Blackhawks 4, Islanders 1 – Recap

Scoring

1^st Period

4:07 CHI van Riemsdyk. Assists: Kane, Panarin

2^nd Period

5:53 CHI Panarin. Assist: Kane

16:25 CHI Kane. Assists: van Riemsdyk, Panarin

3^rd Period

15:27 CHI Seabrook (PP). Assists: Teräväinen, Shaw

18:55 NYI Clutterbuck (SH). Unassisted.

Penalties

1^st Period

18:27 CHI Daley: 2 min. – Hooking against Okposo

19:18 NYI Tavares: 2 min. – Hooking against Hossa

2^nd Period

7:05 NYI Lee: 2 min. – Hooking

9:29 CHI Anisimov: 2 min. – Holding against Bailey

3^rd Period

6:04 NYI de Haan: 2 min. – High-sticking against Viktor Tikhonov

6:04 NYI de Haan: 2 min. – Closing hand on puck

13:55 NYI Zidlicky: 2 min. – Interference against Garbutt

13:55 NYI Tavares: 2 min. – Unsportsmanlike conduct (Served by Okposo)

13:55 NYI Tavares: 10 min. – Game misconduct

17:38 NYI Zidlicky: 2 min. – High-sticking against Toews

 

You’re not going to see teams play too many games better than this one. The Hawks, aside from a little trouble dealing with the physicality of the Islanders’ fourth line, were dominant at both ends. Darling was outstanding in his first start of the season; a boneheaded Patrick Kane turnover on a garbage time power play that led to a Clutterbuck breakaway was all that stood between him and a shutout. (Kane was outstanding the rest of the game, but come on, he’s got to know better than that.)

Q put the lines in a blender for this one, starting Garbutt at 1LW, moving Turbo to 3C and Shaw to 4RW. I’d like to see Baun back in the lineup and Bickell out of it. Bickell was better in this one, but still not very good.

Svedberg started the game alongside Seabrook and had a pretty nice game. Chris Kuc said that the Hawks are looking to acquire a defenseman, which seems like a pretty good idea. I like Svedberg enough, but if Q thinks Pokka’s not ready yet (I really hoped/thought he would be by now), you need a better backup plan than David Rundblad, who’s struggles have been pretty well documented here and Michal Rozsival, who is 37 and will be coming back from a serious injury.

My picks for 3 stars:

★★★ Trevor van Riemsdyk, D, CHI (1 G, 1 A)

★★ Artemi Panarin, LW, CHI (1 G (GWG), 2 A)

★ Scott Darling, G, CHI (28 SV, 1 GA)

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com