— Jonathan Toews scored the first Blackhawks goal of the game and his second of the season.
— Sam Lafferty scored his first goal of the season on a shorthanded goal to tie the game at 2–2. He scored his second goal of the game less than two minutes later, again shorthanded.
— Taylor Raddysh added his first goal of the season in the third period.
— Jason Dickinson was impressive in his Blackhawks debut, registering one goal and two assists.

The Blackhawks now travel home for their home opener on Friday against the Detroit Red Wings. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CDT.

The post Blackhawks Post-Game One-Timers – 10/15 San Jose Sharks appeared first on The Rink.

In goal for Dave Hakstol was Chris Driedger, who has had a rough time keeping healthy, despite boasting the better numbers of the two Kraken netminders. His return from the injured reserve list would prove to be pivotal for the visitors.

The fact that both the Sharks and Kraken had a hard time scoring in this contest should come as no surprise. Both teams are in the bottom half of the league in scoring, and San Jose has gotten some quality results in net from the unlikely duo of James Reimer and Adin Hill. Head Coach Bob Boughner’s goaltender of the day was Reimer against the Kraken.

The division rivals battled evenly for the first and second periods, but neither could break the ice and score the opening goal of the game. Seattle led the first period in shots 11–8, while the Sharks took the second period tally 12–7.

Unfortunately for anyone not watching on the west coast, almost all of the action was in the third period when the east coast clocks were already reading “Wednesday morning.”

The former Shark line of Ryan Donato, Joonas Donskoi and Alexander True opened the scoring 6:23 into the third period. Donskoi threw a shot toward Donato, who was right at Reimer’s doorstep waiting for a rebound or deflection. Donato tried to pull the puck to his forehand after failing to tip Donskoi’s shot past the goaltender, and the puck went off defenseman Radim Simek’s skate and into the net.

The 1–0 lead was increased to 2–0 when Brandon Tanev took a Morgan Geekie pass on a rare 2-on-3 rush and beat Reimer. This would prove to be the game-winning goal, with Calle Jarnkrok adding an empty-net insurance goal in the final seconds of the game.

San Jose broke the Driedger shutout with Reimer on the bench for the extra attacker with 2:07 to play, but that was all the Sharks could muster. The Kraken left San Jose with their 10th win of the season, but gained little ground in the standings.

Anchor points

Chris Driedger, folks. If he could stay off injured reserve and on the ice, he might be making Philipp Grubauer sweat a little. Driedger deserved a shutout, period. He earned the first star of the game and saved 31 of 32 shots.

In a pretty strange game, there was only one penalty the entire night, which was Vince Dunn’s holding penalty at 14:59 of the second period.

“Turbo” Tanev’s ninth goal of the season is his third-most in his least amount of games (28). He had gone scoreless in his previous five games before his huge goal in this game. What is not to love about this guy?

You would not know it by the box score but Donato, Donskoi, Geekie, Jarnkrok, Tanev and True were all crushed in scoring chance percentage, ranging from 33% to 28%. That is two entire forward lines that were caved in, which just goes to show how well Driedger played.

5-on-5 Corsi (total shot attempts) 52%–48%
5-on-5 Fenwick (Unblocked shot attempts) 51%–49%
5-on-5 High-danger chances for 56%–44%
5-on-5 Expected goals for 52%–48%
Face-off percentage 51%–49%

The Kraken are right back in action tonight against the Pacific Division-leading Anaheim Ducks. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PST.

The post RECAP: Kraken fight out much-needed goalie win in San Jose appeared first on The Rink.

It was an evenly matched first period with the Sharks getting the slight edge via a power play goal. Two Blackhawks penalties back to back set up the early deficit. Dylan Strome got two minutes for tripping Evander Kane and 15 seconds into that power play, Ryan Carpenter got called for high sticking Joe Thornton. The Blackhawks were tied for seventh in the NHL on the penalty kill with an 82.3% success rate and they were a mere six seconds away from getting a player back before Kane and Thornton would get their revenge. Thornton hit Kane with a solid pass to Crawford’s side and Kane buried his 26th goal on the season.

The Sharks had 15 shots on net compared to the Blackhawks 14, but San Jose had the one that counted.  Nevertheless, Sharks led 1-0.

The #Blackhawks trail 1-0 after one frame in Chicago.#CHIvsSJS pic.twitter.com/11MwTwrrDX

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 12, 2020

The second period saw the Blackhawks as the beneficiary of the power play as they scored three goals, two of which were with the man advantage. That simple fact is important for several reasons: In the last five games, the Blackhawks were 0–14 on power play chances and the Sharks boasted the number one penalty kill in the league. Despite their elite penalty kill Sharks will probably not make the playoffs this season.

