GDT: WCF Game 2: Chicago @ Anaheim Part 2

[DontToewzMeBro]

Krüger showed good hand eye there!

The relief I feel is great.

 

[Backyard Hockey]

How did we win this game????

That was probably the ugliest win I can recall, Anaheim should have won about 5 times.

But we got a lot of help from Corey Crawford (as well as Corey Crossbar ), and sometimes I can't help but think this team is a little bit magical. Just keep finding ways to win games they shouldn't.

Hoping the boys can get some good rest tomorrow. The UC crowd will be a nice boost, and despite the puck possession domination by the Ducks coming back to Chicago tied 1-1 is about as much as we can ask for. This is a really good team they're playing, the Hawks need to step it up for the next two games.

Bickell is awful. Seriously, get him out of there. Tonight may have been the worst game of his career. Saad really needs to step up too, and Kane is still MIA for the moment. If those guys can get it together, I like our chances.

Won because Crawford stole a game. He and Andersen were both beyond fantastic

 

[Bubba88]

I'd hate if we trade Krüger. Would lose interest for about 10-20 Games

 

[Gurth]

How did we win this game????

That was probably the ugliest win I can recall, Anaheim should have won about 5 times.

We could have won it about 10 times over with the great looks we had too.

A post is just a missed shot.


We earned that win.

 

[Backyard Hockey]

Yep. Clendening, who couldn't crack the top 6 for the Vancouver Canucks, would have been key in this series.

People forget the injury to TVR. That was a very big deal

 

[CPHawksFan]

I'd hate if we trade Krüger. Would lose interest for about 10-20 Games

No reason to trade him...don't think he'll cost that much

 

[Joey]

Good job, Hawks

 

[Crow]

We could have won it about 10 times over with the great looks we had too.

A post is just a missed shot.


We earned that win.

I hate the way some people treat posts.

 

[Addison Rae]

Yep. Clendening, who couldn't crack the top 6 for the Vancouver Canucks, would have been key in this series.

fwiw Stanton and Clendenning were actually good for us and both should have been in our top 6 over sbisa

 

[WaltWhitman]

I love Marcus Kruger.

 

[hisgirlfriday]

Oduya was great and Shaw had arguably his best game of the year.

Trying to think of a better game Shaw had in his career honestly. He had that great hit dumping Getzlaf into the bench too.

 

[Hawkaholic]

fwiw Stanton and Clendenning were actually good for us and both should have been in our top 6 over sbisa

And Sbisa would probably be behind Rundblad.

 

[hawksfan50]

Saved by Corey Crawford,Corey Crossbar-Post, and our vaunted 4th liners..Need more from the highly paid big star forwards ...the "stars"..T and K ...Sharp,Hossa and Mini-Hossa (a.k.a. Saad..he who must be raised to $5 mil...why...I do not know but c'est LA vie)...as for Hossa the geezer..he of the 3 goals in last 36 playoff games....he did score a goal but really got lucky because it was going in off Bickell but just before it could cross the line Hossa actually swipes it out and what otherwise would have been a horrible mistake costing us a goal ...he gets lucky and the puck swept out and away huts the ANH dman and rebounding ds back into the net..So it might be honestly said that Hossa still has not "beaten a goalie" in the playoffs yet this year...and in any case only 3 goals in last 36 playoff games is not exactly production required from top line wi her. .In any case..we need MORE from all our "bezt" forwards...not gonna win if we must rely on our 4th line to save us over a whole series..Our best have to be our best and so far that has not been the case in this series..hopeful some of the big 4 usual suspects "star" forwards plus the new prospective one in the $5 mil plus club (Saad) will break out at home..If they do not..then we will be playing g golf very soon.The high priced stars are expected to produce..because we all know that Perry and Getzlaf for ANH will not always be stymied by our 2 Corey. ..Crawford and Crossbar-Post..Your Best Must Be Your Best if you want to win a playoff series is an old hockey truism...So where have our best been? Hardly productive..that has to change..Some of them have got to "star"...else you call them a big fail.

