Re-uniting Jonathan Toews (right) and Patrick Kane on the first line proved to be a spark for Chicago’s offense in Game 4. (Charles Krupa/AP)
By Allan Muir
Here is a completely subjective look at some of the key elements in Chicago’s series-tying 6-5 overtime win over Boston in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final:
The Bruins fell short in Game 4, but successfully exploited Corey Crawford’s glove hand. (Harry How/Getty Images)
By Sarah Kwak
BOSTON — It was apparent before it became obvious.
When Bruins forward Rich Peverley scored a power-play goal late in the first period, a hard snapshot that went into Corey Crawford’s net off the right post, it looked faintly similar to Daniel Paille’s game-winner in Game 2, a quick shot in off that far post. And actually, Paille’s winner for Game 3 also went in on Crawford’s glove side.
So, soon after Peverley scored, when Boston winger Tyler Seguin had an open look on Chicago’s goalie, he shot the puck to that same side. Crawford made the save, but didn’t have such luck when Patrice Bergeron picked that spot — twice. It seemed that Boston had read the book on Corey Crawford, and it was three words long: Shoot glove side.
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane have one point between the two of them so far in the Cup final. (NHLI via Getty Images)
By Allan Muir
Joel Quenneville knows that past performance is no guarantee of future results. But after watching his team held to just two goals during the last nine periods by Tuukka Rask and the smothering defense of the Boston Bruins, he knows his Chicago Blackhawks won’t have a future if he doesn’t try something drastic.
So he’s counting on a unit that led the comeback against the Detroit Red Wings to right the ship in Game 4. It’s been confirmed that he will reunite Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Bryan Bickell for tonight’s contest.
The only question is: what took so long?
Outside of a penalty-killing shift in Game 3, Quenneville has been reluctant to put his two best weapons on the ice at the same time in this series. Instead, he skated Toews between fourth-line checkers Michal Frolik and Marcus Kruger for most of Game 3, before trying him with Patrick Sharp and Viktor Stalberg. Neither combination generated much of anything, which opened him up to some criticism for not reuniting Toews and Kane when Game 3 was still up for grabs.
MUIR: Blackhawks must keep it simple in Game 4
Patrick Kane’s flashiest stickwork isn’t fooling the Bruins’ defenders. (Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images)
By Allan Muir
Call me old-fashioned, but I’ve always believed that breaking out of an offensive slump is a bit like finding love. Both seem to happen when you stop trying so hard.
That bit of advice might come in handy for the Chicago Blackhawks, a team that’s playing with all the dash of a pimply-faced teen the week before the prom. These guys are awkward. Unsure of themselves. Their best moves aren’t working. Their desperation is palpable. And it’s killing any chance they might have of busting out of the slump that threatens to end their Stanley Cup dreams.
And it’s not just their amateurish fumbling on the power play, although that’s clearly the focus heading into tonight’s pivotal Game 4 in Boston. Things are going so badly with the extra man that the Hawks have even begun to lose confidence in their five-on-five game. And if that continues, there’s no way Chicago’s sealing the deal.
But it’s not like hope is lost.
Marian Hossa’s injury has been the subject of much intrigue in the Stanley Cup Final. (Bill Smith/NHLI via Getty Images)
By Allan Muir
A super-sized annotated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:
• Marian Hossa is “likely” to play in Game 4, but Ben Smith is ready to step in if he can’t go. Even if the big horse is in, how much does he have to give?
• After all, we still don’t know what’s wrong with the guy. My guess? A touch of the ol’ rinderpest. Yeah, that might be a lousy guess.
• Here’s the best story you’ll read on Zdeno Chara. Because Bruce Arthur wrote it.
• A big reason the series is going Boston’s way right now? Patrice Bergeron is winning the battle against Jonathan Toews.
• After years of being brushed under the carpet, the Hawks have become a viable part of the conversation on Chicago talk radio.
Boston’s Patrice Bergeron schooled the Blackhawks in the face-off circles on Monday night. (NHLI via Getty Images)
By Sarah Kwak
BOSTON — One team was guaranteed to be working itself out of a hole after Game 3. That it’s Chicago has more than a little to do with the face-off totals in Boston’s 2-0 win at TD Garden on Monday night. The Blackhawks, who ranked No. 11 in the league with a 50.8 percent win rate during the regular season, let the top-ranked Bruins own the dots. Boston won 40 of the 56 total draws, an absurd 71 percent.
Center Patrice Bergeron, the 2012 Selke Trophy winner and this year’s runner-up, led the way for Boston by going 24-for-28, including 9-for-10 in the offensive zone. When a team like the Blackhawks relies largely on a puck-possession game, face-offs become critical, especially when it’s struggling to generate offense. Starting most plays without the puck has been an added hindrance against Boston’s stifling defense. In offensive zone draws, the Blackhawks were a dismal 6-for-23, allowing the Bruins to regularly take control and turn play the other way. Chicago’s power play, which has sputtered along at 11.3 percent for the playoffs and 0-for-11 against the Bruins, has also suffered from an inability to win draws.
