By Michael Calvert
The story of last night’s game was clear: Teuvo Teravainen has arrived. Teuvo entered the game to a healthy cheer early in the first period.
Teravainen spent time on the first unit pp which tells me his role on the team is likely to be large. For most of the game he didn’t do anything that really stood out, but was a perfect 7/7 at the dot and showed some defensive know how. To win face-offs and be responsible defensively is probably icing on the cake for a player well known for slick hands and offensive creativity; we could really be on to something very special here.
The story of the actual game being played was goal tending, both Crawford and Lehtonen were outstanding, with the former making 38 saves on the night.
1st period: As mentioned earlier the goal tending in the game was excellent and the score remained even for about 98% of the first period when Andrew Shaw put in his 19th of the season while on the pp with only 18 seconds remaining in the period. It was a heady goal scored by Shaw who was screening Lehtonen and backhanded a rebound home.
2nd period: The second period featured more fireworks than the first. The Hawks struck first when Versteeg put a shot off a Dallas dmans stick 4 minutes into the period.
6 minutes later and Ryan Garbutt scored his first of two goals on a pretty slick backhander. Not to be outdone the Hawks re took the two goal lead 4 minutes later when Duncan Keith scored his 6th goal of the season.
3rd period: Just when it looked like the Hawks might coast to an easy win Garbutt potted his second goal of the game and suddenly it’s a tight one again.
The Hawks d and Crawford stood their ground and a Hjalmarsson empty netter turned into a Hossa empty netter and the Hawks win again…
Notes and declarative statements:
I personally thought the Blackhawks handling of Daily Herald Hawks writer Tim Sassone’s passing was a first class gesture. They announced his untimely death to the crowd and observed a moment of silence. The team had no obligation to make such a gesture and to me it’s just another reason for being proud to be a Hawks fan.
Teuvo was definitely interesting and I’ll probably be paying more attention to him than his Hawk teammates for the next few games, I am sensing greatness personally.
Just really nothing not to like about Shaw’s game.
Sharp is having a monster season.
Crawford is a Stanley Cup goalie.
Damn it feels good to be a Hawks fan.
Michael Calvert
