Saturday, April 2, 2011

Stalberg Provides the Heroics in the Shootout

Chicago Blackhawks @ Columbus Blue Jackets
4-1-11
Final Score: 4-3 Hawks [SO]
Scoring Summary
1st Period
2:41-CHI-Patrick Kane [26] (Chris Campoli [16], Nick Leddy [2])
5:49-CHI-PPG-Brent Seabrook [7] (Kane [43], Marian Hossa [30])
9:17-CBJ-Maksim Mayorov [1] (Anton Stralman [14], Antoine Vermette [26])
2nd Period
14:07-CBJ-PPG-Derick Brassard [16] (Stralman [15], Vermette [27])
3rd Period
13:22-CBJ-Sammy Pahlsson [7] (Stralman [16], Sami Lepisto [11])
14:57-CHI-Bryan Bickell [17] (Duncan Keith [36])
Overtime
None
Shootout
Maksim Mayorov-CBJ-Save
Jonathan Toews-CHI-Missed the net
Tomas Kubalik-CBJ-Save
Patrick Kane-CHI-Save
Jakub Voracek-CBJ-Save
Viktor Stalberg-CHI-Goal   

Most of the games for the past month have been must wins for the Blackhawks.  Friday night's game in Columbus was really no different.

The Hawks came out flying in the first period, and took it to the Blue Jackets for about the first six or seven minutes of the game.
There were some hairy moments before the Hawks got on the board though.  Rookies Marcus Kruger and Nick Leddy made turnovers near their own blue line and goalie Corey Crawford was there to bail them out. 

Good things happened after Leddy's turnover though.
Chris Campoli was able to collect the loose puck from the side of his net after Crawford's saves and he used the glass to get the puck up and out of the zone.  Patrick Kane was waiting at center ice and once he got to the puck, brought a two on one with Jonathan Toews into the Columbus zone.  
From the bottom part of the left circle, Kane let a wicked wrister go and beat Jackets goalie Mathieu Garon over his left shoulder for his 26th on the campaign.

The Hawks made it a two goal lead just over three minutes later on the power play.
Kane was able to show off his sweet hands again as he dished a pass from the right circle through traffic over to Brent Seabrook, who was pinching in from the point, in the left circle--where the injured Patrick Sharp would normally be waiting on the power play.
Toews was tying up defenseman Marc Methot out in front and it provided enough traffic for Garon not to see the puck and for a falling Seabrook to one time it home.

Following that goal, the Jackets seemed to gain some momentum and it resulted in them cutting the lead to one.
Anton Stralman wristed a shot towards the net from the right point and rookie Maksim Mayorov was able to register his first career NHL goal by tipping it from just below the right hashmarks.
The play was under review for a couple of minutes because it could've been called a high stick.  The ruling on the ice was a goal and there wasn't any conclusive evidence to overturn it so the 22 year old's goal stuck.

"We talked about a big start and we came out really flying tonight," winger Viktor Stalberg told chicagoblackhawks.com after the game, "I thought we had a great start, a couple of really good chances off the bat, and you know, we get [to] two-nothing and we kind of [took] our foot off the gas a bit."

The second period was riddled with penalties--mostly on the Hawks' part. There were nine total penalties called and 6 of them were taken by the guys in the white sweaters.
They did get a good shorthanded chance while they were down a man for four minutes due to a Kane high sticking double minor.
Marian Hossa and Toews had a two on one going for them into the Jackets' zone. Passing to Toews wasn't an option as the passing lane was taken away nicely. Hossa got in too close and couldn't get a good shot away from the bottom of the right circle.
On that particular kill in general, the Hawks did a great job of killing it all off and not letting Columbus see too many chances.

Columbus was able to strike on their five on three power play though. Hossa was in the box for boarding and Niklas Hjalmarsson was in the box for delay of game.
From center ice, Stralman gave the puck to Antoine Vermette along the right wing boards to lead the rush into the Hawks' zone. Vermette gave it back to Stralman near the right halfwall. Stralman handed it over to Derick Brassard at the top of the left circle and Brassard let a bomb go that found its way past Crawford blocker side to tie the game at two with 5:53 left in the period.

