It was ironic that Hawk netminder Scott Darling was given the first star in last night’s 4-3 OT loss in Colorado. It’s not often an opposing player nets first star under any circumstance.
But maybe it was the 51 shots Darling faced, where it can be argued he kept a very sloppy Hawk club in the game and in position to win a point. And when your backup goalie exhibits not just the best of his game, but also the worst, and still wins first star, you know you have a pretty good backup goalie.
Darling flopped and sprawled and scuffled his way through the barrage of shots and quality chances from the Avs–he’s definitely played better positionally and the game winner from Erik Johnson was one he would love to have back. But, he also came up big numerous times as well.
And that’s kind of what I took from that game. The Hawk regulars did not play that well, with the exception of the Marcus Kruger line, but a couple of the backup/depth types gave you some encouragement in the event they’re needed in the playoffs.
Exhibit #2, the Three-Wheeled Jewel Shopping Cart, Michal Rozsival, who, although he can’t really get up and down the ice anymore, made an absolutely gorgeous stretch pass on Kruger’s goal.
We probably won’t see Rozsival in the playoffs, unless one of the regular top 6 goes down. But, in limited minutes, and with a certain degree of shelter, there may just be a fiber or two of tread left on Rozy’s tire if necessary.
Hey, I sort of enjoyed the first 30 minutes or so of last night’s game, before the Hawks went all Rockford Ice Hogs from the red line in to their net. And I would expect more of the same in the remaining two contests of the regular season in Anaheim and LA.
But, that’s the nature of things when playoff position is no longer at stake and you’re trying to just stay healthy.
All I have for now. I’ll have an Anaheim preview tomorrow.
JJ