Devils 3, Blackhawks 2 – Recap

Scoring

1^st Period

6:42 CHI Kane (PP) (Toews, Teräväinen)

2^nd Period

0:59 NJD Henrique (Moore)

17:01 NJD Palmieri (Kalinin)

3^rd Period

13:19 CHI Panarin (Gustafsson, Kane)

17:33 NJD Kalinin (PP) (Palmieri, Schlemko)

Penalties

1^st Period

5:02 NJD Moore: 2 min. – Tripping against Teräväinen

5:02 NJD Severson: 2 min. – High-sticking against Kero

10:27 CHI Hossa: 2 min. – Goaltender interference against Schneider

2^nd Period

3:43 NJD Tootoo: 2 min. – Interference against Gustafsson

12:07 CHI Kane: 2 min. – Hooking against Tootoo

3^rd Period

3:58 NJD Zajac: 2 min. – Hooking against Hossa

14:01 NJD Cammallieri: 2 min. – Tripping against Toews

17:25 CHI Kane: 2 min. – High-sticking against Kalinin

 

Another clunker by the Hawks. They controlled the action for much of the game, but couldn’t solve the New Jersey defense. Their own defense was okay, but okay’s about it. Svedberg was lousy, taking bad angles all night. Daley was meh. Crawford made a few big saves late to keep the Hawks in it, but he was the reason the Hawks were behind in the first place, so I’m not praising him for those saves. I don’t care how many Cups he was in net for, and yes, there were points in both playoff runs, particularly 2013, where he played out of his mind, but I think it’s fair to begin wondering if the Hawks handled the goalie situation right this past off-season. This was the concern that I’ve had about him since he was given the extension: that the team around him made him look better than he actually is. Yeah, he had back-to-back shutouts this year. So did Michael Neuvirth. I still don’t know why Bowman felt the need to trade Raanta when he did for what he did. And seriously, Q, play Darling more. Plenty of other guys have been scratched for being ordinary. Crawford should now.

As far as the lack of offense outside the Anisimov line goes, I think a decent amount of it has to do with guys on the other lines not having the same kind of chemistry. Developing that chemistry isn’t easy when you’re getting moved all over the place during and between games. Those moves are happening because the Hawks had to really re-tool their roster this past off-season and Q’s still trying to figure some things out with this new bunch. Teräväinen has been underwhelming and that’s got a pretty good amount to do with the offensive woes, but it’s hard to blame him too much when he’s been put on three different lines at three different positions. He came over to America as a center, then played mostly RW in the NHL, and now has been on the left side a lot. Put him at 1LW and leave him there. Let him get accustomed to playing LW and playing with Toews and Hossa. If Garbutt’s going to be out for any length of time, get Hartman back up and at 3LW. He, Kero, and Dano played well together. I have no idea why Mashinter was up. And maybe someone ought to wake Stan Bowman. There were talks that the Hawks were looking to acquire a defenseman, I don’t know if that’s such a good idea if anyone of real value would have to be traded. Gustafsson has played well enough to be the sixth defenseman when Keith gets back. Rozsival/Svedberg as the seventh seems fine. I’d focus on picking up a forward.

My picks for 3 stars:

★★★ Sergey Kalinin, C, NJD (1 G (GWG), 1 A)

★★ Patrick Kane, RW, CHI (1 G, 1 A)

★ Kyle Palmieri, RW, NJD (1 G, 1 A)

Twitter: @KSchroeder2325

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com