Chicago Blackhawks Surging in December
Kanes signature celebration after his shootout goal
The month of December has been exciting for the Chicago Blackhawks to say the least. They Hawks are 5-0-1 and have gone to overtime 5 times. While a team would rather win in regulation, it is promising to see the Hawks rising to the occasion in overtime and coming away with wins. Jonathan Toews said that, “you can always build your confidence if you find a way to win that one.” As the Hawks get deeper into their schedule it is nice to see them come together as a team and pull out tough victories on the road and in overtime.
The highlight of last nights contest against the Minnesota Wild was Patrick Kane’s shootout game winning goal. Rather than flying in a trying to use his speed to beat Niklas Backstrom, Kane slowed his momentum, using his puck handling skills to his advantage, and faked out Backstrom to win the game. Blackhawks goalie, Ray Emery, came up big as well. After giving up 3 goals in regulation, Emery had two saves in OT and stopped both Wild shootout attempts.
The Hawks Coach, Joel Quenneville, doesn’t care how they win, so long as they win. “A lot of games recently have gone to overtime but we’re getting points, it’s what it’s all about and finding ways to win and you find out about different guys in different situations,” he said. “We’re getting deeper in games [on the schedule], you get some good experience as you go along through the season. We’re playing a lot of important games here and getting points is what we emphasize but at the same time I can’t remember the last game we had the luxury of the game not being on the line right to the end.”
I couldn’t agree more. These close games and overtime games are helping build confidence on the team and getting the Hawks points. That’s what it’s all about. I’d rather have the Hawks win ugly than not at all.
