The Hawks were back at it last night as they took on the Tampa Bay Lightning. I was unfortunately not able to watch the entire game fully as we were recording the last podcast episode, but I was following along the best I could and there were a few things that stood out to me. The Lightning seemed to be taking the Hawks lightly to start the contest as the Hawks were able to out shoot Tampa 12-6 in the first period. Its nice to see the hawks get out to a hot start and bring it to a team who is multiple tiers better than them, not matter how short lived it was.
Hawks get on the board first in this one just under 5 minutes into this game. Seth Jones put a huge power play goal on the board. This is such a big deal goal because it had been 124 games since a Hawks defender has scored a power play goal. That is just an absolutely mind blowing stat and it had to be a huge monkey off the back for this d-unit. After a tight second period that saw the Lightning come to life, Alex Stalock once again gave this team every opportunity to win a hockey game and once again just no help. Tampa was able to lock down the victory after scoring three in the third including a power play goal from Hagel in his first game back at the UC since being traded.
Patrick Kane left this game and did not play in the third period as he continued to have discomfort in his knee from the hit he took against the Sharks on Sunday. In this type of season, with some much on the line that revolves around Kane being healthy and able to contribute, you have to hope they let him rest up and make sure he is 100% before getting back out there. The Hawks did not practice today, so hopefully we will get a better idea on Kaners situation tomorrow.
Quick Hits ~Hawks have recalled forwards Lukas Reichel and Brett Seney from Rockford and have placed Entwistle and Khaira on the IR.
~Seney has been having a great season up in Rockford putting up 14 goals and 24 assists in 32 games it will be great to see what he can do with the Hawks as he will probably be up with the team full time once the Deadline moves have been made.
~Reichel gets his second stint with the Hawks this season, he was held pointless in his only game this year. However he continues to produce and improve his play with the Ice Hogs as he has 14 goals and 22 assists in 32 games.
~A team to keep an eye on for potential trading partner this year is now the Boston Bruins. They just announced that Jake DeBrusk will miss time with a fibula fracture. This team is on a tear this season and there have been rumors that they have been interested in Kane or Toews. Getting a little more cap space from DeBrusk makes this a little bit more of a doable move.
That’s it for now, I will be back Friday with any big updates and preview for the Hawks vs Yotes.
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