CHICAGO, IL — The title of this blog might be a little weird to you.
But, carousel rides have to go down to go back up—and, as the carousel moves forward, it goes up and down a lot.
That’s kind of how I’m trying to look at the Blackhawks’ season at this point. There are some definite highs (ie: the OT win over the Florida Panthers on Saturday) and definite lows (ie: the horrific loss to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday), but they do keep moving forward. And honestly, I do think they're making small improvements in each game, even if the outcome doesn't necessarily reflect it each night.
I’ll get more into the games below, but I just wanted to try and put a positive spin on this sort of lackluster season. I think us Hawks fans could all use some positivity these days.
Anyways, let’s do this thing.
BLACKHAWKS @ TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING - L, 2-4
I think this loss was a bit expected, to be honest, since it was against one of the top teams in the league. It started out absolutely brutally, though—an unfortunate trend that the Hawks have suffered through this season.
Tyler Johnson got on the board early—30 seconds into the game, to be exact, and it wasn’t long before he scored his second of the game. By about the seven minute mark, the Hawks were down by two.
And by the ten-minute mark, they were down by 3, thanks to Braden Point. But, the Hawks weren't giving up so early--off a great read, Artem Anisimov buried one home, and now the deficit was only 3-1. Totally doable.
I will say, though, the Hawks had some terrible bounces in this game. Alexander Fortin had a great breakaway just after Anisimov scored, but it meant nothing--not only did he whiff on his shot, his stick broke. Just before that Ryan McDonagh (noted good Wisconsin boy) definitely should have been called for holding on Patrick Kane, but no such call was made.
Bad. Bounces.
Adding to that? Ryan Callahan scored to put the Lightning up 4-1 by the end of the period, and it really could have been 5-1 since the Hawks were shorthanded for the last couple minutes of the period (thanks, Duncan Keith).
They barely survived the first period and took two dumb penalties early on in the second but managed to kill both of them off.
Then, like the Lord and Savior he is, Jonathan Toews scored a beaut of a goal off a face-off (that he won, mind you) that continued his six-game point streak.
Nothing of interest happened in the third period--the Hawks had some great looks, but bad bounces and just couldn't connect anything.
As much as I didn't like the outcome of this game, I really did think that the boys put some great pressure in their zone, and the defense started looking better by the end of the second period. To their credit, they did hold the Lightning to their four goals, despite having an empty net for a few minutes towards the end of the third period and turning the puck over quite a bit.
BLACKHAWKS @ FLORIDA PANTHERS - W/OT, 5-4
Now, here's a great example of the Hawks playing pretty mediocre for most of the game and amping up with just the right amount of time left in the third to get the damn thing done.
The first period of this game was incredibly fast-paced--it felt like I was watching a ping-pong match. The Hawks almost had a chance, and I thought the puck went in until I watched the video again, and the refs ruled it a no goal.
That didn't stop the Florida Panthers from scoring not once but twice in the first period, thanks to a Panthers power play goal (Mike Hoffman) and another late goal by Jared McCann. Going into the first intermission, the Hawks were in a hole--again.
David Kampf luckily scored early on in the second period (just 49 seconds in!), and cut the deficit in half. The Hawks didn't back down, either--just five minutes later, Patrick Kane took matters into his own hands and scored the tying goal.
Despite getting a power play, the Hawks couldn't keep up and the Panthers scored two more times in the second period, thanks to Aaron Ekblad (off a dumb play by the Hawks) and Frank Vatrano (who scored literally just as the Hawks power play was ending--the penalty he served). The Hawks took another dumb penalty at the end of the period, this time courtesy of Kane--luckily the Panthers couldn't capitalize on that, but still, not good.
It wasn't looking great.
The Hawks got another power play in the third but couldn't capitalize on it, which was frustrating--there was one point where Kane had a point-blank opportunity and opted to pass instead, and you can probably imagine the words I screamed at my TV.
Kane went back to the box, this time for high-sticking, and this was where I thought the game was about to get out of control.