“It’s tough to get a clean entry,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville explained on Tuesday. “I think we might have to get a little indirect plays to get possession on our entries. It starts with losing the draw initially. That’s the area we have to get better. Hopefully you don’t have to resort to the entry. We’re still going to have to find a way to get through it and find ways to have possession … I think we’re looking at ways that we can at least get it closer to a 50/50 chance for us on most draws.”
The KHL will have to wait until Pavel Datsyuk is 40 if it wants him as a marquee star. (Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
By Allan Muir
Pavel Datsyuk may have been speaking from the heart when he talked about how much fun he had playing back home in Russia during the lockout. “This is my goal [to end my career in the KHL], but you never know how it goes,” he said. “I would love to finish there, give back to my friends and fans in Russia [while] I hope I’ll be in good shape.”
But by the end of the season, he was coming from a much more pragmatic place when he voiced a wish to stay in Detroit. “Yeah, I hope we sign a new deal. I hope we agree and I sign for more [years],” he said as the Red Wings cleaned out their lockers.
And so it was no surprise when Datsyuk tweeted today that he’d come to terms on a three-year extension that will earn him $23 million and keep him with the Wings through the 2016-17 season.
It’s a win for both sides. Datsyuk will be paid $10 million the first year, $7.5 million the second, and $5.5 million the third, with a cap hit of $7.5 million that’s more than manageable for Wings and a fair payday for a player who led the team in scoring this past season. Big smiles all around.
Ugly history: Game 3 losers have lost the Cup final 84 percent of the time since 1939. (Gail Oskin/Getty Images)
By Allan Muir
An annotated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:
• You remember that 3-1 deficit that Chicago rallied from against the Red Wings? This 2-1 hole they’ve dug for themselves against the Bruins seems a lot deeper, doesn’t it?
• It’s a rare day that the Boston Globe pulls Dan Shaughnessy out from behind the pay-wall. Take advantage of this while you can.
• There’s Danny Paille, scoring his second winner in as many games. Because apparently Moe Lemay wasn’t available.
• With Marian Hossa a late scratch, Chicago needed Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane to step up…so the Hawks were pretty much DOA at that point.
• Ben Smith earned a last-minute promotion from the Black Aces for a Stanley Cup start in the town where he made his name as a college hockey hero.
Tuukka Rask made 28 stops in Game 3 and earned his third clean slate of the postseason. (Elise Amendola/AP)
By Allan Muir
Here is a completely subjective look at some of the key elements in Boston’s convincing 2-0 win over Chicago in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final:
Corey Crawford, Chicago: Most nights, a .943 save percentage puts you in the mix for the Three Stars. This just wasn’t one of those nights. Crawford was sharp, especially on a second-period power play that saw the shorthanded Bruins generate three premium chances, and he robbed Patrice Bergeron on an in-tight chance to keep the game close in the first. He didn’t have much chance on Bergeron’s eventual insurance goal, but he was beaten high glove — for the second time in a row — by Daniel Paille for the winner. The B’s know he can be exploited there until he proves otherwise. B
Tuukka Rask, Boston: I’ll go out on a limb and guess there hasn’t been a less strenuously contested Stanley Cup Final shutout in a long time. Rask made 28 stops to post his third clean slate of the postseason, but he was rarely challenged thanks to a concerted effort from his teammates, some weak puck decisions by the Hawks, and 17 (!) shots that simply missed the mark. When you see guys trying to play it a little too cute like that, it’s a sign that a goalie has gotten into their heads. A
Ben Smith (left) did his best in Game 3, but couldn’t replace the injured Marian Hossa. (Elise Amendola/AP)
By Sarah Kwak
BOSTON — The surprise came just before the puck dropped in Boston’s 2-0 Game 3 win in the Stanley Cup Final on Monday night. After taking warmups, Blackhawks winger Marian Hossa never came back out of the tunnel and onto the ice at TD Garden. He appeared only on the list of scratches, presumably ailing. (Hossa is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, Chicago coach Joel Quenneville later clarified.) He was replaced by winger Ben Smith, who was making his postseason debut and playing in just his second game all year.
GAME 3: Recap | Boxscore | Highlights | Photos | Complete schedule
According to the Blackhawks, however, it was only a surprise to those outside their room. Captain Jonathan Toews said the team was aware all day that the man who shares the team scoring lead (7 goals, 15 points) this postseason might not play. They officially made the call just before game time, when Smith was told to get dressed and get warm.
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