocus and let these wounds fester a bit. The week also gives Duncan Keith some time to rest and get back on the ice when the second half starts up. The Hawks will need the vastly underrated defenseman when the games start up, as they will be on the road for 12 of their next 14 games. That will be a hell of a test for this young team coming out of the break.

Meanwhile, don't forget that Kane, Toews, and Campbell will be starting for the Western Conference in the All-Star Game Sunday at 5:oo Central Time, so tune in. Or, just come back here to see how it went down. Dave Bolland and Kris Versteeg will also be participating in the Young Stars game on Saturday.

Blackhawks non-Red Wing Winning Streak Rolls On

Make it 12 out of 14 for the Hawks as they mopped the...ice...with Phoenix last night. The Coyotes have been playing some good hockey lately, so this was a good win.

Adam Burish started the scoring for the Hawks a little more than midway through the first period. It was his first goal since last April. The Hawks then added three more goals in the following four minutes to lead 4-0 after the first. Jonathan Toews added a goal in each of the final two periods for the 6-0 win.

Another highlight of the game was a fight with about nine minutes left in the game. Well, it wasn't so much a fight as it was Matt Walker going all early career Mike Tyson on Coyote defenseman Ed Jovanovski. Walker knocked the veteran to the ice with one nasty right after Jovanovski came up a little high with the stick on Walker. So, after the Hawks killed the penalty, during which they scored a shorthanded goal, Todd Fedoruk went out of his way to hit Cristobal Huet pretty hard behind the net.

To the Hawks credit, nothing really happened after that besides what looked like a lot of man-hugging in the corner just to let Phoenix know they were upset.

Theatrics aside, the Blackhawks are on an absolute tear. Even with Patrick Kane out the last two games, it is clear the back-to-back losses to the Wings are an afterthought. They'll try to keep it going tomorrow night in Colorado in another match-up with Joel Quenneville's old team.

Today's Links-Christmas Eve Edition

• An interesting look at whether Jordan or Pippen could have stopped Lebron.
  
• Apparently Toews and Kane are inching closer to all-star bids. Vote now!
  
• What is this new hotel/complex that is being built across from Wrigley Field. I'm a "purist" (whatever that means), so I don't like the idea but it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if done correctly.
  
• Illinois finally wins a game against someone I've heard of! Missouri is decent, but I didn't know they were ranked! What's the story with Alex Legion?
• Crazy drunk Bears fan found wandering around the Field Museum after the Bears game.
  
• Top ten Bears moments in 2008.
• Rose and Gordon were in foul trouble all night and the Bulls generally looked like garbage in front of a thin, unenthusiastic Detroit crowd. Oh, and they lost.
• Texeira signs with the Yankees for a billion dollars (180 over 8 years). Take a look at these interesting factoids about the Yankees salaries. On the one hand, they can take all the talent they want to the American League; on the other, f$#% them.

Hawks Let Win Slip Away vs. Wings; Rebound vs. Coyotes

Chicago was frustratingly close to winning back-to-back games against the last two Stanley Cup Champions, but let a 4-2 lead slip away in the third period in a loss to Detroit.

After the Red Wings built a 2-0 first period lead in the first five minutes, the Blackhawks came back with three goals of their own, including a pair from Jonathan Toews in the last five minutes of the period to take a 3-2 lead into the intermission. Toews' first goal was, well it was...



Yeah, so it was 3-2 after Toews added a power play goal with four seconds left in the first period. Then in the second, the Hawks extended their lead to 4-2 with an Andrew Ladd tally. The thing about the Wings is that they will keep coming at you for 60 minutes and they can pile up goals as fast as anyone in the league.

In the third, Detroit got a power play goal from Zetterberg and the game-tying goal from Marian Hossa with just under 10 minutes remaining. As the time was winding down, every Chicago fan was thinking the same thing: "please not a shootout."

Well, that's how it went and when Pavel Datsyuk put in a backhander with the first shot, the Wings had all they needed and took the shootout 1-0.

So it was a tough loss on the back end of a huge test for the Blackhawks where the young team actually did pretty well. Three points from two games with the Ducks and Wings is all you can ask.

As if that wasn't enough, the Blackhawks came back to the United Center the next night to face the Phoenix Coyotes. Would the Hawks respond after the disappointing loss to Detroit?

Something like that. Chicago scored on 7 of their first 11 shots (see other teams can do shameless convenience store promos too) and built a touchdown lead midway through the second period. Ben Eager had two goals and managed to get in a fight as well. After the game Eager said, "Score two, beat a guy up? If could do that every night I would." Me too Ben, me too.

