By Brad Vandenberk
After a successful road trip with some proud poppas, it was time to head back home and play the first of a back to back with a few teams from New York. First up it’s the surprising Islanders, who have earned a playoff spot at this stage.
The Hawks make short work of the boys from Long island scoring 2 goals in the first period, both off the stick of Jonathan Toews. Marian Hossa added two more in the second to finish of the Isle 4-1. Next stop it’s a quick flight to MSG to face the Rangers on Wednesday night. There was one negative that came out of Tuesday night’s victory, however. Andrew Shaw was given a game misconduct for head butting that will probably be reviewed by the league.
Nick Leddy did make the trip to Chicago but did not dress to face his old mates as he is just coming back from injury. Michal Neuvirth started for an injured Jaroslav Halak. Joakim Nordstrom was serving his second of his 2 game suspension. Dan Carcillo was rumoured to be in the lineup after Kris Versteeg was skating on the fifth line at practice on Monday, but Versteeg did make his way into the opening roster. David Rundblad also didn’t dress, since Kimmo Timonen has arrived.
The opening period started with some great defensive play from Brandon Saad. His back check breaks up a perfect point blank shot. As Michal Rozsival heads to get the puck, he is hit hard, the glass comes dislodged causing a short delay. Hossa is all over the puck with new line mate Patrick Sharp. Sharp even gets a chance himself, tipping a Johnny Oduya shot on Neuvirth. Andrew Desjardins makes his presence felt on his first shift of the game, trying to dislodge the glass on the other end with a thunderous hit. At the 12:59 mark of the period Toews throws a back hand toward the net from the corner, it deflects off Neuvirth’s shoulder and trickles in 1-0. After the goal Brent Seabrook comes right back blasting a shot from the point, Antoine Vermette literally grabs the rebound but can’t beat Neuvirth. Crawford tries to make the top 10 plays of the week once again, when he tries to play the puck and it deflects out front to no one but Blackhawks. Sharp and Hossa look like long lost brothers ripping through the Islanders defensive, who is having trouble controlling the duo’s speed. Toews finds the net once again after receiving a pass from Niklas Hjalmarsson, putting a back hand off Neuvirth’s forearm giving the Hawks a 2-0 lead. Tomas Hickey hits Andrew Shaw trying to break out. The period ends with the Hawks leading in shots on net 16-10.
Islanders open the second with some jump in their skates. Sharp and Hossa continue to click. Hossa is almost sent on a breakaway but the puck is blocked. Shaw gets a few cross checks from Brock Nelson and turns around and head butts Nelson sending him to the dressing room for the night, giving the Hawks 5 minutes of a major to kill. Shaw will probably be hearing from the league on that incident. The penalty kill is superb allowing only one shot on net. Crawford begins to get aggressive covering pucks well outside of the crease and even coming out of the blue paint to stop a shot. Toews then finds Hossa who one times it past Neuvirth 3-0. Brad Richards gets a great pass from Bryan Bickell and misses far side. The Isles begin to crowd the crease trying to get anything past the sprawling Crawford. The Isles own the Hawks 15-5 in shots for the period.
Just under a minute into the final frame, Toews, Hossa and Sharp are at it again. Toews finds Sharp who tries to slide it across crease. The puck goes in off Hossa’s skate and the goal counts giving the Hawks a 4-0 lead. John Tavares is determined to score but Crawford stops him point blank. Seabrook tries to make a play on Andres Lee who falls awkwardly into the boards. There was no penalty on the play. Long Island gets on the board when Duncan Keith blocks a shot that ricochets to Nikolai Kulemin and past Crawford 4-1. Hossa takes an unwarranted penalty on the fore check getting called for holding. Saad gets a shorthanded chance and the Hawks kill off another one. Tavares then gives the Hawks their first and only power play of the game for holding Sharp’s stick. Thank goodness it was the one and only PP of the night, it looked more like and Islanders man advantage. Crawford stands tall for the remainder of the period sending the Hawks to the dressing room 4-1 winners.
Quick Hits:
-Islanders out shot Hawks 39-29.
-Hawks go 0/1 on the power play and the Islanders go 0/2.
-Keith led all Hawks with 22:49 of TOI. Johnny Oduya was next with 21:28.
-Toews was 76% in the faceoff dot. Vermette 54%, Richards 40% and Kruger 36%
-Toews (2G, 2A), Hossa (2G) and Sharp (2A) combined for all four goals.
-After the Versteeg playing, not playing Monday, he only played 11:53 with 1 shot on net.
-Hawks now travel to New York where they will play the Rangers on Wednesday night.
Lines
Sharp Toews Hossa Timonen Seabrook
Saad Vermette Teravainen Keith Rozsival
Bickell Richards Versteeg Oduya Hjalmarsson
Desjardins Kruger Shaw
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Brad Vandenberk
