the ghost of t-dub wrote:
I had the same feeling after game 1 vs Detroit. We'll have to see what adjustments Sutter makes. Surely they won't continue to give the Hawks all that time and space with the puck again? Expecting a more tightly checked game tonight.
It's not a matter of giving the Hawks time and space so much as the Hawks are just faster and more elusive than the Kings are. They made their time and space.
No, shots aren't going to be around 17-2 again (I think we ended at 36-22 Hawks, I want to say?), but they will outshoot the Kings more periods than they won't. The Kings haven't reckoned with an offense as good as Chicago's in the last two years. If you look at who they've faced--Vancouver, St. Louis, Phoenix, New Jersey, St. Louis again, San Jose--there's really not a lot of firepower there. Last year's Canucks had a good offense in the regular season, but came in with no Daniel Sedin and some severely rustled jimmies about it. This year's Sharks had a lethal power play, but were 24th in the league in scoring, which indicates near-total impotence at even strength. Everyone else was typical neo-dead-puck, just-enough-to-win-and-no-further rubbish. Quick might not look so great against an offense like this one.
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Molly Lambert wrote:
The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.