In tonight’s game 5, it looked like Dustin Byfuglien agreed when during a check of Flyers’ d-man Kimmo Timonen at about the 10 or 11 minute mark of the 3rd period, he took out Dan O’Halloran as well.  Two goons with one stone.  It was a thing of beauty!  O’Halloran seemed to know that hit was meant for him too by the look on his face.  Karma can be tricky Danny boy, so you just better watch out.  The hockey gods don’t seem to like your intentional missed calls on the Flyers.

Finally, just to add insult to injury, Hawks’ Dustin Byfuglien scored the last goal of the 7-4 victory over the Flyers with an empty-netter in the last minute-and-a-half of the game with Dan O’Halloran having to rule it a good goal.  So sweet.  Go Hawks!  Get that cup!

P.S. Hats off to Q for taking Big Buff and Kaner off the first line and moving Marian Hossa and Tomas Kopecky up with Toews.  It totally threw off the Flyers.  They couldn’t put the bullseye on any one player and with Buff checking up and down like a mad man, it was discombobulating to the Flyers.  Hopefully Niklas Hjalmarsson can figure his game out by game 6 though, because we need him blocking shots.  Don’t know what’s up with him, but he has that deer-in-headlights look about him.

Oh, and since I’m in the middle of watching tonight’s Blackhawks game against the Oilers, I just have to ask, because I’m thinking of it, did Dustin Byfuglien get a nose job?  I swear his nose is smaller and even shorter!  Anybody else notice that?  Also, I think the fact that Jonathan Toews must be exhausted is throwing off the equilibrium of the team.  Give this kid a break and let him sit out a few games before he collapses would ya?!

Along those lines, do you think when Niklas Hjalmarsson goes to take a shower in the morning he sees a whole bunch of purple circles on his chest?  Brings new meaning to “taking one for the team”!  And do you think when Marian Hossa looks in the mirror he thinks he looks like Ziggy too?

And I’m really loving Ben Eager and Colin Fraser as co-enforcers in the absence of Adam Burish.  Bur could do no better in terms of quality of scraps.  Once Eager and Fraser learned the fine art of discernment — you know, figuring out when to drop the gloves and when not to — these two became indispensable.  Bang on boys! (Literally.)

With the Hawks getting their rough-housing out of the way a few times in the first period of tonight’s game against the Blues, it was no surprise that they waited past the first half of the first period to score.  The long-suffering Troy Brouwer scored one past Blues’ net-minder Ty Conklin with relative ease off an assist by Jonathan Toews.  And, with a little over two minutes left in the first, Brian Campbell also scored on a slap shot thanks to a screen from Kris Versteeg.

And with a little over three minutes left in the 2nd, Jonathan Toews came around back of the goal in what looked like it would be a wrap-around and then deftly passed to Marian Hossa who shot quickly for the third goal.

The rest of the 2nd and a little over two minutes left in the 3rd period it was hum-drum hockey until Dustin Byfuglien followed through with a clean check of Blues’ Barret Jackman.  Then Blues’ Brad Winchester and Big Buff had a bit of a go, but nothing major.  In the last 20 seconds of the game, Blues’ Cam Janssen encroached on Cristobal Huet and Huet pushed back until Brent Sopel swooped in to protect Huet.  Ben Eager then scrapped with B.J. Crombeen, even though Crombeen refused to drop his glove.  Regardless, the Hawks would take the Blues 3-0 in a shut-out for Cristobal Huet.

P.S.  And good news on the Patrick Kane front.  Despite that nasty trip into the boards during that last game between the Hawks and the Lightning wherein Kane hit his eye, Kaner is back.  Is he ok?  Of course.  He hit his head, and he doesn’t use that often enough for that to have been cause for concern.  Yet, for some unknown reason he was the star of the game tonight even though Cristobal Huet had the shut-out.  Well, I guess that’s just good P.R. and of course you need those kids to get their parents in the those seats!

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.

While there was plenty of tennis hockey  — back-and-forth and back-and-forth — the Rangers would bust through late in the 1st period for the first goal.  Hawks’ Duncan Keith bent over backwards to block the coming shot and was successful for his part, but Rangers’ Chris Higgins was handed a pretty set-up and shot high on Huet’s glove-side for the first goal.  The Rangers scored in the 1st though the Hawks had 16 shots on goal versus the Rangers’ 5. (In case you’re bad at math that means the Hawks out-shot the Rangers  3-1 and were still losing after the 1st.)

