It wasn't pretty, and in at least one net, it featured some of the worst goaltending in an NHL game in recent memory. But, the Chicago Blackhawks slugged out a much-needed 7-5 win over a tenacious Coyotes club in Arizona last night.
Reviews?
Toews line. Meh. OK. They came close a lot.
Kane line. Outstanding, especially Artemi Panarin.
The new third line with Andrew Desjardins, Philip Danault and Teuvo Teravainen. Joel Quenneville may be on to something here. That line was good, albeit facing something less than the best defense in the league.
The fourth line of Dennis Rasmussen, Bryan Bickell and Ryan Garbutt got minimal ice time, and Bickell probably didn't help his cause by allowing his man, Zbynek Michalek, to come in to the slot unmolested for the Coyotes' second goal.
The Hawk defense was not great. For some reason, Quenneville went back to putting Niklas Hjalmarsson and Trevor van Riemsdyk on their off sides, and van Riemsdyk at least responded with less than a stellar outing.
Erik Gustafsson (+3) was very strong in his first outing since being recalled. Make no mistake, his progress will be key to the Hawks' playoff chances. Gustafsson plays an aggressive, up-tempo game and he's going to make some mistakes here and there, especially against teams with more offensive firepower than the Coyotes. But there is a lot to be encouraged about having someone with his skill set on the third pairing and— and an experienced, albeit limited Rob Scuderi in the press box as the 7th defenseman.
The Hawks, yet again, were widely outshot by an opponent, and beaten by a smaller margin in the face-off dot, giving up two power play goals. This is how they can win a sloppy game against a team like the Coyotes, but lose games against better teams.
The shots discrepancy has been and remains a season long problem that seems to be trending worse as opposed to getting better.
Is it the personnel? Or the coaching staff not getting optimal performance from the personnel?
More will be revealed, starting tomorrow night in Colorado, when the Hawks face an Avs team that exposed them a bit the last time the teams met. I'll have a preview,
JJ