Hawks get a Significant Win

The Blackhawks had lost three straight coming into a couple games against Anaheim and Detroit. It was a three game losing streak with what seemed like an opponents' option for five.

Patrick Sharp scored late in the first period to give the Hawks a lead going into the first intermission. Then the Ducks tied it up in the second when Selanne scored. Chris Pronger gave the Ducks the lead less than a minute into the third period and the Ducks started to shut things down for Chicago. Anaheim has turned this into an art the past few seasons. They control the puck and get physical when they don't have it, making it seem like you have no chance to score.

When Anaheim went on the power play with just under eight minutes left, it looked like they had a chance to put the game away. However, Ryan Getzlaf picked up a slashing penalty about halfway into the power play to make it 4-on-4. Chicago took advantage and showed that these are not your 2007-08 Blackhawks.

Duncan Keith jumped into the play, took a pass from Kris Versteeg, then fed Martin Havlat for a one-timer to tie the game. After most of the period was dominated by Anaheim, Chicago had stolen the momentum. With 1:35 left in the game, Versteeg made a great pass through the crease and found Jonathan Toews open for the game winner. Cristobal Huet, who made great saves all night, made one last point blank stop and the Hawks added an empty net goal for the 4-2 win.

This is the kind of win that gives you confidence the rest of the season. Sure, Giguere wasn't in net for the Ducks, but to come back against a team of this caliber after you've lost three straight lets you know that it can be done again.

Blackhawks Week in Review

Four Blackhawk games have come and gone since we last talked about them. That's too long, but I'll be better for you. I have to be better. Anyway, as usual I think we'll skip over the embarrassing loss to the Blues. They played, they lost, fill in the blanks.

Sunday night was no treat either, as the Sharks scored two third period goals to win 6-5. The penalty kill was, well, the death of the Hawks on Sunday as the Sharks were 4 for 6 with the man advantage.

Then Chicago hit the road to start their own circus trip. So far, the Blackhawks have gone a different direction than the Bulls on their road trip with two straight wins. How strange is the circus trip though? Well, the Blackhawks won a shootout in their first game on the trip. That just does not happen in the real world.

This miracle shootout win happened on Tuesday night at Phoenix. After Huet started in loss against the Sharks when the Hawks gave up six goals, Khabibulin was back in net for the win. Kris Versteeg and Patrick Sharp scored in regulation for the Blackhawks, putting them out to a 2-0 lead. The Coyotes got a goal in the second and another in the third to tie the game. In the shootout, Sharp and Toews got the goals, while Khabibulin made two saves.

From Phoenix, the Hawks went to Dallas and faced the Stars Thursday night. Chicago started slow as the Stars jumped out to a 10-1 advantage in shots. Of course then the Stars were hammered drunk and proceeded to lose the game 6-3. Khabibulin, who seems to have established himself as the #1 goalie, stopped 31 shots and moved to 6-1-4 on the season. Kane had two goals, scoring the first goal for the Hawks in the last minute of the first period and putting home an empty netter at the end. Chicago scored a goal in the last minute of each of the three periods.

Looking Ahead:

There are four games left in the road trip, but obviously it couldn't have gotten off to a better start. The Hawks go to Toronto tomorrow night and then out west for San Jose, Anaheim, and L.A. to finish it up. One win out of those three isn't too much to ask for the Blackhawks to come out of this trip even, but look for them to steal a point in there too. I'll say a win against the Kings and at least a point tomorrow against Toronto.

Blackhawks Week in Review

Two games so far this week for the Blackhawks, with another couple coming over the weekend.

Kane and Havlat got the action started Sunday night against the Flames with a goal and an assist each. Captain Jonathan Toews finally got his first goal of the season in the 6-1 win. Hopefully this will spark a scoring spree that will ease fears of a sophomore slump. Four penalty kills in the first period were gigantic for Chicago, who had Cristobal Huet in net. Calgary's lone goal late in the second cut the lead to 3-1, but Toews and Versteeg scored goals early in the third to put the game away.

After the offensive outburst against Calgary, it was the goaltending that should have gotten Chicago a win against Boston Wednesday night. The Bruins outshot and outchanced the Hawks, but Khabibulin was fantastic, making 38 saves and giving up only one goal. Toews scored his second goal of the year to tie the game midway through the third and the game went to overtime. In the extra period, Patrick Sharp was stopped by Tim Thomas on a penalty shot and it went to a shootout. Patrick Kane was the only Hawk to connect as Boston took the 2-1 win in the shootout. Tough to waste an amazing performance like the one Khabibulin put on with a loss. This was the goaltender the Hawks thought they were getting.

Looking Ahead:

Tonight the Hawks host St. Louis, then it's San Jose at the UC Sunday, followed by trips to Phoenix and Dallas.