Back in the Land of the Living

Based on my completely unscientific table, the Hawks finishing 1-1-1 on the final leg of the Circus Trip makes it a good road trip.  There, now you can all finally sleep.  Though, collecting 9 out of a possible 12 points is surely bordering on orgasmic.  The only reason they didn’t collect that precious tenth point was because of Jonathan Quick.

The Hawks had two chances early in Saturday night’s game to get on the board.  John Madden fired a puck from the goal line; Quick stopped it but had no idea where it was.  The puck laid along the post and Troy Brouwer came flying through the crease.  He was unable to locate the puck, however, and Quick covered the puck before a melee ensued in front of him.

The second chance came shortly after when Ham Sandwich’s point shot trickled through Quick’s legs.  Jonathan Toews stood at the crease and had it not been for Drew Doughty keeping Toews pre-occupied, he would have surely deposited it into the empty net.

After those two fortuitous bounces for Los Angeles, Quick settled in and that was that. 

Regardless, it was still nice to see the Hawks play in the Staples Center and not look like a team who’s never played together before.  Even if the result was less than desirable.

The Hawks finally return to the United Center with a couple of large divisional games on tap.  They’ll get their first look at the Blue Jackets on Tuesday and then on Friday will take on Nashville for the fourth time.  If you haven’t been paying attention, Nashville is only four points behind the Hawks in the standings and just as annoying as ever.

More extended thoughts on those two teams will be coming later in the week.  

*On the Farm*

–The IceHogs took their recent goal scoring frustrations out on the Abbotsford Heat with a 5-1 win on Saturday night.  Rockford scored early and often with two goals each in the first and second periods.  They capped off the game with a goal a minute into the third.  An Abbostsford goal just before the 8 minute mark of the third period was the only glitch on the scoresheet.

Mark Cullen started the scoring with his tenth goal of the year.  Brian Connelly and Darryl Boyle got assists.  Evan Brophey followed it up with his third goal of the year.  Assists were given to Richard Petiot and Boyle. 

In the second period, Ryan Flinn scored with an assist going to Jake Dowell.  Flinn was playing in his fifth game of the year and Dowell’s assist was his first point in seven games.  A minute later, Bracken Kearns scored with assists from Jack Skille and Kyle Greentree.

Skille closed out the scoring in the third with his linemates Kearns and Greentree getting the assists. 

Joseph Fallon made 25 saves on 26 shots.  Skille, Kearns, and Boyle were named the three stars of the game.

Following the game, Rockford sent goalie Alec Richards back to Toledo of the ECHL.  Perhaps Corey Crawford is alive after all.

—Shawn Lalonde had an assist in Belleville’s 5-4 loss to the Owen Sound Attack on Saturday. 

—Kyle Beach had an assist in Spokane’s 4-0 win over the Regina Pats.

—Byron Froese scored Everett’s final goal in a 6-1 win over the Tri-City Americans.

—Brandon Pirri scored for RPI but it wasn’t enough in their 5-4 overtime loss to Union in the RPI Holiday Tournament.

—Billy Sweatt did not score in Colorado College’s 3-2 overtime loss to Alaska-Anchorage.  The loss kept Colorado College in a tie for first place in the WCHA with Denver.  Next weekend, the two teams will meet in Colorado Springs for a two-game set.

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