But, the Hawks proved me wrong--Alexandre Fortin raced down the ice on a breakaway and managed to... actually score? Wow, the Hawks have their first short-handed goal of the season.
There were a few more times in this last stretch of the game where I thought the Hawks actually scored, or got the puck in, but nope.
No, the Hawks waited until the very last second (seriously) to tie this one up. Alex DeBrincat, you dirty dog. That goal was absolutely nasty, and it sent this wild game to overtime, despite the Hawks playing a pretty shoddy game.
And you know how much I love overtime.
Time passed and passed in overtime, but by the midway point, Erik Gustafsson said, 'no, we're done here' and fired a shot from the blue line that just happened to go in.
Yeah, I was pretty ecstatic. Especially in a game where the Hawks had every opportunity to lose--this was a big win.
BLACKHAWKS V. VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS - L, 3-8
Can we not talk about this game? Are you okay with me not talking about this one? Because I really don't want to talk about this one.
Alright, I'll make it brief.
The Hawks defense was completely MIA this game--and as much as I praised Corey Crawford last week, he looked horrendous this week, honestly. This game especially, since he let in some true muffin-style goals.
But, hey, Gustav Forsling scored early in the second period, Dylan Strome notched his first as a Hawk, and Gustafsson scored in the third.
Yeah, that doesn't sweeten this one.
Thank you, next.
BLACKHAWKS @ WINNIPEG JETS - L, 5-6
Dang, this one was a heartbreaker.
Let me start by saying that I thought this game was going to be a blowout. And at one point, it was. But, you know what?
This was the best game the Hawks played all week. Even better than their win on Saturday.
Now, don't get me wrong--I went to bed absolutely pissed last night. But, I mulled it over and rewatched a bit of the game and realized that this game (aside from the defense) wasn't ever that polarized.
Of course, though, Patrik Laine scored his 100th NHL goal in just the first minute of the game, which has become an ugly trend that the Hawks really need to shake. But, not far behind him was Marcus Kruger, who scored a messy goal--but, hey, even the messy ones count.
By the three-minute mark, the game was tied at one. Yeah, that's how crazy this one was.
By the four-minute mark, the Jets were ahead again, thanks to Nikolaj Ehlers. Sounds more like what I was expecting.
What's this, though?
Yale-graduate and proud 4.0 student John Hayden scored to tie the game at two? Oh, yeah, that's a thing he did. So, the Hawks went into the first intermission tied.
Hallelujah.
Crap, though. Ehlers scored a minute into the second period (seriously, guys, you've gotta stop giving up early goals) and Trouba scored just a minute after that to put them up 4-2.
Yikes.
The Hawks got a power play about midway through the period but didn't capitalize on it--but, Jan Rutta scored just a few minutes after to cut the deficit by one. A one-goal game was much better than a two-goal game.
Yeah, that one-goal game quickly became a two-goal game that quickly became a three-goal game. Not fun.
By the ten-minute mark of the third, the Hawks were down 6-3, and I opted to just call it a night and go up to bed. I kept watching on my phone as I got ready, and by God, they did try to comeback.
With just seven minutes remaining, Dominik Kahun scored, and with just three remaining, Artem Anisimov added to the tally. Time wound down, and though the Hawks had great pressure, they just couldn't get the job done.
Still, as upset as I was last night, like I said, it was one of their better games. The defense has some glaring issues, but it was nice to see the third and fourth lines stepping up a little last night.
So, the Hawks are in a weird place. They're not quite tanking, but they're not excelling by any means. I think they need to try and find some good defensemen--be it in our AHL team or picking someone up from around the league, this team isn't going to win with a defense looking like that.
As I look to the games ahead, there are definitely some deep waters to tread in the next few weeks. The Hawks need to be ready to fight full 60-minute games and not give up early goals like they have been if they want to win anything.
But, as always, I'm sticking by this team. They're on that carousel of progress.
Are you in?
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