Last night at the United Center, Panarin Derangement Syndrome® (PDS) (as we’ve coined it here at The-Rink.com) was in full display as impending free agent and former Blackhawk left wing Artemi Panarin and his current team, the Columbus Blue Jackets, were in town.
Some might say Panarin is a “future” Blackhawk left wing.
Wait, no, let’s be honest, it’s all some (like most of the talking heads on NBCSN—with the exception of Patrick Sharp, as well as WGN, and numerous beat writers and blogs) are saying.
Which doesn’t make it any more likely to happen than what it is—which is not very likely at all. But I digress.
Because the real story last night, as it really should be every night for a team with playoff aspirations (real or imagined) was a game against—in this case—a playoff quality team from the Eastern Conference (which is probably the better of the two NHL conferences).
Cam Ward took the net for Chicago, while Sergei Bobrovsky was between the pipes for the Jackets.
The Hawks lines and pairings were as follows:
Drake Caggiula–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun
Brandon Saad–Marcus Kruger–Dylan Sikura
Brendan Perlini–Artem Anisimov–John Hayden
Slater Koekkoek–Erik Gustafsson
FIRST PERIOD
Clearly, CBJ head coach John Tortorella followed the same prescription to start the game that every coach seems to now: forecheck the Hawk defense hard, force turnovers, get out to an early lead. The Jackets jumped out to an early shot advantage as a result. The visitors also got on the scoreboard first, when Pierre Luc Dubois took Gustafsson wide, got around him and roofed one from in close over Ward’s shoulder at 12:36. 1-0 CBJ
The Hawk power play has been borderline spectacular of late with the combination of Gustafsson up top, quarterbacking Kane, Toews, Strome and DeBrincat. And as usual, it got the Hawks back into this one, when Strome fed Kane, who then blasted one past Bobrovsky at 16:14. 1-1
But the Jackets struck right back, 17 seconds later, and in the process triggered another wave of PDS, when Panarin crept into an open spot on Ward’s doorstep and banged home a feed from Oliver Bjorkstrand. 2-1 Jackets.
But it got worse for the Hawks, when at 19:31 Panarin and linemate Cam Atkinson got behind the Hawk defense and used 2 high speed cross ice passes to beat Ward. 3-1 Columbus at intermission.
SECOND PERIOD
If there was a highlight for Chicago, it was the middle stanza, when they outshot the Jackets 20-9, and were it not for some amazing saves by Bobrovsky, could have taken over the game. The Hawks turned the tables on Columbus throughout the period, applying their own stiff forecheck and lengthy offensive zone time.
However, it wasn’t until 19:26 that Chicago would score, with Kane and Gustafsson setting up Toews on a bang-bang play. 3-2. And that was how the period would end.
THIRD PERIOD
Having seen Columbus play quite a bit over the last couple of seasons, I remarked to a friend between the second and third periods last night that the Blue Jackets, unlike New Jersey, Edmonton and some of the Hawks’ other recent opponents, would not come out and wave the white flag in the third period. Instead, I said, Tortorella would probably do his best to get Columbus faster forwards, like Atkinson and Panarin, behind pinch-prone Hawk defensemen.
And sure enough, that’s pretty much what happened.
Panarin got a fluky deflection goal just 12 seconds into the period, making it 4-2. At this point, the whole game seemed to be about a “friendly duel” between former linemates Kane and Panarin. But meanwhile, the Hawks were falling far behind to a team that is tough to catch up on.
Not long after, an Atkinson goal, where he got way behind Dahlstrom and Gustafsson, was negated by a review and subsequent offsides call.
And at the 15:16 mark, Columbus’ Josh Anderson, the kind of big, fast, physical forward the Hawks need, notched his 20th goal of the season on a quick transition play that started in the middle of Columbus’ defensive zone. 5-2, and that was the final score.
THE GOOD
Kane and the power play, as outlined above. Bobrovsky, after some early rebound control issues, was stellar most of the night.
THE BAD
The Jackets not only used their speed and took advantage of the Hawks getting lackadaisical and out of position, but they also relentlessly broke up passes all over the ice in the third period. By that point, it was obvious which was the better team, which was the real story of the night. And by now, it should be apparent to even the most diehard #anythingcanhappen true believer, that even if this team sneaks into the playoffs, it wilts in the face of legitimate playoff worthy teams like Boston and Columbus—who are also not the best teams in the league.
THE UGLY
All of the Hawk defense struggled last night, with the possible exception of Duncan Keith, but Connor Murphy (-3) and Dahlstrom especially had rough nights.
The scheduling Gods have smiled on the Hawks, as they get a chance to slay some bums in the form of the Ottawa Senators tomorrow night, and perhaps recapture some of their recent mojo. All I have for now. Look for our Senators preview here tomorrow.