Nothing very exciting going on in the 2nd period except for a bogus hooking call on Jonathan Toews.  Again, the Hawks out-shot the Rangers 14 to 10, to no avail.  The Rangers’ goalie Henrik Lundqvist was just that good shutting out the Hawks in the 2nd period as well.

The Hawks’ persistence would pay off late in the 3rd, however, when on the Hawks’ power play, Lundqvist was unable to freeze the puck and the Hawks kept whacking away and whacking away on net until Jonathan Toews, with a nifty assist from Marian Hossa, netted a goal for a tie.

And could it be that Dustin Byfuglien has found his purpose?  In several attempts tonight Big Buff was in front of the opposition’s net-minder screening shots.  As has been suggested by myself and many commenters here and elsewhere this is what we’d like to see Buff doing with that big body.  Now, if he can perfect that art and keep from instigating with the opposing net-minder, perhaps he may have just found his calling in life.  Oh yeah, and did I mention that Byfuglien had the game winner in the overtime period?  It was as brilliant a goal as Jonathan Toews’ sweet “Superman” goal in the game against the Predators on December 4th.  Big Buff was a blur on the breakaway as he zoomed Lundqvist for the game winner in OT. Final score, 2-1 Hawks over the Rangers.

And in honorable mentions, hats off to the Hawks’ poise as the Rangers committed three times as many penalties.  Naturally in a game this close, you want to keep the penalties to a minimum.

And again, as an almost mandatory mention with these recaps, I must acknowledge Niklas Hjalmarsson.  Everyone talks about how skilled this kid is in blocking shots and just overall ‘D’, but how many have noticed his incredible speed?  For some reason, in this game in particular, I could not deny that not only does this kid have the Red-Wings-type defensive style that has sorely been needed on the Hawks, but he possesses the speed that allows him to be everywhere that lesser defensemen are not. I wonder if clocked, if Hjalmy would have the kind of speed that say, a Kris Versteeg would have?

And speaking of Versteeg, it was good to see Kris Versteeg back on wing. Clearly Steegy was not as at home in center as on wing, so it’s good to see Steegy back where he belongs.

Overall, good game Hawks.  Wish I could’ve battled the blizzard (like the Hawks battled back to beat the Rangers) to see it in person.

There was a little bit of a to-do in the 1st period with Penguins’ Matt Cook and Hawks’ Duncan Keith.  Matt Cook delivered a tough hit on one end and then at the other end Duncan Keith elbowed Cook in the face.  Keith got a 2-minute interference call, though it could’ve been a 5-minute major or even an ejection. (Cook would later pay Dunc back with some knuckles to Dunc’s jaw which laid him out on his knees.)  Seconds later, Marian Hossa scored a stunning goal off of some agile passing from Patrick Kane and Brian Campbell. (Yes, Brian Campbell!)

Then the Pens’ Evgeni Malkin went at Colin Fraser in the dwindling minutes of the 2nd.  Geno had Fraser on his back on the ice and still the ref didn’t intervene.  I’m all for a good scrap, but I think you can call off the dogs when you’ve got a guy on his back!

Evgeni Malkin struck again in the last minute and a half of the 3rd period with a pass to Jordan Staal who put it past Antti Niemi for a goal after the Pens had pulled Marc-André Fleury from the net.  Still, the Hawks would battle back in the overtime period with Kris Versteeg hammering the puck past Fleury for the win.

Truthfully I was a little surprised that Hawks’ secondary goalie Antti Niemi was put in net against Pens’ Marc-André Fleury.  I thought maybe it would’ve been wiser to put Niemi in last night’s game against the Predators and put Cristobal Huet in net against the defending champion Penguins tonight.  But Niemi proved me and other doubters wrong.  He held the Penguins scoreless through two, almost three, periods.

All-in-all, an amazing game.  The kind you DVR and watch over and over if only to watch the Penguins eat it.

Tazer deftly maneuvered the puck through heavy traffic, around opponents, and faked out Preds’ goal-tender Dan Ellis who went low, as Tazer went to shoot upstairs.  Ellis tripped Toews but could not deter his shot up high as Toews went down. (And Stan and Rocky could sit there with a grin on their faces and say that’s why they now pay Tazer the big bucks.  Although, let’s face it, Toews from the beginning was always worth the big bucks.  He’s just now getting paid what he’s worth.)

