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The Boys Are Back! Well, Sort Of.


CHICAGO, IL -- What the hell even just happened?

 Well, let's break this down.

 Even though it took them 13 minutes to warm up, they scored first! Good job, boys. Anisimov snatched the first goal up with ease, shooting it past Rask with a sort of sloppy play. Doesn't matter. He scored, and it was awesome--Panarin and Seabrook got the two assists for that one, and not five minutes later, Kane answered with his first goal of the game. That was a beautiful breakaway, too. But, he's not stopping there!

 Kane scored again not a minute into the second period, driving right up to the goal and earning his 98th point of the season. And, Toews wasn't too far after him, scoring two minutes in! (Sometimes watching the Blackhawks is dizzying, frankly.) Hossa was trying to get a goal in, but made a beautiful pass to Toews who was able to tip it in.

 This was the point that they pulled Rask from the net, putting in Gustavsson. He only helped a little, still allowing for a goal from Panarin. That ended in possibly the cutest celly in the world, with a hug from Kane and getting him to 99 points.
See? Cutest celly ever. (source: tazertantrum on Tumblr)
But, they're not done yet. The Bruins were sent off the ice for too many men on the ice (I swear this stupid call follows me around), and the Hawks capitalized. Kane tallied a nice goal and his second finished hat trick this season--which was also his 100th point on the season! I'm telling you guys, this was not the game to miss this season. It was unbelievable.

 And, as of the second period, with 72 points, Panarin has the most points in a rookie season since... Patrick Kane. Talk about crazy coincidences.

 Still, the Bruins came back and scored twice before the second period ended, just a mere 11 seconds apart. Chicago challenged the second call, but came up empty-handed, and the goal stuck. (Even though the fans seemed to think otherwise, cheering as the ref skated to center ice only to crush their dreams.)

 And, they score at the beginning of the third period, as well. Another goal came quick in the second period, sending Blackhawks fans into a frenzy as the boys scrambled to keep their lead.

 Not much else happened in the third, aside from rising heart rates and a possibly injured Hossa. I swear, if he's injured again, I'll be very, very unhappy. He needs to wear bubble wrap from now on, I think.

 Anyways, Hawks cleared (barely), and won. An almost-empty netter attempt was made by Desjardins with less than a minute left, but Kruger was offsides. Boo.

 While I think the first two periods were good, the last really rubbed me the wrong way. I think they need to work on defense a little, since Darling had to work much harder than necessary to keep them in this game. Granted, with Keith out, the defense was pretty good today. Especially early on, with a 6-0 lead. I'm frustrated they lost that, and they definitely shouldn't have. Hopefully by the time playoffs roll around, they'll play like they did in the first two periods.

 That being said, the boys are back. Six goals is a pretty nice tally, and though it was stress-inducing later, they needed that lead to win, and the Kane-Anisimov-Panarin line really stepped it up today.

 Playoffs, look out. The Blackhawks are picking up steam, and hopefully not showing signs of stopping.
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