 

[LordKOTL]

Our 4th line was superb, Crawford played incredibly well in spite of owing the cage a can of Rustoleum, and let's be honest, Pele would be proud of Shaw for that header--prouder than Greg Luganis was of Mike Smith in 2012.

Our D as a whole might have been a bit squirelly but that was one of the best games I've seen in awhile and our 4th line was ablaze...and yes, I went to seep happy last night

Onto Thursday...

 

[JaegerDice]

I'm not sure what Q is going to do with the Kane line.

We're going home, so matching lines will be easier for Q... but the Kane line was getting trucked all night by the Ducks 4th line. Well, their fourth line in name, 3rd line in ice-time.

He could try and put him out against the Rakell line, who Boudreau shelters almost as hard as Q shelters our 2nd line, but that won't work all game, because they barely play. That line saw as much ice-time as Timonen did over a 3OT game.

So that's going to leave a good chunk of time that he needs to play against Getzlaf (gulp), Kesler (double gulp), or the Thompson line (triple gulp).

I think Q needs to swap Saad and Bickell honestly.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

I'm not sure what Q is going to do with the Kane line.

We're going home, so matching lines will be easier for Q... but the Kane line was getting trucked all night by the Ducks 4th line. Well, their fourth line in name, 3rd line in ice-time.

He could try and put him out against the Rakell line, who Boudreau shelters almost as hard as Q shelters our 2nd line, but that won't work all game, because they barely play. That line saw as much ice-time as Timonen did over a 3OT game.

So that's going to leave a good chunk of time that he needs to play against Getzlaf (gulp), Kesler (double gulp), or the Thompson line (triple gulp).

I think Q needs to swap Saad and Bickell honestly.

Bickell-Toews-Kane
Saad-Richards-Hossa
Sharp-Vermette-TT
Desi-Kruger-Shaw

Toews and Kane play together when they win cups. Lets roll with it again this year and see what happens. Get all three of those guys going.

 

[JaegerDice]

Bickell-Toews-Kane
Saad-Richards-Hossa
Sharp-Vermette-TT
Desi-Kruger-Shaw

Toews and Kane play together when they win cups. Lets roll with it again this year and see what happens. Get all three of those guys going.

They could try that, though I think Q will want to put Toews/Hossa against Getzlaf/Perry, because they absolutely wasted Anaheim's duo at evens this season.

My guess is he matches up the 4th line against Kesler to start and sees how they do.

 

[JaegerDice]

Actually, maybe he puts Vermette up against Kesler, because Vermette absolutely smoked Kesler's in possession when the two played head-to-head.

God damn it's nice to have center depth.

 

[Toews2Bickell]

Actually, maybe he puts Vermette up against Kesler, because Vermette absolutely smoked Kesler's in possession when the two played head-to-head.

God damn it's nice to have center depth.

You can honestly use both the 3rd and 4th par of my lines to shut down their top 2. And you can even use the 2nd line to play against anyone. There is no one line that will get destroyed in their own zone, like the second line right now.

 

[Pepe Silvia]

God damn it's nice to have center depth.

Which is why I still do that trade, even with Vermette's lack of production.

 

[massey1984]

I was very happy with the performance and splitting in Anaheim, but there is one little thing that is bothering me...they aren't driving the net enough. Sharp and Saad come to mind the most, but it is everybody. When they are on the rush by themselves they need to drive to the net or carry it behind the net and see what they have on the other side instead of settling for a bad angle shot that is a routine save or stopping and getting stuck. Now if they aren't alone on the rush, shoot it low far side and crash the net. Andersen is giving up some sweet rebounds.

 

[JaegerDice]

Which is why I still do that trade, even with Vermette's lack of production.

Oh absolutely. I'm fully in favor of the trade for Vermette. A D prospect that it was clear Q was not high on and a 1st round pick that wouldn't see ice for 2 years was nothing compared to C depth heading into an all-in playoff year.

 

[hisgirlfriday]

New thread's up.