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The San Jose Sharks are a good team, a definite playoff club in the uber-competitive Western Conference.
But the Blackhawks made easy work of them Sunday night at the United Center. How? hard work around the net (at both ends), front of net presence, and physical response. Players they depend on to be power players (Bryan Bickell) were.
The Hawks need to do more of this. If they do, they are as good a team as there is in hockey.Maybe this slow start was just the reminder the Hawks need that, until further notice, hockey is a physical sport in which one sustains contusions, dental work and the like in order to win.
Joel Quenneville's juggled lines worked Sunday night, and there is no reason to think he will adjust them now. Wait, this is Joel Quenneville we're talking about. Check that.
Seriously, Quenneville went for balance and he got it, with Brad Richards' fourth line being as good as any Sunday night. Say what you want about Peter Regin, but he plays hard and is willing to sacrifice his body to get to the net.
Speaking of which, I don't want to pick on Jeremy Morin, but either he or Regin or some forward with a TBD injury will eventually have to make room for 2011 first round pick Mark McNeill, who is simply ripping it up in Rockford right now. Let's bear in mind, big numbers in the AHL don't directly translate to the NHL. Troy Brouwer, a perennial 20 goal-ish NHL player, averaged 38 goals over two seasons in the AHL.
But McNeill also brings defensive responsibility, size and willlingness—all things the Hawks need more of.
Tonight, the stakes are raised as what appears to be one of the league's better teams comes in to the UC. This Tampa team is loaded with talent and size.
Tampa Bay Lightning (11-3-1) at Chicago Blackhawks (8-6-1) 8:30 Eastern/7:30 Central SUN, CSN-CH
PROJECTED LINEUPS
Tampa
Valtteri Filppula Steven Stamkos Ryan Callahan Ondrej Palat Tyler Johnson Nikita Kucherov Jonathan Drouin Vladislav Namestnikov Cedric Paquette Brenden Morrow Brian Boyle J.T. Brown
Anton Stralman Matt Carle Jason Garrison Radko Gudas Eric Brewer Andrej Sustr
Ben Bishop
Chicago
Kris Versteeg Jonathan Toews Patrick Kane Bryan Bickell Andrew Shaw Brandon Saad Ben Smith Marcus Kruger Marian Hossa Peter Regin Brad Richards Jeremy Morin
Duncan Keith Brent Seabrook Niklas Hjalmarsson Johnny Oduya Trevor van Riemsdyk David Rundblad
Corey Crawford
All for now,
JJ