St. Louis Blues (5-8-1) @ Chicago Blackhawks (7-3-4)

4 – 3 Overtime Loss

On Friday night, the Hawks hosted a slumping St. Louis Blues. The Blues come in a little banged up and going 1-7-1 in their last 9 games. In front of another sell out crowd, the Hawks and Blues played one of the most entertaining games this season. This game had everything – big hits, brawls, good goaltending and a handful of nice goals. Unfortunately, someone had to lose this game and the Hawks lost the point.

The tone of the game was set in the first 20 seconds with a heavy hit from Andrew Ladd. Not long after Ladd’s hit, Tkachuk took a run at Ladd and rung his bell. From there, the first period was cluttered with penalties, big retaliating hits and gloves scattered about the ice. Friday Night was SRO in the “sin bin”. At times, just the expression on the official’s faces indicated they were in for a long evening. Biggest surprise of the night, in a game with 4 fights in the first period, Mr. Koci only saw 3 minutes of ice time in the game and never found a dance partner.

The PK for Chicago looked strong against the Blues 2nd ranked PP. The Hawks special teams kept St. Louis 0-for-5 in regulation and tallied a shorty. After an untimely OT hooking penalty, the Blues cashed in on the 4-on-3 advantage to end the game. The Hawks PP was shut down on 6 attempts and for the most part, was held to the perimeter. Byf saw some time on the point but didn’t get much on net.

All lines looked good, but the best line was the 3^rd line (Bolland, Byf and Ladd). Byf and Ladd generated a lot of energy with some big hits and ALL of the offense for the Hawks on the scoresheet. Goals by Bolland (2) and Byfuglien (1) were all she wrote for the scoring. This was the best game from Byf this season. As of late, he has been delivering some huge hits and been more involved as the 3^rd line has been stepping up.

Khabi got the nod and looked solid. He didn’t let any soft goals in and was a victim of a few neutral zone turnovers that found the back of the net. Toews continues to fearlessly go to the front of the net, and pay the price. This was a rare game that Kane and Sharp were pointless. As Eddie O mentioned, how does Duncan Keith get left off the All-Star ballots?

Positives:

× 3^rd line was great

× The “Bulin Wall” looked very good again.

× Byf has been throwing that big body around with authority.

Negatives:

× The power play was ineffective, going 0 for 6 with the man advantage.

Game Notes:

× Brent Sopel returned to the line up.

MVB (Most Valuable Blackhawk):

× Third Line – they set the tone early and kept the energy up all game. The line combined for all 3 goals and was a +6 for the night.

Next Matchup:

November 16^th, San Jose Sharks @ Chicago Blackhawks

Record:

7-3-5 19 points

http://www.nhl.com/ice/boxscore.htm?id=2008020240

Boston Bruins (8-3-3) @ Chicago Blackhawks (7-3-3)

2 – 1 Shootout Loss

The Blackhawks hosted the Bruins last night, on a much anticipated evening. Not because of this Original 6 matchup, but for the pre-game events scheduled on this night. The Blackhawks organization had a banner raising ceremony for the retirement of a pair of 3’s. Pierre Pilote and Keith Magnusson’s numbers were hung in the rafters before the game. This was the first defenseman retired by the Hawks and only the 6^th and 7^th numbers overall to be retired by the Hawks. Needless to say, in the past the organization was just a tight with the retirement of jerseys as they were with the payroll.

The ceremony was very nice, and as the usually go, very long. Denis Savard returned to the Hawks in his new role, team ambassador for the organization. It was nice to see Denis was greeted with a loud and long standing ovation from the crowd during the banner ceremony. The events had the players sitting for about 40 minutes before they hit the ice, and I felt the Hawks looked it the first period. They seemed a step or two behind the Bruins to start out this game. With Boston in early penalty trouble, the Hawks power play looked lost and out of sync, not generating anything on net.

The storyline of this game was the goaltending on both ends of the ice. With Boston’s fast, physical play and their aggressive forechecking facing off against the Hawks high powered offense as of late, the last thing expected was a goaltending duel. But both Khabi and Tim Thomas shined, making big saves to keep their club in the game. No saves were bigger that in the OT frame when Nik made a huge glove save at point-blank range on Marc Savard, robbing him of a OT winner. Moments later, Thomas shut the door on a Patrick Sharp OT penalty shot.

As for the scoring, the Bruins and Hawks traded power play goals by Marco Sturm and Tazer. Special teams for the Hawks continued to play well on the PK, keeping the Bruins 9th ranked power play at 1-for-7 on the evening. On the PP, the Hawks tallied on a redirect from Toews in from of the net. Overall, the Hawks didn’t look sharp with the man advantage but also went 1-for-7 for the game and now sit 4^th overall on the PP and 3^rd on the PK.

I am just going to mention the lack of success on the shoot out. I would think most true hockey fans don’t like the crap shoot you get in a shoot out. The premise that a 65 minute game is decided by shots per team is a joke. Sure, it is exciting, it doesn’t get any better than the mano a mano open ice break away. Is this the way to decide a game? But, it is what it is and the Hawks need to improve.

Overall, a good game and Khabi deserved better. Unfortunately, the “Bulin Wall” has been playing much better that his 4-1-3 record reflects. Friday the Hawks host a slumping St.Louis team, going 2-7-1 in their last 10 games.

Positives:

× Great goaltending performance from Khabi, best of the season from him

Negatives:

× The power play was not effective, often looking lost.

Game Notes:

× Brent Sopel was scratched for his second game in a row, due to an “undisclosed injury”.

× It’s reported that “The Wiz” is ahead of schedule as he rehabilitates from off season surgery to repair a torn ACL in his right knee. He is slated to return on December 12^th in Colorado.

MVB (Most Valuable Blackhawk):

× Nikolai Khabubulin – Nik played his best game of this early season and kept the Hawks in this game.

Next Matchup:

November 14^th, St. Louis Blues @ Chicago Blackhawks

Record:

7-3-4 18 points

http://www.nhl.com/ice/boxscore.htm?id=2008020226