Hockey is weird.

Antti Suomela got called for hooking and the Blackhawks took advantage of the man advantage with some great teamwork from Kirby Dach and Duncan Keith. Dach set a tremendous screen in front of goalie Aaron Dell which allowed Keith to fire a shot a few feet from the blue line for only his third on the season, but the 101st goal of his career. Jonathan Toews and Alex DeBrincat both got an assist on the goal. What is important to know about that goal is Dach may not be filling the stat sheet and is not in a lot of box scores, but he is playing some fantastic hockey this season. He is winning a lot of face-offs and it is not going unnoticed. Hawks tied the game 1–1.

POWER. PLAY. PARTY.

The @NHLBlackhawks find the EQUALIZER. pic.twitter.com/sIrAF34hHM

— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) March 12, 2020

The Blackhawks got another shot at the power play when Evander Kane got two minutes for holding Dylan Strome and Strome got a nice chance in the middle of the ice to break the tie, but Dell made a quick glove save to keep the score even.

Towards the end of the second period was when the Blackhawks started to get hot though. Brent Burns got two minutes for roughing Brandon Hagel, who was making his NHL debut, as Burns caught him with an elbow. Thirty seconds later, DeBrincat and Patrick Kane made the Sharks pay.

DeBrincat came down the right side of the ice on the power play and found Kane in motion to the goal for his 32nd on the season. Dell did not see Kane until it was too late. It is always good to see DeBrincat on the box score after he has been having a down season. Alex and Duncan Keith got an assist on the goal.

12 + 88 =

Watch live on the #MyTeams App: https://t.co/mfQ1ZBTGTC pic.twitter.com/BwqlkkT5bt

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 12, 2020

The Blackhawks tallied ANOTHER goal 90 seconds later from Brandon Saad for his 21st goal of the season with an assist from Toews and DeBrincat. The Blackhawks were a lot quicker and more effective in the second period and were showing that previously mentioned flash of greatness many have speculated about. Home team was up 3–1 heading into the third period.

Saad making everyone in the UC happy

Watch live on the #MyTeams App: https://t.co/mfQ1ZBTGTC pic.twitter.com/BZ086ttkoz

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 12, 2020

The third period, much like the second, was all Blackhawks. Alexander Nylander got his skates wet in the scoring pool when he converted a wrister from Strome for his 10th on the season to give the Hawks a 4–1 lead.

Cue Chelsea! Alex Nylander gets in on the fun pic.twitter.com/gvfeFbnjMn

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) March 12, 2020

Timo Meier converted on an assist from Evander Kane from the neutral zone to cut the lead back to two, but it would be the last time the Sharks would get on the board. Despite the Sharks pulling within two (4–2), from then on, it was simply all Blackhawks. Patrick Kane got his second of the game and 33rd on the season on an assist from Slater Koekkoek and Nylander. Blackhawks were now up 5–2.

Kane you believe?! 5-2!#CHIvsSJS pic.twitter.com/Dm7kLFnizp

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 12, 2020

Then, rookie sensation Dominik Kubalik got his 30th goal on the season fed by a nice drop pass by Dach which Kubalik sniped over Dell’s glove hand.

Goal No. 30 for rookie Dominik Kubalik!#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/HC6pRjs3bD

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 12, 2020

Blackhawks won easily 6–2 and the game never seemed in jeopardy. Crawford stopped 34 of 36 shots and earned his 15th win of the season.

The Sharks announced earlier in the day that they would play the remainder of their home games this season without fans in the arena. The Columbus Blue Jackets followed suit and the NHL could make an official announcement after the game or as early as this morning to suspend all play with the NBA suspending their season, following a player on the Utah Jazz tested positive for the Coronavirus. Very scary things going on that surpass the game of hockey. If the virus panic does not do away with the season altogether, the Blackhawks will be playing Friday at 7:30 p.m. CDT at the United Center against the Ottawa Senators.

Whether it be in front of a home crowd is another story as the teams could end up playing with no spectators.

Duncan Keith: “It’s tough to imagine playing games in an empty building. The fans are what make the game… I guess we’ll wait and find out.” #Blackhawks

— Eric Lear (@BHTVeric) March 12, 2020

The post Along the Boards: Blackhawks beat Sharks 6-2 amid Coronavirus scares appeared first on The Rink.

