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Stanley Cup Finals


Speez

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Seabrook comes through in overtime again! Gotta believe if the rest of the games are this wide open it is to the Hawks advantage. Crawfords gotta be better then he was tonight going forward, I can't fault him for the flukey goal off the glass but a couple of those goals were pretty bad, he has to know the Bruins are gonna target glove side so he better be ready for that. Hawks finally got a powerplay goal too by just keeping it simple and getting a shot from the top with some traffic around Rask and crashing the net.

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Observations:

- Leddy has been terrible*. Finally "The Q" sits him.

- It seems only two types of penalties get called: too many men or high sticks.

- Crawford is a headcase on anything high glove right now. Paging Mr. Emery, Mr. Ray Emery ... please report to the blue painted ice ...

*and not just because he's a stinkin' Goldie.

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Tonight, Chicago scored first and held the lead. That forced Claude Julien to change matchups of forward lines - which meant less of Toews line vs Kreicji line and more of Toews line vs Bergeron. Result? Kane +2, Toews +2, Bergeron -2, Marchand -3.

Back in Chicago, Quenneville gets choice of matchups. I expect him to assemble a third line that matches up better against Boston's third line, and to put a little more speed into the lineup.

Dave Bolland started to look more like the Bolland of old tonight.

Marian Hossa (with one arm?) is still a force.

Duncan Keith, somehow, ended the night +3.

Boston looked tired at times, both forwards and defense. Perhaps the shorter bench is wearing on them. More likely is that playing from behind forced them to open up, which plays into Chicago's hands. Key stat: faceoffs (after Boston domination in game 3) were even.

After the series, I expect a lot of revelations about who was playing with injuries, and how severe those are. There are a few hints in the statistics ... but that's outside speculation at this point.

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I thought Boston played ok tonight, not great but ok. The hawks played decent as well and were very aggressive however they need to tighten up on D. Crawford almost lost them the game, he looked like he did all year last year. Something's going on in his head because he should have made a few more saves. I'm not going to say they were easy shots but everything is going glove side, the side that is usually easier for goalies. Emery may be worth a look, he was very good in the regular season. I doubt that would ever happen though.

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Boston got a ton of bounces and the Hawks made one poor play after another in their D zone all night long and still won.

Leddy is struggling, playing only 2:37 TOI, but not any more than Oduya.

Emery was 17-1...17-1!!! in the regular season. Crawford hasn't figured out the "catching" glove actually can be an asset! IMO short leash for Crawford Saturday.

GO HAWKS!!!

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Boston got a ton of bounces and the Hawks made one poor play after another in their D zone all night long and still won.

Leddy is struggling, playing only 2:37 TOI, but not any more than Oduya.

Emery was 17-1...17-1!!! in the regular season. Crawford hasn't figured out the "catching" glove actually can be an asset! IMO short leash for Crawford Saturday.

GO HAWKS!!!

Leddy has to be hurt, only 1 shift in the 1st period, 2 in the 2nd, and none in the 3rd or OT. He hasn't been any worse than Oduya or even Hjalmarsson with all the turnovers he has had so I don't believe it is just a performance issue and gotta think there is something else there. I've actually thought Leddy was pretty decent the first 2-3 games of the series and really did a nice job moving the puck and jumping in the play.

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Tonight, Chicago scored first and held the lead. That forced Claude Julien to change matchups of forward lines - which meant less of Toews line vs Kreicji line and more of Toews line vs Bergeron. Result? Kane +2, Toews +2, Bergeron -2, Marchand -3.

Back in Chicago, Quenneville gets choice of matchups. I expect him to assemble a third line that matches up better against Boston's third line, and to put a little more speed into the lineup.

Dave Bolland started to look more like the Bolland of old tonight.

Marian Hossa (with one arm?) is still a force.

Duncan Keith, somehow, ended the night +3.

Boston looked tired at times, both forwards and defense. Perhaps the shorter bench is wearing on them. More likely is that playing from behind forced them to open up, which plays into Chicago's hands. Key stat: faceoffs (after Boston domination in game 3) were even.

After the series, I expect a lot of revelations about who was playing with injuries, and how severe those are. There are a few hints in the statistics ... but that's outside speculation at this point.

The shutdown D pair of Chara and Seidenberg was also a -3 and -2 respectively last night.

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Leddy has to be hurt, only 1 shift in the 1st period, 2 in the 2nd, and none in the 3rd or OT. He hasn't been any worse than Oduya or even Hjalmarsson with all the turnovers he has had so I don't believe it is just a performance issue and gotta think there is something else there. I've actually thought Leddy was pretty decent the first 2-3 games of the series and really did a nice job moving the puck and jumping in the play.

He not hurt he's just struggling in his own zone....bad. He can skate and move the puck but a defenseman has to play D too. Oduya will be fine, he's a real good player that has been in this league for awhile. Same with hjallmersson, guy is a block machine and typically plays good D in his own zone. They do need to play better next game.

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He not hurt he's just struggling in his own zone....bad. He can skate and move the puck but a defenseman has to play D too. Oduya will be fine, he's a real good player that has been in this league for awhile. Same with hjallmersson, guy is a block machine and typically plays good D in his own zone. They do need to play better next game.

I don't know if I believe he is not hurt only 3 shifts last night and on one of those shifts he made a nice dfensive play knocking a pas by Boston out of the air and then firing a nice stretch pass on what I believe was Sharps breakaway chance. As a whole the Hawks D need to do a better job of not turning over the puck and making better passes, but I think the biggest thing is being stronger in front of the net and providing some better net front coverage.

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I don't know if I believe he is not hurt only 3 shifts last night and on one of those shifts he made a nice dfensive play knocking a pas by Boston out of the air and then firing a nice stretch pass on what I believe was Sharps breakaway chance. As a whole the Hawks D need to do a better job of not turning over the puck and making better passes, but I think the biggest thing is being stronger in front of the net and providing some better net front coverage.

He may be hurt....I have no clue but I do know he is their weakest link in their own zone and it was a must win game. As for everything else you noted...I think you're spot on.

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1 win away for the Hawks! Will be interesting to see what the status is on Toews and Bergeron. Even though there was no call on the hit on Toews I wouldn't be suprised to see a fine or suspension for Boychuck as it more than likely will be reviewed. Glad to see Crawford bounce back with a better performance and I remember some people wondering if the Bruins would miss Thomas in the net and I think Rask has answered that question pretty soundly with his great playoff performance but also a solid regular season as well.

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