Everywhere you look, people are trying to give different reasons for why Calgary will pose a threat to the Blackhawks.
The truth is, there’s only one match-up where Calgary must take advantage if they want any chance to advance to the next round: the ‘Hawks Penalty Kill vs. the Flames Power Play.
If anyone watched the four games played between the two teams, it was quite apparent the ‘Hawks were the far superior team in 5-on-5 situations. Even if we throw away the two games Jarome Iginla is telling us to ignore, the other two were still dominated by the ‘Hawks. You can be the most physical, tough team in the world but if your opponent is equally as tough and twice as fast, you’re going to have a hard time competing.
That’s exactly the situation Calgary finds themselves in. For them to have any chance at winning this series, they need their power play to score at least one game a night. Some games may take more than that.
Of course, its kind of ironic that the team’s two specialty units (which are also the most scrutinized on each team) will decide this series. The ‘Hawks penalty kill has been relatively mediocre since the first month of the season, although they closed out the month of April on a high note. Taking out the goal they gave up to St. Louis with a second left in a 3-0 game, the ‘Hawks only gave two power play goals in 17 attempts. They ended the year 18th in the league.
If the ‘Hawks penalty kill has been mediocre, the Flames’ power play is downright offensive to everyone’s hockey senses. They have gone 0-for their last-42 which dropped them all the way to 21st in the league. Their last power play goal came against Detroit on March 23rd. Suffice to say, Calgary is overdue.
Mark my words, this will be the key match-up to the series (Have I mentioned this yet? Well too bad, I can’t stress it enough). If Calgary is able to get off the snide, then they will have a fighting chance at advancing. If not, then it will be over quicker than it started.
The important thing for the ‘Hawks will be to:
- Not take any silly penalties (I’m looking at you, Ben Eager, Matt Walker, and Adam Burish.)
- Kill off Calgary’s first power play in each game. With every passing game, the more times Calgary doesn’t score with the man advantage, the greater they will press. The first kill is always the most important.
The worst case scenario for the ‘Hawks would be to take a penalty in the first few minutes of Game 1 and Calgary capitalizing on it.
By the way, that is not an excuse to launch yourself off the 300 level if it does happen. Just know if it does, the ‘Hawks will most definitely be in for a tough series.
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–It looks like Patrick Sharp’s left leg was successfully re-attatched and that he will most likely dress for Game 1 on Thursday night. This is good news for everyone but Troy Brouwer, who appears to have played himself out of the line-up.
While Brouwer has done everything asked of him defensively, he’s brought little to the offensive table. With Byfuglien finding his groove on the third line alongside Pahlsson and Ladd, there’s nowhere for Brouwer to go but next to Aaron Johnson in the press box. I wouldn’t write him off for the rest of the year just yet, though. He’ll be one dumb Ben Eager penalty away from dressing again.
Geez..It’s been so long since Sunday, I’d completely forgotten about Matt Walker. Think of it this way, Walker has 22% of his points against the Flames.