Saturday, October 2, 2010

Hawks Beat Pens in Preseason Action

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Chicago Blackhawks
10-1-10
Final Score: 5-2 Hawks
Scoring Summary 
1st Period
None
2nd Period
4:20-CHI-Fernando Pisani [1] (Dave Bolland [1], Bryan Bickell [3])
13:47-CHI-PPG-Tomas Kopecky [ 1] (Patrick Sharp [1])
3rd Period
00:18-CHI-Marian Hossa [2] (unassisted)
5:56-CHI-PPG-Patrick Kane [1] (Sharp [2], Duncan Keith [2])
10:40-PIT-PPG-Alex Goligoski (Mike Rupp, Andrew Hutchinson)
18:42-PIT-Craig Adams (Pascal Dupuis, Goligoski)
18:59-CHI-Marian Hossa [3] (Brent Seabrook [3], John Scott [1])

Friday night, the Hawks were facing the Penguins for the 2nd time in the preseason of the 2010-11.


The Hawks had a couple of good scoring opportunities in the 1st period, and one particularly great one came off of the stick of Viktor Stalberg.
Jake Dowell entered the zone, and from the top of the right circle sent a pass over to Stalberg in the slot out in front and Stalberg had Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury beat, with Fleury sliding to his right. Stalberg managed to get the puck by him, but it hit the left post. 

At 4:20 of the second period, Fernando Pisani tallied his first goal of the preseason in a Hawk uniform. From the top of the left circle, Dave Bolland sent a nifty pass over to Pisani in the right circle and Pisani sent a soft one timer towards the net and beat Fleury glove side.

The Hawks capitalized on a power play opportunity in the second as well. Patrick Sharp picked up a loose puck above the right circle and blasted one on net with Tomas Kopecky screening Fleury. Kopecky got a piece of it and it went glove side.
"It really wasn't that special of a shot," Sharp said after the game, "just hard and in the middle of the net and Kopy got his pants or his stick on it and it went in. When you got guys blocking the goalie's eyes like that, they're gonna find a way in."


18 seconds into the 3rd, Marian Hossa sped into the Pens' zone down the right wing boards and beat Simon Despres to a loose puck just above the right hashmarks and just under the right circle, he beat backup goalie Brent Johnson with his quick, little wrist shot, blocker side.

On another power play, the Hawks increased their lead to 4-0 with a goal from Patrick Kane. 
Sharp blasted a shot on net from the right circle and Johnson gave up a huge rebound to Kane underneath the left circle and Kane just shoveled it home into the empty cage for his first of the preseason.


The Pens closed the gap to 4-2 with a power play goal from Alex Goligoski just under 11 minutes in and then about 8 minutes later, Craig Adams, a former Hawk, got on the board as well.


Hossa put the dagger in the Pens' coffin 17 seconds later with his second of the night. Brent Seabrook sprung him with the pass and he split the Pittsburgh D and went backhand and then forehand and beat Johnson over his right shoulder with a wrister from close in.


The Hawks were 2 for 5 on the power play and Hossa says it's key that they get the PP rolling early for it to be effective in the regular season.
"That's what you're going to need during the whole regular season, you know, get the power play and penalty killing, [those] special [teams] going because that's what's mostly going to win the games. [Friday night] I think we did a good job."


Corey Crawford started and played the whole game in net for the Hawks, and made 26 saves. 
"It was nice," Crawford said, "I felt like it was just a matter of just holding this team close, with this offense, it's only a matter of time that they score a couple goals. I think [they did] a really good job, I think, of getting pucks out when they tried to get in our zone. We weren't in there too long and we were able to go on offense pretty quick, so I think that was pretty key."

 On their 5 goals, Sharp also said, "It was nice to put a couple in. I think we can still have some room for improvement. There's lots of good puck movement out there, but it's always nice to put a couple in."

Notes 


•Even though it was a pretty good night for the Hawks, they lost a key piece of their Stanley Cup winning defense Friday night. In the second period, puck moving defenseman Brian Campbell went down with a sprained right knee after a collision with a Pens player along the right wing boards. It came out Saturday that he's going to miss 4-5 weeks, including the home opener on October 9th [obviously] when they raise the Cup Banner against Detroit. 
-Head Coach Joel Quenneville said that rookie Nick Leddy will get a chance to be Campbell's replacement. He's slotted to play with Campbell's normal partner Niklas Hjalmarsson in Sunday's preseason finale against the St. Louis Blues.
•The Penguins outshot the Hawks 28-26.
•The 3 stars of the game were:
1. Marian Hossa
The Hawks' right winger had 2 goals, including the game winner.
2. Fernando Pisani
The Hawks' winger continued to his good preseason with his goal in the first period.
3. Patrick Sharp
The Hawks' centerman had 2 assists in his 3rd game of the preseason.
The Hawks' centermen's faceoff percentages were:
-Jonathan Toews: 69%
-Dave Bolland: 62%
-Patrick Sharp: 46%
-Jake Dowell: 44%
John Scott led the team in hits with 5, and Bryan Bickell and Troy Brouwer each had 4.
Marian Hossa and Jonathan Toews each had 4 shots on goal.
Nick Boynton had 6 blocked shots.
Duncan Keith led the team in ice time with 26:29.
Brent Seabrook led the team in shifts [25].
•The Hawks' next game is Sunday at 5 p.m. at the United Center against the St. Louis Blues. It will be broadcast on WGN in the Chicagoland area and NHL Network nationally.
-Marty Turco is scheduled to start in net for the Hawks.

Post Game Interviews 
  •Coach Q



Patrick Sharp celebrates after Tomas Kopecky tipped in his shot on the power play in the second period.

**There would've been more coverage on the Penguins' goals, but I didn't see any highlights anywhere so I couldn't report on what I didn't see, just so everyone knows. 

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