A Tale of Two Teams: Blackhawks Bring the Intensity, Down the Hurricanes

Game Recap:

The Chicago Blackhawks, coming off an embarrassing defeat at the hands of the lowly Colorado Avalanche, played more like the fourth place team in the Western Conference in a rousing 3-2 shootout defeat of the playoff-caliber Carolina Hurricanes Wednesday night at the United Center.

Kris Versteeg, and Troy Brouwer notched goals for the Blackhawks, and Cristobal Huet played more up to his contract in a 29 save outing, highlighted by great saves and a surprising lack of rebounds that the Hurricanes would have been more than eager to pound into the net if given the chance.

The win gave the Blackhawks their first victory over the Hurricanes in nearly 10 years, ever since they beat Carolina at the United Center on April 3rd,1999. Reaction after the game was very positive from the Hawk faithful, as the crowd roared with approval after their team had a great shootout, scoring on three of four attempts.

Jonathan Toews opened with a goal, Patrick Kane followed with another one, Dave Bolland knocked a shot off the post after beating Cam Ward stick side, and Versteeg finished it off with a top shelf goal that sealed it. Huet stood up huge for the Hawks on the last two Carolina attempts.

Kris Verstreeg, a hero of the game against the Hurricanes.

What We Learned About the Hawks Today:

Players who had contributed mightily to the team’s lackluster weekend turned their skill sets around and contributed tonight in a big way.

For instance, Patrick Kane, who had been pretty silent Saturday and Sunday, was constantly ratcheting up the tempo with Martin Havlat out of the line-up, getting three different breakaway opportunities and hitting the crossbar on a net-crashing attack on the power play. He also scored a goal in the shootout, and looked a lot more offensively minded than he has for a long time (perhaps since his injury in December).

Also, Brian Campbell looked a lot better, looking precise with his passes, committing to digging into the corners, and creating a couple of great scoring opportunities for his teammates.

Duncan Keith, who had a really bad weekend in the plus/minus category, had a +1 in the game and also added an assist in his 29:55 of ice time in the contest.

Brent Seabrook was great as well, taking a stick to the nose courtesy of Tuomo Ruutu and also decided to hit everyone in sight in the game.

Kudos should also go out to the Blackhawks center-men, who won 34 face-offs in the game to Carolina’s 25, showing that perhaps not all is lost in the absence of Samuel Pahlsson. The Hawks were also without Martin Havlat, who has been a key to their offensive success in the absence of Patrick Sharp, who is also still out.

Cristobal Huet also brought his A-game to the arena, matching Carolina netminder Cam Ward save for save in an effort that kept the team afloat until they scored late in the second period.

The Blackhawks’ Home Stand Will Likely Be a Tough Road

When we were looking at the Blackhawks’ schedule in March, there was one thing that constantly came up in conversation: man, that’s a lot of home games!

Well, those home games are emerging as an even more important factor in the team’s success, because the schedule is shaping up to be one big test after another.

Seven of the team’s next nine games are against playoff teams, including home skates against Columbus, Edmonton, San Jose, New Jersey, and Vancouver, as well as road games against the Blue Jackets and Devils.

These games are going to play a key factor for the Blackhawks’ seeding in the postseason, as Vancouver is still only seven points back with sixteen games left to play, and the Blackhawks still have a mathematical chance to catch the Red Wings (go ahead and scoff Detroit fans, but it’s still possible, no matter how remotely so).

Quick Notes

-The Blackhawks will hope to have Martin Havlat back on Friday against Columbus. Patrick Sharp and Samuel Pahlsson are expected to rejoin the team early next week.

-Nikolai Khabibulin re-joined the team today, and is expected to start sometime during the next week. Quenneville will likely put him through two or three rigorous practices to prepare him to re-join the team.

Posted by Jim Neveau on Mar 12 2009. Filed under Central, Chicago Blackhawks, Uncategorized, Western Conference. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.