Wednesday’s Three Stars: Kane, Barker Score in Big Hawks Win

Jim Neveau, PIB Co-conspirator

With the two teams already combining for 17 rounds worth of shoot-out play in their first two games, Wednesday’s tilt between the Blackhawks and the Avalanche seemed pretty likely to head to extra time. In fact, here is a list of predictions that compare to the prediction that this game would go to a shoot-out:

1. That any movie involving Paris Hilton will be a monumental failure and a testament to the degradation of our culture.

2. That New Yorkers and Chicagoans will never agree on which type of pizza is better.

Breaking News: Geraldo just exposed top secret Hawks' game plans!

3. Geraldo Rivera will always find work on TV, no matter how hard we try to keep him off of the tube.

With those predictions as company, many put in their Nostradamus mouth-guards and predicted that this game would go long, and it certainly did.

Fortunately for all of us with early bed-times, however, the game ended quickly once the shoot-out started, with the Hawks finishing out a 3-2 win over the Avalanche for their second win over Colorado this season.

The Hawks actually came back twice in this game from deficits, something that teams don’t do very often against the Avs (they were 6-1 when they led first coming into this contest). After Kyle Cumiskey potted a goal a little less than 10 minutes in, the Hawks came right back and scored on a beautiful wrist shot by Patrick Kane that sailed over Craig Anderson’s shoulder.

The goal was essentially given to Kane, because the Colorado defensemen played further off of him than the Bears played off of Larry Fitzgerald on Sunday, and Kane simply skated from the face-off circle to about 10 feet out and flicked his wrists for the score. Kane has quickly shown that if you give him ANY space within 20 feet of the goal, he will find an opening and decimate you. Period. He’s that good.

The second period featured plenty of scoring chances, with Colorado out-shooting the Hawks 12-8 and scoring on a Wojtek Wolski rebound in front. The puck bounced funkily off of the boards behind Huet, and Wolski found it and put it in.

Jonathan Toews (photo property of Mallory O'Gradney)

In the third period, the Hawks’ defense once again took over. A game after they absolutely shut down the Kings in the third period, the Hawks did it again to the Avalanche on Wednesday. They only allowed the Avs THREE shots in the entire third period. That is a ridiculously low sum, considering that the Avalanche had let 24 shots fly in the first two periods alone.

Also in that period, Cam Barker did his best Patrick Kane impression and scored the tying goal about five minutes into the frame. It was a beautiful wrist shot that looked almost identical to Kane’s tally earlier in the contest, and got some folks (okay, me) contemplating whether Barker is actually a good choice to go with in a shoot-out. Naturally, this concept should have been tested with these two teams playing each other, but unfortunately, the festivities ended too quickly for it to come to fruition.

After being held shot-less in the overtime, the Avs came out firing in the shoot-out, with Wolski clanking a shot off the post and Marek Svatos scoring on Colorado’s first two shots.

Captain Toews was there to put the Hawks up 1-0 in the shoot-out, with what is quickly becoming a signature 5-hole shot. After Svatos tied it up, Kane missed his shot, and Cristobal Huet stopped Darcy Tucker’s shot to keep it knotted at one.

Patrick Sharp, who came into the game 4-for-18 career in the shoot-out, and 0-for-3 in penalty shots during games, scored on a nifty deke that fooled Anderson and gave the Hawks a much needed 3-2 victory. The win over the Avs marks two straight over early season Pacific Division surprises, and gives Chicago much needed momentum headed into their Original Six match-up with Toronto on Friday night.

Patrick Sharp (photo property of Pam Rodriguez)

With that, here are PIB’s Three Stars.

Third Star: Patrick Kane

Kaner is working very hard to de-throne Jonathan Toews as the holder of the “Flashiest Goal Scorer” mantle. Kane scored on a gorgeous wrist shot in the first period that not many goalies in the league could even think of stopping, and it showed once again why you can’t give a sniper like Kane any space at all.

Second Star: Colin Fraser

With Dave Bolland’s extended absence, the Hawks are going to need all of their centers to step up their games both offensively and physically. Fraser took that call to action and got into not one but two fights on the evening, dueling with Matt Hendricks and Cody McLeod at the beginning and end of the first period, respectively.

Even with the altercations on his stat-sheet for the evening, Fraser wasn’t done, notching an assist on Barker’s tying goal in the third period. With only eight minutes of ice time to his credit in the 65-minute affair, Fraser had a huge impact on the outcome of this game, and deserves recognition.

First Stars: Jonathan Toews/Patrick Sharp

We couldn’t choose between these two Canadian snipers, so we just picked both of them.

Toews’ return to the shoot-out roster was immediately felt, as he scored on the Hawks’ first attempt against Anderson. Then, Sharp took the reins and deked and scored to give the Hawks the victory. He did this even with his futile performance in shoot-outs, and that is a commendable trait.

The Hawks will next take the ice on Friday night when they take on the Maple Leafs at the United Center. The puck will drop at 7:30pm CST, and the game can be seen on Comcast SportsNet in Chicago.

Author’s Note: Did you know that the longest last name to ever grace the back of a Hawks sweater belonged to Ryan Vandenbussche? Of course you didn’t. That’s why you need to pick up The Hockey News’ “Greatest Jerseys of All Time” Collector’s Edition, now in stores, or you can order it from their official online store.  How much did they pay me to shill this magazine? Nothing, but I’ll tell you that it’s worth the $$$.

Tags: cam barker, Chicago Blackhawks, Cody McLeod, Colorado Avalanche, Craig Anderson, Cristobal Huet, Darcy Tucker, Geraldo Rivera, Jonathan Toews, Kyle Cumiskey, Larry Fitzgerald, Los Angeles Kings, Marek Svatos, Matt Hendricks, Paris Hilton, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, Ryan Vandenbussche, Toronto Maple Leafs, Wojtek Wolski