Hawks Hockey Hoiden

If you’re a reader of this blog with any regularity you know that I have had a lot to say about how much of a mistake it was that the Blackhawks lost defenseman Matt Walker at the end of last season. So I was surprised that there wasn’t even a mention of Walker and his move to the Lightning before the start of the game tonight.

Walker showed his net presence tonight by repeatedly blocking shots for Lightning net-minder Antero Niittymaki.  Ironically, Matt Walker’s brand of defense was kind of like catching lightning in a bottle last year for the Blackhawks, and yet the Hawks inexplicably let him go. Maybe they just didn’t know what they had in Walker (or maybe they weren’t willing to pay Walker what he was worth despite recognizing what they had in him.)  Still, I don’t think anyone will dispute that part of the success of the Hawks’ defense during the playoffs last year was the Matt Walker/Niklas Hjalmarsson defensive combination.  In fact, I’m not so sure that Niklas Hjalmarsson didn’t learn some of his signature moves from Matt Walker since they both have the same brand of ‘D’ in common.

Undoubtedly, Matt Walker was his own one-man ‘D’ in tonight’s game.  Still, Niittymaki let his guard down in the 1st period at about the midway point, coming too far out of the net, which allowed Patrick Kane to score an easy goal on a wide-open net. (Later, Patrick Kane would get laid out on the boards with a nasty hit to his forehead by Lightning Matt Smaby. Kane would not return to the game.)  The second Hawk goal, which came at about the midway point in the 2nd period, came off a wicked pass by Marian Hossa, who set Ben Eager up for the goal.

And speaking of Ben Eager, it was hard to see Matt Walker go at it with his former teammates, Ben Eager in particular, in the 2nd period. Ben Eager would again go at it a few minutes later, this time with Zenon Konopka, which resulted in a 5-minute fighting penalty for each.  I guess the Hawks had to expect some rowdiness from the Lightning, one of the most penalized teams in the NHL.  Jonathan Toews I guess also couldn’t have been too surprised by Matt Smaby’s dirty, late hit on him, which laid him out with a shot to his head late in the 2nd period.  What was surprising however is that Toews got a roughing call for taking a swing at a Lightning player, any Lightning player, in retribution.  Yet for some reason Smaby was not called at all for his nasty hit on Toews.  Hopefully the NHL remedies that no-call in the days to come.

Despite the Lightning rough-housing, Marian Hossa also had a brilliant goal off a sweet Patrick Sharp pass in the 2nd period.  Upon the slick wrister from Sharpie, which he shot high, Hossa pulled the puck out of the air, put it to the ice, and shot it for the goal all within seconds.  Niittymaki didn’t even know what hit him.

And in the 3rd period, it was more of the same mad rush to the net on the part of the Hawks when Dustin Byfuglien brought the puck up the boards and  passed to Jonathan Toews who battled it in for the goal.  Pat Foley was right: a goal is the best revenge.

Lightning Todd Fedoruk apparently tried to take out his frustration on the Hawks’ goal-tender Antti Niemi as Fedoruk bull-dozed Niemi unnecessarily in the last two minutes of the game, which resulted in a late broohaha in front of the net.  Then Hawk Kris Versteeg shot it millimeters past the goal line on Niitymaki but there was no pause to even review the “non-goal.” I  guess the War Room figured since the Hawks were up by four, they didn’t need to bother with the review.

And let’s not forget to give Antti Niemi his due tonight for the shut-out of the Lightning 4-0.  Granted, Niemi only had to deflect 18 shots on goal the whole game (whereas the Hawks had 29 shots on goal the whole night), but still, let’s give credit where it’s due.  I’d like to see more of Niemi.  He’s coming along quite nicely.

Overall, great game Hawks.  An easy win, but still, it’s always fun to watch those slick Hawk moves.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 13th, 2009 at 8:46 pm and is filed under Antti Niemi, Ben Eager, Chicago Blackhawks, Dustin Byfuglien, Jonathan Toews, Kris Versteeg, Marian Hossa, Matt Walker, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Pat Foley, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.