Seven is better than six.
The Hawks found that out with probably their easiest win of the streak, an afternoon at the office feel of a game that resulted in a 5-2 win.
For the first time in what feels like forever, the Hawks jumped out real early to get the crowd into it and relax themselves. Patrick Sharp picked Cory Stillman clean at the right circle, and with three of the Hurricanes charging up ice was able to poke the puck to Jonathan Toews. This meant the first shot rookie Justin Peters had seen since Jan. 19th was the hottest player in the league lining up all alone between the circles. There wasn't much doubt how this was going to end.
Things got dicey -- just a tad -- when Brent Seabrook handed Niklas Hjalmarsson a pulled-pin hand grenade of a pass with Hammer covered and heading toward the blue line, resulting in a rush that Eric Staal was only too happy to finish off. This was also the Canes first shot of the game. Nice to share.
But the Hawks were up for good when Bryan Bickell finally figured out his 6-4 frame is probably best used in front of the net, where he was able to bang home a rebound of a Seabrook blast that made out with the post.
The second was about as ho-hum of a period as we've seen, with a couple posts hit and one Canes chance on the kiill where Sharp showed about as much desire to fight for the puck as a rich suburban girl. But it didn't cost the Hawks anything, and halfway through the 3rd the game was over as the Hawks finally buried an opponent.
Thoughts From An Idiot In The Rain:
- There isn't al that much to say, the Hawks are a better team than Carolina, and with the Canes having played their biggest game the night before at home against Buffalo -- who was right behind them in the playoff race -- it pretty much looked like their plan was to hang around and see if they could nick it. But if not, no biggie.
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- Chris Campoli had a really nice rush to set up Ryan Johnson's goal, and some nifty work in his zone. The Hawks have clearly decided that they want someone on every pairing who can make a pass to get the Hawks breaking out of the zone, and Campoli is far better at that then Jordan Hendry. So why he and Campbell are playing together, where they can both do that, is anyone's guess. But it's working.
- Dave Bolland and Marian Hossa had some really nice shifts, and that line had two of the five goals. This works for us.
- Please god let Marty Turco get the start in Toronto, as Corey Crawford is looking pretty ragged. He needs a break.