Jeremy Colliton went with Robin Lehner again in net for tonight’s matchup. The lineup remained the same as well. The lines and pairings were as follows:

Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Alexander Nylander

Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane

Dominik Kubalik — David Kampf — Kirby Dach

Drake Caggiula — Ryan Carpenter — Andrew Shaw

Duncan Keith — Adam Boqvist

Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook

Olli Maatta — Erik Gustafsson

First period

The Blackhawks struggled to gain any momentum in the offensive zone in the opening period, which is a consistent theme. San Jose had too many rushes up the ice, but Chicago defended them fairly well and Robin Lehner bailed them out when he had to.

About halfway through the period, Noah Gregor was called for hooking and the Blackhawks went on the power play. Once again, they had trouble sustaining time in the zone and the Sharks cleared the puck repeatedly. Both units only recorded on shot in total on that man advantage.

Chicago found themselves chasing after the puck for the remainder of the period, and that caused them to get into some penalty trouble. Duncan Keith was called for hooking with just over two minutes left. Robin Lehner made a few great saves, but the pressure continued to overwhelm the Blackhawks as Brandon Saad sat for hooking with 33 seconds left in the period. Luckily, they killed off what they needed to in order to leave the period unscathed.

The Sharks dominated the Blackhawks in shots on goal 14-3, reflective of what was a dominant possession period for the home team.

Second period

More of the same transferred over from the first 20 minutes to the beginning of the second. Shortly after Chicago killed the two penalties, every player watched as the puck moved freely in San Jose’s zone. Joe Thornton slipped a pass to Timo Meier, who spun and simply threw the puck on net. Patrick Marleau was left all alone to the right of Lehner with Brent Seabrook directly behind him, and he directed the shot into the net to give the Sharks the lead just 1:39 into the period.

How does Patrick Marleau celebrate a milestone? He scores a goal, of course. #SJSharks pic.twitter.com/6uSCoZRH4J

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) November 6, 2019

After going without a shot for the last 15 minutes of the game, the Blackhawks finally recorded their first shot on goal of the second period with 8:47 left. Patrick Kane took advantage of a chance to shoot the puck off a rare defensive breakdown by the Sharks in this game. That would only be their fourth shot of the game up until that point.

San Jose had chance after chance, while the Blackhawks had only recorded one shot in the middle frame. It looked like they would get some more offensive opportunities with a power play, but nothing was clicking. Sharks defenseman Brenden Dillon cleared the puck around the boards and it hopped right over Adam Boqvist’s stick at the blueline. Evander Kane was able to get a step on him and Dominik Kubalik and shoot right through Lehner’s five hole for the shorthanded goal.

The Blackhawks finally maintained a bit of pressure after that goal, but Martin Jones stopped everything that was thrown his way. San Jose led the visitors 2-0 in goals and 26-8 in shots on goal through 40 minutes of play.

Third period

Once again, the Blackhawks failed to start on time at the beginning of the period. They sat back on too many of San Jose’s plays and were reluctant to find their way into the offensive zone, playing the dump and chase game.

That cost them just under five minutes into the third frame. After Robin Lehner played the puck towards the boards for Chicago to clear out, the Sharks went to work down low. Tomas Hertl skated around behind the goal while holding onto the puck and Duncan Keith right on his tail, slashing away at the puck to try and set it free. Hertl kept possession, eventually maneuvering to the faceoff dot to the right of Lehner and simply throwing the puck on net. It slipped right through a hole on Lehner’s glove side and put the Sharks up 3-0.

Andrew Shaw then committed a penalty, high-sticking on Erik Karlsson, which the Blackhawks killed off with some good defensive work. Chicago got another power play chance of their own when Patrick Kane was high-sticked, but nothing seemed to be working on either unit.

In the last seven minutes or so, the Blackhawks began a push for more scoring chances, something they lacked for the first 50 minutes of the game. All of this pressure paid off when they had a solid defensive zone exit and a smooth entry into the offensive zone. A few great passes between Brandon Saad, Jonathan Toews, and Andrew Shaw led to some open ice. Shaw sent a cross-ice pass to Toews while Saad drove toward the net and redirected the puck home off Toews’ pass, cutting the Sharks lead to 3-1.

Just over a minute later, the Blackhawks opted for six skaters on the ice and the net empty. Jonathan Toews won a faceoff against Logan Couture and passed back to Duncan Keith. Patrick Kane exchanged two quick passes with Keith, who looked for a lane and took a chance with a slapshot. It found its way through bodies in front of Martin Jones and into the back of the net. All of a sudden the Blackhawks were a goal away from tying the game.

