Exciting Shootout Win Carries Blackhawks into All Star Break

photo from stltoday.com

After a one sided win against Arizona, the Blackhawks got into Pittsburgh early yesterday morning to play the Penguins. Last time they had to travel during a back to back, they lost 5-2  to the Oilers. This time, they got an early lead, before giving up a couple of goals, and holding off a motivated Pittsburgh team through a furiously paced overtime period. Crawford shut the door in the shootout to give the Blackhawks back to back wins heading into the weekend break.


The Saad-Toews-Hossa line continues to shine, combining for four of the six points collected by the Blackhawks last night, including a goal and an assist for Marian Hossa. Jonathan Toews extended his point streak to seven games, and added another shootout winner. He's now fourth in the league in most shootout winners for active players, and is twenty third in the league for points, with forty two. He's nine points behind Patrick Kane, who leads the team, but had an uncharacteristically quiet game last night, registering only two shots on goal (Brandon Saad led the team with seven) and finishing the game a minus one.

Brent Seabrook, after a couple of quiet games, had a particularly solid all round game, registering both an assist and at least one highlight reel defensive play, including going one on one with Sidney Crosby and coming up with the puck. He's having one of the best seasons of his career, and when the Blackhawks have been struggling offensively, he's been strong defensively, even with the recent shuffle in defensive partners. He's been playing particularly well with Niklas Hjalmarsson in the last couple of games, giving Quenneville a chance to move David Rundblad back to the right side so he can play him with Duncan Keith and split up his top four defencemen across the three pairings, giving other teams something to think about.

Corey Crawford was strong last night, which is good, because the Blackhawks got outshot thirty five to twenty six. He allowed only two goals, giving him his eighteenth win of the season and a .921 save percentage. It was a good bounce back win from the loss in Dallas, although about halfway through the game he seemed to be having trouble moving laterally, which could mean he's pulled or strained something.

My Three Stars of the Game

3. Brent Seabrook. His offence has dropped off a little recently, but he's still second in Blackhawks defencemen for points, and leads the blue line in goals, with seven. He went one on one with Crosby and won, and had countless other outstanding plays last night. He absolutely deserves his spot on the All Star Roster this weekend.

2. Marian Hossa. Hossa's goal and assist are good for fourth on the team in scoring, just a couple of points behind Brandon Saad. He's not producing at his usual pace, but he is producing, and he's always defensively solid. His shooting percentage is at a career low right now; that has to change at some point, and the goals will start to come.

1. Jonathan Toews. Toews is doing exactly what he's supposed to. He's leading by example. When he plays well, the team plays well around him. It's exactly what a captain is supposed to do. His point streak is a season high, and yet another shootout winner is getting him further up the league.

Next game: January 28th, vs. Kings