Friday’s Three Stars: Ducks Roast Hawks on PP, Win 3-0

Jim Neveau, PIB Co-conspirator

In the world of professional sports, there is a phenomenon known as the “letdown game”.

A letdown game usually happens after a game where a team achieves an emotional high, usually with a big victory over a big opponent, and it is one of the hardest things in sports to guard against.

Brent Seabrook (photo property of Pam Rodriguez)

To be frank, there are no teams that are completely immune from having a letdown game, and the Chicago Blackhawks are no exception. That’s why their lackluster 3-0 loss to the Ducks not only brought an end to their eight game winning streak, but also was just another example of a team emotionally spent after a big win.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped all 28 shots that the Hawks fired his way, and Teemu Selanne lit the lamp twice to give the Ducks all the cushion that they needed.

The normally impenetrable Blackhawks penalty killing unit was all too porous in this contest, allowing three goals on five opportunities for the Ducks, and looked rather silly in the process. Several players were over-pursuing the puck with an alarming frequency, and the team just looked out of sorts.

The Hawks also had a significant 0h-fer on the power play as well, going 0-for-4 with the man-advantage, including two critical power plays in the first period that could have set a different tempo for the game.

The power play woes were made worse by the fact that Anaheim came into the game with the fourth worst penalty killing unit in the league. Yes, the Hawks are only the 11th best PP unit in the game, but that still should be enough of an advantage to net a goal or two.

Alas, it was not meant to be today, and the Hawks will look to turn it around tomorrow against the Kings.

Here are today’s Three Stars:

Third Star: Brent Seabrook/Niklas Hjalmarsson

It’s really hard to make arguments for players to win “Stars” when they lose 3-0 in a lackluster effort, but Seabrook and Hjalmarsson definitely deserve mention for their efforts in this game.

“Hammer” played nearly 20 minutes, including 4:49 of short-handed time. He made great efforts to try to keep Anaheim in check, but a couple of bad plays by teammates hurt his resume for the contest.

As for Seabrook, he played 22:26 of ice time, and racked up over five minutes of short-handed action. He also had two shots in the losing effort.

Second Star: Teemu Selanne

At 39 years old, Selanne never seems to age when it comes to his hockey abilities. He has always had a knack for being in the right place at the right time, and he definitely fit the bill of “clutch” in this game, scoring twice and making it look easy against the Hawks.

Duncan Keith (photo property of Pam Rodriguez)

He hung out in the blue paint with impunity, and punched in a couple of rebounds for his tallies. Not a good job by the Hawks in letting him get there, but you still have to be able to finish the job, and the Finn certainly Finnished it.

First Star: Duncan Keith

Keith is frequently targeted for accolades in this blog, and he had another relatively solid game today.

Besides taking three shots, he also played nearly 29 minutes on the ice, which outpaced his closest rival on the team by six and a half minutes. He showed his versatility as well, playing significant minutes on the power play and the penalty kill during the game.

The Hawks will finish up their road trip against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night at the Staples Center. Puck drop is at 9:30pm CST, and the game can be seen on WGN-TV.

Tags: Anaheim Ducks, Brent Seabrook, Chicago Blackhawks, Duncan Keith, niklas hjalmarsson, Teemu Selanne