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A couple of days ago, I laid out a path the Hawks could follow back to the Stanley Cup.
In essence, the two things that would carry them back would be a complete (or near complete anyways) return to health of star players Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and to a lesser extent, 2013 playoff hero, Bryan Bickell.
But under that, the Hawks would need to show a playoff-ready intensity and the ability to win the remaining regular season contests in the absence of Kane and Toews.
As the blog's title says... so far, so good.
After beating Minnesota in OT on Thursday night, the Hawks traveled to Columbus and beat the Blue Jackets last night, 4-3, topped off by crashing the net and scoring the game winner with less than five seconds left. It wasn't pretty, backup goalie Antti Raanta started the game shakier than Dean Martin after a 3-day bender. Bickell got cleanly beat in a fight and the Hawks struggled to keep the game close early on.
But there were a lot of positives (to the chagrin of my lovely companion at the game—a Blue Jacket fan) for the Hawks:
- Bickell was engaged (critical for him) and played well. Losing the fight didn't mater as much s stepping up and being willing. And he was a force at times around the puck.
- Andrew Shaw and Ben Smith were in front of the net all night, making at least two Hawk goals possible, including Smith's game winner.
- Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp were the best players on the ice for either club
- Duncan Keith had three assists, and in spite of one defensive hiccup, made a number of strong plays all night long
- Raanta came back strong late in the second with a few huge saves, while the Hawks tilted the ice in the third, and limited the Jackets to almost zero offensive zone time
- Supporting players Shaw, Smith, Brandon Saad and Peter Regin were all very good
Encouraging signs as Hawk fans light candles for the healthy return of their two fundamental superstars. And perhaps catching a bit of lightning in a bottle heading in to the playoffs.
All for now, JJ