Blackhawks Force Game 7: We're Going Back To Cali
With their backs against the wall the Blackhawks delivered a Championship effort. We’re going back to Cali, Cali. As if there was any doubt(except for the first 16 minutes of the 3rd). For the second year in a row, the Blackhawks are going to a Game 7 in the Western Conference Finals. It’s not easy, but it’s fun. This is such a special group and there’s nobody in the league I’d rather watch.
–What more is there to say about Duncan Keith? Another incredible performance last night. Logged his usual 28+ minutes and dominated every inch of the ice. First star of the game because of the three great assists. The pass to Hossa was incredible. Double pump and then a slide over right on the tape to give Hossa a wide open net. Tremendous offensive instincts. Should the Hawks go on to win the Stanley Cup he is my runaway favorite to win the Conn Smythe. Defensively he’s just so smart. Keith always seems to be in the right position, and when he isn’t he just turns on the jets to make a play. Keith saved one sure goal in front of the net too. He got his stick on the puck to disrupt a shot, and then swept away a goal that was sliding passed Crawford. In the postgame interview with Pierre he didn’t even look tired. Pierre kept asking him about how physically taxing the series has been and how the extra day off will be huge. Keith looked legit confused. “Umm everyone tries to hit us every series and we could play tomorrow if we needed to. We don’t need the extra rest”. Ok Duncs…the rest of us are exhausted just from watching and he seemed a little disappointed the game was only 60 minutes. Best defenseman in the league and should be in the discussion for best player too.
–Thank god for Duncan Keith because the bottom two defensemen continue to be an issue. Rundblad replaced Timonen in the lineup and played just under 6 minutes. Cumiskey logged a total of 7:15 TOI. Neither of them killed the Hawks in limited action, but they both had moments that made you hold on to your butt. I really like Cumiskey’s skating and transition game, but he’s not good below his own goal line and the Ducks generate so much down there. Coach Q has done a good job of hiding these guys and putting them in spots where they can succeed. That’ll be harder to do on the road in Game 7 so they both will need to focus on making simple and safe plays and being strong on the puck.
–I’ve mentioned the playoff hockey cliche “your best players need to be your best players” several times here in the past 2 months. Well last night the Hawks best guys delivered. I already talked about Keith at length, but the Saad-Toews-Kane line was fantastic. Putting Toews and Kane together has always been an “in case of emergency” tactic and you can add last night’s game to their growing legacies. The little touch pass by Kane to spring Saad was brilliant and Kane’s jigger bug move that had Belesky spinning was classic Kane.
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–It wasn’t just the top guys last night though. The Sharp-Vermette-Teuvo line has had serious jump all series long and they were really good again last night. They didn’t get on the score sheet last night, but they seemed to have the puck all night and had Anaheim on their heels. I feel like Patrick Sharp is due for a monster goal in these playoffs. He’s always been a big time player, and Game 7 should be his moment.
–A lot of people have been critical of Bryan Bickell for not producing, and there’s some merit to that. He’s normally a big time playoff performer and zero goals isn’t what the Hawks expected, but he’s contributing in other ways. He had some big hits again last night and went to the net more frequently last night.
–Speaking of role players stepping up…nobody stepped up more than Andrew Shaw. Obviously he had the dagger goal in the 3rd when the Hawks were holding on for dear life, but he was effective all night. Credit with 7 hits, he was flipping pancakes in the crease, and won a couple big draws in his own end. He is playoff hockey. Just a little shit that never stops working. Every team needs an Andrew Shaw and the Hawks are lucky to have him.
So it’s once more into the breech. Saturday night at the Pond in Anaheim. The Hawks will have to dig down deep for one more win in what has been an all-time classic series. The Blackhawks will be a contender for years to come with Kane, Keith, and Toews all locked up for the long haul, but this is kind of the last hurrah for this group. Another salary purge is coming this summer, and this team deserves more games together and another shot at the Stanley Cup.