Crawford came up huge in the third period.
The Jackets had a two on one rush coming up ice led by Mayorov.  He sent a cross slot pass over to Derek MacKenzie in the right circle. MacKenzie was able to one time it and Crawford came across the crease and made the save with his left arm and or pad. 
Nevertheless, he made the save.

The Jackets took their first lead of the night at the 13:22 mark of the period.  Stralman's slap shot from the point found its way onto former Hawk Sammy Pahlsson's stick and he was able to tip in the shot for his seventh of the year.

The Hawks were quick to answer back.
Just over a minute later, Bryan Bickell recorded his 17th of the year to tie it back up at three.
Bickell just threw a shot on net from the left halfwall and it somehow found its way past Garon, blocker side.

"It's kind of funny," Bickell also told chicagoblackhawks.com after the game, "most of my goals come from about there, but I was just trying to get a rebound there, low pads, and [...] I guess [the puck] just snuck by him. Good things happen when you put it on the net."

The game went into overtime, and Hossa had a golden chance to get his 2nd overtime winner in one week.
Michael Frolik took advantage of a Jackets turnover just outside of their blue line and brought the puck into the zone down the right wing boards, with Hossa coming up on the other side.
Frolik backhanded a pass into the slot for Hossa and Hossa tipped it on net, but Garon was there with the right pad to make the save.
A shootout followed the extra five minute session and Crawford continued to prove why he should be a candidate for the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year.
He was a stellar three for three, stopping Mayorov, Tomas Kubalik, and Jakub Voracek, to set up Stalberg to seal the deal for the Hawks after Toews and Kane both didn't convert on their chances.
Stalberg went to his forehand, then his backhand and put it through Garon's blocker and left pad to give the Hawks a much needed win to stay in 8th place in the Western Conference standings.

"It was nice to see Crow come up with the last save there so at least I got a chance to win it, instead of just trying to get it tied, so that helped out a lot," Stalberg explained.

On the game as a whole, Bickell said: "[The Jackets] are a run-n-gun team and we just weren't playing smart. We were just coughing the puck up too much and the rest of the opportunities they'd been getting [were from] us.
"Then they get the lead and then we come back, it's a huge two points for us and we need to keep this going."

"We can't underestimate these guys," Stalberg added. "They're a hard working team and they're going to get their chances. 
"Obviously we put ourselves in some penalty trouble tonight and we can't do it against a team like this."

Notes

Viktor Stalberg is now two for two on shootout attempts this year.
"So far so good, I guess," He said after the game. "We do [shootouts] a lot in practice. I try to score as much as I can there. Q asked me a couple weeks ago if I wanted to go if we got a chance. I like the opportunity; we haven't had any shootout games since he asked me, but it was good for us to get that win and it's a big extra point for us in the standings."
•The Jackets outshot the Hawks 34-21.
-The Hawks' power play went 1-4 while Columbus' went 1-7.
-Columbus beat the Hawks in the faceoff battle, winning 22 draws. The Hawks won 16.
•The faceoff percentages of the Hawks' centermen were:
-Ryan Johnson: 73.3%
-Jake Dowell: 66.7%
-Jonathan Toews: 45.8%
-Marcus Kruger: 0%
*Tomas Kopecky: 37.5%
The * means he took a lot of draws but wasn't playing center.
•The Hawks' scratches were: Jordan Hendry [torn ACL], Patrick Sharp [lower body injury], Dave Bolland [concussion], and John Scott [healthy].
Brian Campbell led the Hawks in ice time [31:38] and in shifts [36].
-Brent Seabrook led the way in hits [6] and blocked shots [3].
-Bryan Bickell and Tomas Kopecky each had a team high 4 shots on goal.
-Michael Frolik had 3 takeaways.
Jonathan Toews is 10th in the league with 75 points [31G, 44 A] and is 8th in game winning goals with 7 of them.
-Patrick Sharp is 8th in the league with 34 goals and is 6th in power play goals with 12.
•The Hawks' next game is on Sunday, back at home at the United Center, against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It's on WGN at 6 p.m. 

Post Game Interviews

Other Videos

Patrick Kane celebrates his first period tally with Bryan Bickell.

Brent Seabrook celebrates with the bench after he scored a power play goal.

Viktor Stalberg scores the game winning goal in the shootout for the Hawks.

No comments:

Post a Comment