Not How You Draw It Up

Of course in a crazy season like this, the Hawks would get their first win in Nashville this season without Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith and we all wouldn't be able to feel good about it. That's just how it's gone.

It was a game of one 30 minutes, then the next 25, and then the last five. The Hawks were pretty good for the first half. They somehow got the Predators to engage them in a track meet, which favors the Hawks. Back and forth they went, and the Hawks cashed in on a power play. I know you don't believe it, but they did. While the Preds got their chances, they were snuffed out by Corey Crawford, and the Hawks matched them chance for chance.

Then, they bagged another power play goal! I know, right?! The first 10 minutes of the second, the Hawks were all over the Preds, and took a commanding 4-0 lead. They were all over the place, causing turnovers and using the space that for some reason the Preds were granting them.

Then it was gone in an instant. Bad penalties, bad defense, bad decisions, everything you can't do against Nashville the Hawks did, and because of it they blew a four-goal lead.

But there's some fortitude in recovering from that to bag the winner, and they did that through Brent Seabrook off a beautiful feed from Andrew Shaw. From there, the Hawks defended that lead valiantly, only requiring a couple big saves from Crawford. So in the end, it works out.

They were never all going to be clean without the Hawks' two most important players. This was most ugly. But it's two points, it's a playoff berth clinched, it's one point back for home ice. It could be so much worse.

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