The Hawks kicked off the second half of their season by wrapping up a 7 game homestand against the Buffalo Sabres. I was looking forward to watching this one as I have been super intrigued by this Sabres team as they seem to finally be putting it all together. I quickly lost interest in this one for the simple fact of their reverse retro set up. I can not stand white gloves or pants, super tacky to me and never looks good. Now that my gear rant is out of the way, lets move on to actual game play. The Hawks got on the board here first when Murphy was able to sneak behind the Sabres and get a beautiful pass from Kurashev., That goal marks the Hawks scoring first in 7 of their last 8 games. After that, however, it was all Buffalo as they put up three unanswered goals to take the 3-1 lead.
YES SIR MURPH pic.twitter.com/aI2LWctVbI
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 18, 2023
Less than two minutes into the 3rd Kurashev gets the Hawks within one. It seemed like that was all she wrote for the Hawks as the Sabres where able to shut the Hawks down for most of the 3rd period. With less than a minute left our favorite defenseman, Seth Jones was able to send it to overtime and then he wasn’t done as he buried the game winning goal midway through the overtime period. With that, the second half of the season is off to a winning start. Want to talk about the Hawks having a teams number, in the last 20 games these two teams play each other; the Hawks own a 16-2-2 record.
his face says it all 😠#BudLightCelly pic.twitter.com/do428lybV7
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 18, 2023
I mentioned Kurashev a few times and I think it would be a huge mistake if I didn’t talk about his game a bit. This was arguably his best game of the year, if not his entire young career. This offense ran through him this game as he picked up 3 points (1-2) and his two assists were primary. I already talked about the Murphy goal, but the patience he showed waiting for him to get in to the slot and the absolute dime of a pass was a thing of beauty. His goal might be one of the best tip in goals from the Hawks this season as you really had to question what the Sabres where doing leaving him all alone in front like that. He also would go on to lead the forwards in total ice time and saw both power play and short handed time. I have alway really liked the game Kurashev played and I am glad to see him taking advantage of all the opportunities he is getting, and once the trade deadline passes this team is probably going to lean on him to be the offensive producer.
While this game ended the Hawks 7 game homestand, which saw the Hawks go 4-3, this game also marked a span of games every other day leading up to the All Star break. Lots of hockey that’s going to be played the next over the next 12 days and will see them square up against the Flyers, Blues, Kings, Canucks, Flames and Oilers.
Earlier this week it was announced that Stalock has reentered concussion protocol after taking a bump in practice. He already missed a month and a half from a concussion and lets hope this one they are playing it safe and not taking any extra chances. The team announced he would not be traveling with them on this two game road trip and have called up Jaxson Stauber. You have to feel for Stalock, he is having a great season and has been fun to watch and seems like as soon as he gets into a rhythm something seems to happen.
In other injury news, Jarred Tinordi's timeline to get back on the ice is looking to be just after the all star break. For those of you you may have forgotten, he has been out of the line up as he recovered from literally a broken face. He had to have his mouth wired shut and almost a month later he finally had the wiring removed and was about to eat solid food for the first time since before the injury. He lost 15 pounds in the first few days but has since gotten his weight back and has turned his focus on getting back into playing shape.
The last thing I wanted to talk about today is some trade chatter. For most of the season, it appeared that the Rangers and Hawks were going to make a deal that sent Kaner to New York. It definitely had more of a when, not if vibe. However, things maybe changing if hockey insider Frank Seravalli intel is correct. He has reported that the Rangers are switching their focus from 88 to San Jose Sharks Timo Meier. If this is truly the direction they are going in at the deadline, it all but guarantees they will be out of the Kane sweepstakes. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out as we get closer to the deadline.
Up Next: Philadelphia Flyers 19-19-7
Players to Watch Travis Konecny 24 goals 24 assists 48 points Kevin Hayes 13 goals 27 assists 40 points Scott Laughton 11 goals 16 assists 27 points
Projected Starter Carter Hart 13-13-6 3.00 GAA ,907 SV%
Check Out the Latest WCBPodcast