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Hawks have to follow up on their best game of the season with what I think is the last of the Eastern games for a while. Hope this game isn't a let down!
Interesting times for the struggling Senators, as Erik Karlsson just had to disclaim that he is, in fact, "not a fucking god" and can't shoulder all the responsibilities for this team. The guy is under a lot of pressure. The stakes are high in Ottawa: expectations are lofty after moving a big piece of the vaunted farm system for Bobby Ryan, while the owner, some weird pharmaceutical baron who is living in tax exile, has been complaining about the Sens' finances (which are league-average, but in the wacky world of NHL business, even small Canadian markets have to subsidize everyone south of St. Louis or be deemed miserable failures) and has also gone on the record stating that Karlsson is the next Bobby Orr. So when you're being looked at not only to be a generational talent but also to prevent your team from having to move to, I dunno, Tulsa, that can weigh on a guy! Personally, I tend to disagree and feel that Erik Karlsson is, in fact, a fucking god. He's playing point-per-game at defense!
FREE-ASSOCIATION INTERPOLATION:
Boy, hockey could really profit from a wider base of terminology. "Point" has four different uses -- well, more like 3 and a 3A, but:
1) The sum of a player's goals and assists scored
2) The standings measurement awarded for wins and overtime losses
3) The spot, that is to say, the point, at which the blue line intersects the boards
4 or 3A) The special teams sub-position filled by a defenseman or fourth forward who is stationed at 3)
Therefore, the sentence "the Blackhawks picked up an important two points when Patrick Sharp, playing the point, scored his third point of the night on a shot from the point" is semantically valid, no matter how much it makes your head spin. We need to fix this, among other things about the NHL, such as "almost everything."
Moving on,
The Sens were the hot pick to win the Cup. They were my pick to win the Cup, but they've stalled out early on, perhaps in part due to starting off the year on a long road trip but also because losing Daniel Alfredsson after all these years may hurt more than they thought. Losing the tenured Swede has clearly made Karlsson go a little batty. Jason Spezza is having a nice year in the captaincy with a natural hat trick in a win against Phoenix, and Bobby Ryan will surely be a huge weapon for them. The walrus-looking Paul MacLean won Coach of the Year and will contend for it every year that he's employed; he's that good. Park Ridge's own Craig Anderson, whom I've always felt looks like a giant baby, hasn't yet been the standout goalie the Sens need him to be. I still can't help finding this expectation odd, because no matter how much success he's had since, I still remember Craig Anderson with the Blackhawks and how he MOTHERFUCKING SUCKED AT EVERYTHING.
I used to have a soft spot for the Senators, but it's waned in recent years. I blame their hideous uniforms, personally.
Hawks are 7-2-3, 5-3-4 adjusted, 14.290 expected (right where they should be)
Sénateurs are 4-5-2, 4-6-1 adjusted, 10.606 expected (1.6 below expectation says they're due for a breakout)
Hawks: 3.083 for (11th) 2.583 against (T-10th)
Sens: 2.727 for (16th), 2.818 against (T-18th)
Hawks: 10/48 20.8% on the power play (12th), 29/39 74.4% on the kill (still dead last, but rising!)
Sens: 6/34 17.6% on the power play (18th), 47/55 85.4% (5th) on the kill
I'll go ahead and say neither team should be in the middle third of the league with what's expected of them this year.
It's a back-to-back after travel so you'd have to think/fear that Khabibulin starts, but they'll have Weds/Thurs/Fri off before a Saturday afternoon game in Winnipeg. Be the hero we need you to be, Corey Crawford.
_________________ Molly Lambert wrote: The future holds the possibility to be great or terrible, and since it has not yet occurred it remains simultaneously both.
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