Duncan Keith with a slapper! pic.twitter.com/CJbfh6IsZp

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) November 6, 2019

But all hopes of a comeback were short-lived when Timo Meier wristed a shot into the empty net to give the Sharks some cushion thirty seconds later, extending their lead to 4-2. Even though the Blackhawks outshot the Sharks 13-6 in the final 20 minutes, it wasn’t enough of a push to get at least a point. Final shots on goal were 32-21 in favor of San Jose.

Pluses

• The penalty kill continues to be one of the biggest bright spots for the Blackhawks. They went 3-for-3 on the PK in this outing, and killed 15 out of 16 on the four-game road trip. For a team that seems to have a lot of defensive issues, it’s great to see one thing working right for them, even if the best penalty killers are the goalies more often than not.

Minuses

• When this team is off their game, it’s not even by a little bit. They’re either on or off, nothing in between. This game showcased just that, as they only had eight shots and 17 shot attempts through the first two periods of the game. The Blackhawks did push back a bit in the third period, but that’s not enough. They need to consistently play a full 60 minutes night in and night out if they seriously want a chance at winning hockey games.
• After a good game in Anaheim on Sunday, the top six went completely missing in this matchup, outside of Brandon Saad’s goal. In fact, only the fourth line of Caggiula-Carpenter-Shaw posted positive possession numbers, and it was easy to spot with the eye test, too. They have to be better than that, and they all know it.

The Blackhawks will return home on Thursday night to take on the Vancouver Canucks. Puck dropped is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CST.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks break down, fall to Sharks 4-2 appeared first on The Rink.

9:00 p.m. CST
SAP Center
TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN

Probable starters
Chicago — Robin Lehner (2–2–2, .938 save percentage, 2.26 goals-against average)
San Jose — Martin Jones (2-7-1, .887 save percentage, 3.52 goals-against average)

Team statistics

Power play
Chicago (12.8%, 28th)
San Jose (22.0%, 13th)

Penalty kill
Chicago (79.1%, 21st)
San Jose (89.6%, First)

Shots for/against
Chicago
-30.8, 19th
-35.9, 30th

San Jose
-32.7, 17th
-32.7, 22nd

Shooting percentage
Chicago (7.8%)
San Jose  (8.3%)

Face-off percentage
Chicago (48.7%, 22nd)
San Jose (51.5%, seventh)

Average height and weight
Chicago — 6-foot-1, 196 pounds
San Jose — 6-foot-1, 203 pounds

Projected lines and pairings

Chicago Blackhawks

Brandon Saad — Jonathan Toews — Alexander Nylander
Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Patrick Kane
Dominik Kubalik — David Kampf — Kirby Dach
Drake Caggiula — Ryan Carpenter — Andrew Shaw

Duncan Keith — Adam Boqvist
Calvin de Haan — Brent Seabrook
Olli Maatta — Erik Gustafsson

San Jose Sharks

Evander Kane — Logan Couture — Kevin Labanc
Timo Meier — Tomas Hertl —  Barclay Goodrow
Marcus Sorensen — Joe Thornton — Patrick Marleau
Lean Bergmann — Noah Gregor — Lukas Radil

Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Brent Burns
Brenden Dillon — Erik Karlsson
Radim Simek — Mario Ferraro

Analysis

The Blackhawks are riding high after their victory over the Anaheim Ducks, which appears to be the first victory in the new youth movement era.  In their victory, Jonathan Toews hooked up with Patrick Kane on the overtime winner. The team also saw the first NHL goal for young phenom Adam Boqvist, giving the rookie his first professional goal and his first NHL goal within mere days. it is pretty clear why fans expect big things from the young future star.

The bigger star from the Blackhawks last game was goalie Robin Lehner. Lehner put up another impressive outing in Sunday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings. Despite facing the most shots in the NHL, on average, Lehner continues to boast the leagues third best save percentage. He attributed that to playing behind a young porous defense during his time in Buffalo in the post game scrum. He will have to continue to play at high level against their opponent tonight, the San Jose Sharks.

The San Jose Sharks are coming off a a 5-2 loss against the upstart Vancouver Canucks, and are struggling much like the Blackhawks. Age, inconsistency, and poor goaltending appear to be the biggest issues plaguing the Sharks. The average age of the Sharks is 29.2 years, which is a full two years older than  NHL average. In addition to being long in the tooth, the goalie tandem of Martin Jones and Aaron Dell rank in the bottom 15 of NHL goaltenders this season.