Unfortunately in both goals scored by the Preds in the 1st and 2nd periods, the shots on Huet were screened by a Hawk. (Cam Barker for the first, and Niklas Hjalmarsson for the second.) I understand that defensemen need to back up their net-minders, but perhaps they should also learn to get out of the way. Things deteriorated in the 3rd period when the Preds scored two additional goals within seconds of each other.  The Preds took the Hawks, 4-1.

Honorable mentions in this game go to Niklas Hjalmarsson for a skillful block of an attempted wrap-around goal from the Preds (and some “hammer”-worthy hits); an easily shaken off hit on Troy Brouwer that was so hard it shook several panes of the glass (and probably Brouwer’s teeth); and a ghastly shot of the puck blocked by Brent Sopel’s knee, though he continued to play through the pain while limp-skating.

On a happy note, I love the power-play unit combination of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, and Marian Hossa.  I think once these guys gel together, it will improve the PP-unit’s percentages.

With Hossa, I’ve been reining in any excessive excitement I might let slip through my steely, hockey exterior. We’ve all been down this road before; we’ve bought into the hype and been disappointed.  Hossa did have some rust to work out of the pipes, but he did not disappoint.  Once Hossa oiled the hinges, he scored a short-handed goal on the penalty kill (as did Patrick Sharp within 28 seconds of each other) in the 2nd period.  Hossa would score again early on in the 3rd period and I was hoping for a hat trick, but alas it was not meant to be.  I am cautiously optimistic about Hossa, but continued performances like tonight’s will win over even this fiercest of skeptics.

While it’s usually good to have new blood, it’s still nice to see the old reliables, like Troy Brouwer who scored a goal during a penalty kill late in the 1st period, Dustin Byfuglien who scored midway through the 2nd (and who had a puck go up his shorts late in the 2nd period…tee hee), and Brent Seabrook who scored early in the 3rd.  Duncan Keith also had 3 assists.  And Niklas Hjalmarsson too is fast becoming old faithful.  He had a diving block in the first period (which is a really good way to break your neck if you slam into the boards head first), but that’s nothing as he seems to perpetually be putting himself in peril for this team.

There was a little bit of bumbling involving some bad passes, and at one point John Madden tripped over his own skates on a breakaway.  Madden would make up for it though, scoring a goal late in the 3rd.  The Hawks were also a little lazy on their back checking tonight, at first at least, but chalk that up to jet lag.  The important thing is that this team keeps improving.  So, what am I thankful for this season?  That the Blackhawks just keep getting better and better.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Let’s look at the run-down shall we?  The Hawks’ injury report looks more like the team roster with Brent Seabrook, Jonathan Toews, Ben Eager, Adam Burish, and Marian Hossa all having been sidelined.  Fans have also been divided between Martin Havlat/Dale Tallon supporters and the no-need-to-dwell-on-the-pasters.  And while Jonathan Toews took a nasty hit a few weeks ago resulting in a fairly serious concussion, Toews was blamed for not seeing oncoming traffic, while Toews’ hit-man Canucks’ Willie Mitchell has all but escaped scrutiny.  Meanwhile, Andrew Ladd has been skewered by sports pundits across the Internet for his “dirty” hit on the Habs’ Matt D’Agostini.

Oh but wait, there’s more.  Recent acquisitions — Jordan Hendry, Andrew Ebbett, Tomas Kopecky, John Madden — have been less than the promised spectacularness, and have yet to even gel with the rest of the team.  And let’s not forget that Cristobal Huet has had an even less ceremonious start this year than last year when he was also booed in his own stadium.

So, putting all these things together, does the evidence speak for itself, or is it still too soon to tell if the Hawks’ management have cursed themselves?  While the Hawks lead the division, it’s been…well…weird.  The United Center feels funny, the players frequently are awkward and bumbling, and the fans appear askew.  There’s a haunting energy surrounding the Hawks, no question.

Well, as other fans and myself said after the Havlat debacle, we know the truth.  Difference is, we don’t have a gag clause.  Like I said, karma’s a tricky thing.  And the Hawks’ management may just be seeing their shenanigans being revisited back on their heads.