| The Blackhawks Lose a Wild One to Minnesota | ||||
|
|
Eager, Brouwer, Ladd, Byfuglien—just a fraction of the laundry list of Blackhawks players denied by Minnesota Wild goaltender Josh Hardin on Sunday night in Chicago. The Hawks fired 45 shots at Hardin; he stopped 44 of them to end the Hawks’ win streak at four. Cristobal Huet stopped 22 of 24 in the 2-1 losing effort.
Minnesota set the tone early; they wanted to win. Just 30 seconds in, the Wild raised their sticks in celebration of what they thought was a goal. After video review, the “no goal” call on the ice stood and the game played on. The Hawks failed to capitalize on two power plays in the first and subsequently went 0-for-8 on the power play throughout the game. Early in the second with Minnesota’s Craig Weller in the box for four minutes from a late penalty in the first (19:39, high-sticking), the Blackhawks went up a second man when Eric Belanger found himself in the box for tripping (1:58). Joel Quenneville’s prophesy rang true once-again: the team that “wins” an extended 5-on-3 wins the game. For almost two full minutes, the Blackhawks had a two-man advantage. Troy Brouwer looked to net the first goal, but Hardin was there for one of his many huge saves. Time expired on the penalties and the Wild survived. Patrick Kane, Martin Havlat, and Jonathan Toews hooked up for the game’s first goal at 10:03 in the second period, almost costing the Illinois Lottery another million dollars; three seconds and the stick of a Wild defenseman’s prevented one fan from walking away a “happy human.” James Wisniewski’s holding penalty (11:15) put the Wild on the power play that tied the game. Dan Fritsche tipped the puck through Huet’s legs off a Pierre-Marc Bouchard shot. Because he slapped it inside from chest level, the play went to video replay. If the puck had been tipped in above the cross-bar level (four feet), then the goal would not stand as it would count as high-sticking. This time, the review favored the Wild and the goal stood. Huet’s five-hole allowed the go-ahead goal 3:30 into the third. Belanger centered a pass to Peter Olvecky for his first career NHL goal. The Hawks never recovered and the Wild went on to win 2-1, giving Hardin only his second win of the season. Power plays and penalties once again hurt the Blackhawks. This repeating mantra must end before April rolls around. Hawks fans have returned in droves (Sunday’s attendance was 22,400), and they will not be happy with an early exit. Going 0-for-8 on the power play is unacceptable, especially against a team like Minnesota who is just barely hanging onto the eighth playoff spot in the Western Conference. Minnesota has one of the best penalty kills in the NHL, but going 0-for-8 and failing on a 5-on-3 is ridiculous. Numerous times on the power play, the Hawks looked to pass and set up pretty plays, instead of just firing the puck at the net in hopes of a rebound. Pretty plays make for nice highlights, but a rebound is more likely to go in. The Blackhawks have been blessed with quality goaltending. Even though Huet has found his rhythm and is playing well (he was recently named the third Star of the Week by the NHL), the Hawks cannot expect him to carry the load. The Wild had six power plays, but the fact that he only gave up one goal short-handed is impressive on its own. Without pucks in the net, even Huet’s best performance can end in a loss. Failed power plays and too many penalties gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 loss against Minnesota on Sunday. Let’s hope the Hawks fix this before Tuesday night when they face-off against the Predators in Nashville.
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email This
Trackback(0)
Comments (0)
 Write comment
|
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed
