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In his first NHL game, 19 year old Finnish rookie Teuvo Teravainen didn’t set the world on fire. But he didn’t disappoint Overall grade: solid B, and the kid showed enough to say he could be in the mix for continued duty—perhaps as the team’s long-sought second line center. Teravainen went 7-0 in the faceoff dot and showed osme flashes of the speed and skill he is known for.
Enough on the latest phenom for now.
Otherwise, the Hawks played a solid game, beating the Stars 4-2, the last goal coming on a Marian Hossa empty-netter.
Brandon Bollig settled a longstanding score with UberPest Antoine Roussel, who has been getting away with a lot of nonsense with various Hawks for a number of games now. All that said, Bollig has a couple of inches and 20 pounds on Roussel, so he should have. And he did.
The Hawks remain 6 points behind the Blues with 9 games left. The hill remains as steep, with less time to climb. Meanwhile the 5th place (in the conference) Avalanche kept pace with the Hawks, with yet another come from behind win.
The good news between the lines is that the Hawks are 4-1-1 in their last 6 games, and playing a better brand of hockey overall. And this is not a bad time of the year to be trending upward in your overall level of play and compete.
But, lo and behold, another huge test looms tomorrow night in Boston, when the Hawks return to the scene of the 17 second crime.
I'll have a preview tomorrow.
JJ