Deprecated: Automatic conversion of false to array is deprecated in /var/www/hockeybuzz.com/classes/clsBlog.php on line 243 HockeyBuzz.com - Zach Jarom - Going To California: Hawks vs Kings
The Hawks continue their battle against the state of California as they make their way out west for rematches against the teams they played last week. In case you enjoyed yourself a little bit too much on St. Patty's Day, here's a quick recap of Sunday's game. It was a battle of the leagues, and with draft odds on the line, this was one of those games you expected to be ugly. What we got was a pretty exciting game. The Hawks went down 2-0 after one, and while a loss wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world, the ego does take a hit when your team is being outplayed by the league. Kurashev continues his career year by getting the Hawks on the board. The real fun came in the third, when things decided to just click for the Hawks, who scored three goals in 1:23. What was nice about this spurt of goals was that it came from unusual suspects with Donato. Korchinski and Anderson were all registering goals, and in his first game back, Reichel picked up an assist, which was great to see. The Hawks put the icing on the cake when Bedard put home his 21st of the season in the empty net. 03 seconds left, and the Hawks finish the week 2-1.
Since the start of March, the Hawks have been playing.500 hockey, with their wins coming against teams they should be beating and their losses coming against teams that should be beating them, and yes, I include Columbus in that category. As I mentioned last week, this team is going to be picking the top five this June. Do I want them to have the best chance to land Celebrini? Of course I do, but I think the more important thing for this team is to let this team go out there and have fun and just remind themselves that they can be an effective player for this team. Winning these games at the end of the season is going to be extremely valuable for this team going forward because it gives them confidence and ends what was a rough year on a good note. Bedard is going to be putting the finishing touches on his Calder winning season, and Kurashev is going to really pad the stats on his career-best season. Korchinski, Vlasic, Reichel, and Kaiser will get more ice time and be ready to take another step next season. Lastly, Slaggert gets a nice cup of coffee in the NHL and will have a better idea of what to expect in his first full pro year. Call me way too optimistic if you want, but from what we see from this team when they are playing well, it leaves me with a lot of hope they take the next step next year.
Game Day
The Hawks are set to take on the Kings for the second time in the last four days. The Kings just had their way with the Hawks in the last meeting, as they shut them out 5-0. There isn’t much to really say about it; that was a team battling for their playoff position, so the only way it would have been more shocking is if the game was closer. The Kings have only placed once since their last meeting with the Hawks, when they dropped the back end of the back to back against the Stars 4-1. Everything that was said prior to the last meeting between these two teams remains the same, and I expect the same level of intensity from the Kings in this one.
This line-up pretty much matches what we saw against the Sharks on Sunday. The noticeable change is Wyatt Kaiser's return to the lineup. This will be his first NHL action since being sent down back in December. He played well with the Ice Hogs; in 31 games, he had 15 points (3-12) and an even plus or minus. I didn’t think he was playing that badly in his first stint with the team, but having him log more minutes in the AHL instead of being the 7th defenseman was something that should be taken advantage of. Something I wish the Hawks could do with Korchinski, but I digress. Then, of course, Mrazek gets the net again after his stellar week, going 2-0 with a.937 save percentage.
That’s going to be it from me. puck drop is a late one at 9 p.m. central time. As always, let's go Hawks!
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