GDT - Game #69: Hawks @ Sens, Mar 16, 2017, 7:30pm

Pretty good first period by our MIGHTY SENASNORES!!! Condon looking sharp. We sure miss Stone out there though....

Leafs trolling the Sens by taking a 3-0 lead on Tampa. Guess the Bolts are finally tired?

Man, what was Brassard thinking about???!

4-0 Leafs over Lightning, now.

Wideman with a slap-pass and then a pass on that PP. Maybe he lurks here.

Wideman shot on goal. Well, hits the post so it won't show up on the stats.

Condon having a good showing tonight. Except for that... whatever that was put of the net.

Pretty solid effort all around.

PTFlea wrote:Pretty solid effort all around.

It was the god damn Blackhawks! We did keep em down for the most part.

Two broken sick slashing penalties. Gotta call them when they are that obvious. But Smith got slashed right on the hands when he could have had a tall in almost. He didn't miss on that one he got slashed. And I know they didn't call Wideman for that trip, but that same stretch they missed the high stick on Brassard she the trip on Turris and a bit of interference. Like the stick chopped in half, you've got to call the high stick to the face when it's right in front of you.

And in not blaming the refs. The part about slashing on the fingers everyone knows about that. If the Hawks do it and get away with it then the Sens should as well. Two handers to the center of the stick are not a good idea. Hit the gloves instead and fit God's sake don't make it look so obvious.

PTFlea wrote:Pretty solid effort all around.

Not solid enough.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

PTFlea wrote:Pretty solid effort all around.

Not solid enough.

Puck bounces to Panik at the side of the net and he scores a great goal. Puck bounces to Ryan in the same place and it bounces over his stick. Wouldn't have even taken a great shot, just a tap in, but he missed it.

Wideman shot beats Darling clean and dings the post, bounces right back and between his legs. Half an inch to the left and it's in, a sixteenth of an inch to the right and it bounces into his skate/leg and in.

Slashing call on Methot was sort of iffy; Slashing call on Smith not called at all (would it have if he dropped his stick?) High-stick to Brassard's face not called (neither was Wideman's trip, but there was a missed hook/trip on Turris right after that as well).

Overall, the effort was there the bounces (and benefit of the doubt from refs) were not. I'd say the two teams were fairly evenly matched except for faceoffs (Hawks missing Anisimov) and blocked shots (Darling hasn't played since March 1 so they were blocking shots for him).

Great game by the Sens. These games really don't mean that much other than getting 1st place in the division, so it's not a big deal if we lose a couple in a row right now.

wprager wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

PTFlea wrote:Pretty solid effort all around.

Not solid enough.

Puck bounces to Panik at the side of the net and he scores a great goal.  Puck bounces to Ryan in the same place and it bounces over his stick.  Wouldn't have even taken a great shot, just a tap in, but he missed it.

Wideman shot beats Darling clean and dings the post, bounces right back and between his legs.  Half an inch to the left and it's in, a sixteenth of an inch to the right and it bounces into his skate/leg and in.

Slashing call on Methot was sort of iffy; Slashing call on Smith not called at all (would it have if he dropped his stick?)  High-stick to Brassard's face not called (neither was Wideman's trip, but there was a missed hook/trip on Turris right after that as well).  

Overall, the effort was there the bounces (and benefit of the doubt from refs) were not.  I'd say the two teams were fairly evenly matched except for faceoffs (Hawks missing Anisimov) and blocked shots (Darling hasn't played since March 1 so they were blocking shots for him).

You think if he had played 3 nights ago the players would have said, "Oh, you're on your own. You should be fine. You just played."

spader wrote:

wprager wrote:

SeawaySensFan wrote:

PTFlea wrote:Pretty solid effort all around.

Not solid enough.

Puck bounces to Panik at the side of the net and he scores a great goal.  Puck bounces to Ryan in the same place and it bounces over his stick.  Wouldn't have even taken a great shot, just a tap in, but he missed it.

Wideman shot beats Darling clean and dings the post, bounces right back and between his legs.  Half an inch to the left and it's in, a sixteenth of an inch to the right and it bounces into his skate/leg and in.

Slashing call on Methot was sort of iffy; Slashing call on Smith not called at all (would it have if he dropped his stick?)  High-stick to Brassard's face not called (neither was Wideman's trip, but there was a missed hook/trip on Turris right after that as well).  

Overall, the effort was there the bounces (and benefit of the doubt from refs) were not.  I'd say the two teams were fairly evenly matched except for faceoffs (Hawks missing Anisimov) and blocked shots (Darling hasn't played since March 1 so they were blocking shots for him).

You think if he had played 3 nights ago the players would have said, "Oh, you're on your own. You should be fine. You just played."

Guy hasn't played in over two weeks, he's coming off an injury. Yeah, I think the team plays differently when a goalie hasn't played in a while. Ottawa has been out-blocking the opposition the whole year, last night they were outblocked *significantly*.

Ottawa is second in the league in blocking, nearly 17 blocks per game. Last night they blocked 15, which is not really out of line (shots on goal were under 30).

Chicago is 11th in the league, blocking an average of under 15 shots per game. Last night they blocked *24*. That's a very significant change.

So, yeah, I'd say they were laying down way more than usual, and the fact that Darling is coming back after missing more than 2 weeks had something to do with it.

wprager wrote:Ottawa is second in the league in blocking, nearly 17 blocks per game.  Last night they blocked 15, which is not really out of line (shots on goal were under 30).

Chicago is 11th in the league, blocking an average of under 15 shots per game.  Last night they blocked *24*.  That's a very significant change.

So, yeah, I'd say they were laying down way more than usual, and the fact that Darling is coming back after missing more than 2 weeks had something to do with it.

I think that's silly. The biggest reason is that the Sens had a lot of trouble getting quick shots off last night. It seemed that they were taking an extra second or two most of the time. That gives the other team time to set up for a block. It was clear to me that the Hawks were taking advantage of those lags to get in the way of shots. To me this is a much better explanation than the idea that the team determines how many shots they'll block based on how many days the goalie has been sitting. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

Sens had more shots on goal, won nearly 2 of 3 faceoffs, same 1/4 PP (and 3/4 on PK), more hits (without Boro or Neil in the lineup), fewer giveaways. The only thing the Hawks dominated was the blocked shots. Did Darling steal one? Don't think so. Not that many of his saves were spectacular, or at least I don't recall. Some nice saves, for sure (Hoffman comes to mind), and lucky on the goal post and the puck bouncing over Ryan's stick. I think Condon had more hard saves, but not to the point where I'd say they dominated the Sens and only Condon kept it close. He got lucky one one play just like Darling with the goalpost.

All in all, a very even game. This would be a series that went 6-7 games, easy.

We get Stone back, it helps; but they get Anisimov back and win more faceoffs. Does Anderson make a difference? Over a 6-7 game series, yes, that one game, probably not. That second goal (Panik), don't think Andy would have stopped it (he's 1" taller, probably not enough). The first one, Condon stopped it and the D failed to contain the Hawks attackers. Maybe Andy traps that one a little better.