Game Recap: Blackhawks 2 - Sabres 6
My sleep deprived thoughts on the Blackhawks latest loss.
Red-eye flights aren't fun. Which is how I spent my Friday night after watching the Blackhawks get spanked. Do I need to do a recap of this crap? No. Do you want to read a recap of this crap? No. But there's probably something clinically wrong with me for doing this, and you too if you're still reading.
A word of warning. This was typed with minimal sleep. I don't succumb to jet lag because momma didn't raise a quitter.
Photo is from NHL Out of Context on BlueSky.
Scoring
Benson (6), Dahlin (18), Byram (15): JJ Peterka (BUF77) posts up on the blueline as Bowen Byram (BUF4) makes an OZ entry as the F1. BUF4 immediately passes to BUF77 and both players attract the attention of the Blackhawks defenders as Jiri Kulich (BUF20) drives to the net. Simultaneously, Zach Benson (BUF9) observes open space available for him to act as an F4 and bury a backdoor goal.
Tuch (10), Thompson (10), Dahlin (19): The Sabres continue to draw the Hawks defenders out of position by utilizing an F4 to help sustain offense. BUF4 passes from the point to BUF26 and releases to crowd the slot. BUF26 follows with Tage Thompson (BUF72) moving against the grain of play. BUF72 draws Connor Bedard, cuts back to receive a pass, and one-times a shot into traffic. Petr Mrazek stops the puck but loses it and it finds its way in the net.
Quinn (5), Cozens (11), Peterka (16): This would be a 2-on-1 against TJ Brodie who... well... watch the replay for yourself. Look at the screenshot below. See that circle? That's Kevin Korchinski making a risky play but Brodie is way off yonder and isn't protecting the middle of the ice. There's a lot more that went wrong to lead to this point. But I want to focus on Brodie because this dude is supposed to be a wisened veteran or something.
Cozens (8), Quinn (6): This is just sloppy stuff from the Hawks. Seth Jones is activating in the OZ (which is fine), and things start to look like something might get set up. Tyler Bertuzzi passes across the zone to Bedard who just eats it. Because Jones is already in the play, Bertuzzi has to chug back to assist Alex Vlasic. It's no use as Jack Quinn drops the puck to Dylan Cozens, who seals Mrazek's night.
Bertuzzi (11), Hall (12), Bedard (22): Bedard initiates a quick breakout after getting possession of the puck. Connor passes to Taylor Hall who enters the zone wide under pressure and connects a pass to Bertuzzi who buries it.
Bertuzzi now ties Ryan Donato as the Hawks goal leader and we get a Bedard point.Jones (3), Maroon (8), Reichel (8): Lukas Reichel displays that speed with a zone entry wide. Reichel passes back to Pat Maroon (his BFF) who makes a cross-ice pass to Jones who scores to make it a 4-2 game.
This is the kind of stuff that fits Jones' game well. Sorensen's use of the D as an F4 on the OZ entry suits Jones' offensive tendencies. Where Jones has been hurting the team is the lack of speed on the back-check.
Tuch (11), McLeod (11), Lafferty (1): More sloppiness on the Hawks part. Donato covers the middle of the ice as Connor Murphy gets into position. Tuch ends up snapping one past Arvid Soderblom.
I'm not going to do Vlasic dirty. He messed up. Tuch gets his hatty. Watch it if you want.
Thoughts
The Hawks looked terrible... they finished with a 5v5 39.8 Corsi and a 31.91 xG%. I thought the Hawks started off alright and was excited to see how this one turned out. That died rather quickly.
Bedard's effort snuck underneath my misery (remember, I had a red-eye flight to look forward to after this). 4 shots on goal and 6 shot attempts with 1 point. I'll focus on the positives there.
My boy Vlasic wasn't so positive. He had a 27.03 Corsi and a 2.35 expected goals against. His expected goals percentage was a 14.78.
Brodie's numbers aren't as bad but they aren't pretty. That's not the point though. Why he is still in the lineup after making mistakes game after game is a mystery. I'm not a Louise Crevier guy but I would much rather see him here than Brodie.
Let's Go Hawks.