As it was in the highlight above. This—the Blackhawks and Penguns—was one of those match ups the league drooled over when they instituted 3-on-3. And they got what they expected: end to end action, creativity, fantastic goaltending.
So enjoy again, or for the first time if you missed the game.
Speaking of goaltending, Corey Crawford and 3-on-3 bailed the Hawks out again last night. After taking a 2-0 lead in a second period where Chicago was so sloppy with the puck they could have been behind 2-0, the Hawks and Crawford finally broke down in the third period, allowing the Pens to tie the game and send it to OT.
So while getting the extra point, in the end, was great. It repeats a slightly disturbing pattern. The Hawks are now 8-4 in OT (non-shootout) and 62/70 in 5-on-5 GF/GA. And bear in mind OT in the playoffs is 5-on-5.
Want some perspective on that? With 9 OT/shootout victories, the Blackhawks are in second place in the Central Division and in the playoffs solidly if the season ended today. If OT were played 5-on-5, you could like say the Hawks would have maybe (and perhaps generously) 5 victories—and they would be sitting in the second wildcard position.
The old adage goes, all you have to do is get in. But you better be ready to do something when you get there.
3-on-3 especially, has been a great boost for the Hawks. And, the team is without question, playing better and more consistently lately than it was earlier in the year—but it is far from perfect as far as the rigors and style of playoff hockey.
There was also some discussion on the message board yesterday about the "unimportance" of face-offs. Artem Anisimov has been very good for the Hawks in a lot of ways this season, but bad in the dot overall and his lost face-off—cleanly lost in the defensive zone—to Sidney Crosby basically set up Kris Letang's game-tying goal. By the way, Philip Danault has been a nice player so far as well, but he was 5-12 in the dot last night. And the Hawks were outshot in regulation again.
Again, thanks to 3-on-3 and the extra point, no big whoop. But . . . the Hawks still have some tinkering and tweaking to do. Don't kid yourselves.
The Hawks and Pens are back at it tonight. No need to preview. I heard late yesterday that Richard Panik's visa has been approved but that the had not received the paperwork itself at that point. No idea whether he will be in the lineup tonight.
JJ