Believe me, this time it's a great thing. And, it's another night for the Hawks to prove just how dangerous they can be.
(Bear with me--this one's a bit of a long one.)
Nick Schmaltz opened the scoring tonight with a goal just 37 seconds into the game, the assists coming from just Jonathan Toews. Seriously, I'm living for this line, and I really hope Coach Q keeps it for a while. It's obviously working.
But, the Coyotes howl back with a nice wrister from rookie Jakob Chychrun, who actually impressed the hell out of me tonight. For a defenseman, he's not half bad, and after a few more years in the league, he could be lethal. That shot definitely was.
Shockingly, it doesn't take long for the Hawks to answer. With a beautiful pass from Marian Hossa, Ryan Hartman puts it in for his fifteenth goal of the season. Then, something even more magical happens--Patrick Kane goes and snipes a shot right past Mike Smith, and we have ourselves a 3-1 game, friends. The Hawks keep the pressure, but on a fluke, they give up a goal to the Coyotes, letting Ryan White score from the point. I'm not sure where the defense was on that play, but that needs to not--
Oh. We're tied now, thanks to Radim Vbrata's shot. Overall, though, things are going well, the Hawks are scoring and staying out of the--
Oh, come on.
Brian Campbell heads to the box for delay of game, and now, I start to get nervous. Our penalty killing hasn't been stellar lately, and I know the Coyotes aren't the best in the league or anything, but still. It would have been awful to lose a lead like that. But, the Hawks go into the first intermission unscathed with just a minute left of the penalty to kill off.
First thing back, I hear that Niklas Hjalmarsson won't return to the game.
I'm sorry--what? I didn't even know he left! It's possible I turned away from the TV for a moment, but what? The Hawks cannot lose him--obviously, they did fine the rest of the game without his godly shot-blocking skills, but if he's out longer than a few games, the Hawks have a new problem.
Hawks kill off the penalty, back to even strength, things are working out okay in their favor. They were much better tonight with keeping the pressure in the Coyotes' zone, which made for a good game, but not a particularly stressful one (aside being tied up for a bit). And, quickly after they kill of their penalty, Michal Rozsival lands his first goal of the season with a great wrister. Schmaltz has become pretty damn good at the backwards pass, and it's definitely a skill the Blackhawks should utilize as much as they can. That kind of stuff throws off the opponent's defense and gives the Hawks an opening to land a goal.
The Hawks get a handful of good opportunities, but Smith was actually pretty good tonight (despite letting in six goals) and denied the seemingly fiery Hawks. Suddenly, Jooris was down, and next thing I saw was Panik skating dejectedly to the box. Back to the penalty kill, and I wasn't feeling good about it. Corey Crawford played spectacularly in the few moments of the 5-on-4, but then the Hawks drew a penalty, leaving it a 4-on-4 game for thirty seconds.
They had a nice chance, too--a good minute and fifteen seconds to score, but the Hawks just couldn't make anything happen. Alright, back to full strength we go.
Suddenly, the unimaginable happened. Patrick Kane scored... Again. And now, just a game after Jonathan Toews got a hat trick, Kane was on hatty watch. If anyone could do it, it'd be him. And not moments later, that third chance came, Artemi Panarin, to Kane, to--well, the net's off and they aren't going to get to keep that one.
Somehow, Panik managed to high stick yet another Coyotes player, Martin Handzal, and drew quite a good amount of blood. Panik to the box for four minutes this time, and again, I grew worried. Why? Probably because the Hawks are sitting pretty at 28th in the league on the penalty kill. Now, the Coyotes aren't high on the list for power play success (27th, as a matter of fact), but you never know. Goals can be flukes.
But, again, the Hawks go into the second intermission without any trouble. I felt too comfortable.
Once the third period started back up, I held my breath as the Coyotes dominated in the Hawks' zone. Shot after shot, Crawford was intent on snatching all of them, thank God. Luckily, the boys make it out alive once more. And, it's still a 5-3 hockey game with eighteen minutes to go.
I thought by midway through the third, the Hawks looked... tired isn't the right word, and neither is lazy. They'd slowed down, started taking some time with their shots, presumably just trying to run down the clock, which I can't say I was a huge fan of. Still, guys like Panarin and Hartman got some good shots in, and the Hawks hadn't given up the lead, so I couldn't complain.
Patrick Kane almost had a breakaway, but he kept the pressure on and--
HOLY PATRICK KANE HAT TRICK, BATMAN!
This game had gotten boring, okay? Kane's third goal of the night was a great touch, and I'm glad he was able to notch his third career (regular season) hat trick. I was impressed that the rest of the night, though the puck seemed to find his stick quite often, he wasn't afraid to pass it off or to let someone else get on the scoresheet. The leaders on this team are selfless like that, and it's one of the things you have to love about the Hawks.
After a high stick on Brent Seabrook (that looked embellished to me, but the not to the refs, which is fine, I suppose), the Hawks went back onto the power play, but couldn't capitalize at all. They kept the pressure on the Coyotes' end and almost had them a few times, but just couldn't quite get there.
And there you have it. 6-3 over the Coyotes, giving the Blackhawks the series sweep.
You know, I'm feeling good. The Hawks play the St. Louis Blues Sunday evening, which is a little nerve-wracking considering they seem to have a block against the Blues, but we'll see. I'm anxious to see how they play in March, which has arguably in years past, been their worst month of the season.
Cue the dagger, and with that, the Hawks remain victorious for another night longer.
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