While the Sharks have some glaring weaknesses, they also have some positives. Brent Burns ranks in the top 30 offensive players with 14 total points, and Evander Kane is 14th in the NHL with eight goals. This is the second meeting this season between the Blackhawks and the Sharks.  The first meeting ended in a 5—4 overtime win for the Sharks, at the United Center, which means that the Blackhawks are looking to avenge earlier loss while the Sharks are to get back on a winning track.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And, be sure to look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game by Juliana Nikac right here on The-Rink.com.

The post Preview/Game thread Chicago Blackhawks at San Jose Sharks appeared first on The Rink.

As expected, long-time Blackhawk Corey Crawford took the net for Chicago’s home opener in the second game of the season. There continues to be speculation as to how head coach Jeremy Colliton will split up the games in net between Crawford and Robin Lehner.

Here was the starting lineup for tonight’s matchup:

Alex Nylander — Jonathan Toews — Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Andrew Shaw

Brandon Saad — David Kampf — Dominik Kubalik

Zack Smith — Ryan Carpenter — Drake Caggiula

Duncan Keith — Erik Gustafsson

Olli Maatta — Brent Seabrook

Slater Koekkoek — Connor Murphy

Brendan Perlini and Calvin de Haan were the scratches.

First period

In the first five minutes, the Blackhawks did not get many chances. Newly signed Sharks forward Patrick Marleau got the first shot on net 21 seconds in and the Corey Crawford made some great saves early on.

The chances the home team did get were grade A about five minutes in. The third line maintained offensive zone time and simply threw the puck on net, generating a flurry of chances. Eventually, Brandon Saad retrieved a rebound off San Jose goaltender Aaron Dell and found a passing lane for Dominik Kubalik, who buried the puck in the wide-open net for his first NHL goal and a 1–0 Chicago lead.

Dominik Kubalik scores his first NHL goal and the first of the game for the #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/pnDkt78SiP

— Juliana Nikac (@juliananikac) October 11, 2019

A penalty by Ryan Carpenter in the offensive zone allowed the San Jose power play to get going and they did not let it go to waste. The Blackhawks lost the faceoff and Kevin Labanc scored off an impossible angle to tie the game at 1–1.

The tie did not last long, though. Just under two minutes after the Labanc goal, Olli Maatta retrieved a pass from around the boards and took a slap shot that Dell saved. But, with Andrew Shaw in his kitchen, Dell could only stop the puck so many times before it was shoved in. And boy, was Shaw excited to score his first back in a Blackhawk sweater and to give the home team the lead at 2–1.

Once again, another brutal offensive zone penalty for the Blackhawks led to another tie near the end of the first period. And you just had to know Marleau would score in his 1,658th career game. After one frame, the Blackhawks led the Sharks 14–11 in shots with the game tied at 2–2.

Second period

To start the second frame, the Blackhawks had a power play thanks to Shaw being himself and drawing a penalty against Brenden Dillon at the tail end of the first period. However, Chicago got nothing going on that man advantage. Kubalik continued to look fantastic and was rewarded with a promotion from the third line to the top line with Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews.

The Blackhawks did convert on a prime scoring chance later on, though. After chasing the puck into the offensive zone, Alex DeBrincat stole it away from Erik Karlsson along the boards and fed it to Shaw. From the left faceoff dot, Shaw’s wrist shot found a path into the net behind Dell. The Blackhawks regained the lead for the third time in the game at 3–2 around nine and a half minutes into the second period.

Andrew Shaw scores his second of the game to give the #Blackhawks a 3-2 lead pic.twitter.com/yzr9XUXnz3

— Juliana Nikac (@juliananikac) October 11, 2019

Of course, that advantage did not last long. Just 33 seconds later, San Jose defenseman Brent Burns slid along the boards and put a shot in front of the net from right above the goal line. The puck bounced off Blackhawk defenseman Connor Murphy and directly behind Crawford, tying the game at 3–3.

Both teams exchanged chances for the next few minutes. After Crawford stopped a shot the Sharks put on net, the puck found its way to Kane, who slid it up to Dylan Strome on a two-on-one with DeBrincat. The Sharks’ defense just continued to watch the puck while Strome and Kane tossed it back and forth until Strome shot it home to give the Blackhawks a 4–3 edge.

San Jose continued to pressure the Blackhawks in the Chicago zone for the remainder of the period. With about two minutes left, a shot from Burns at the blue line tipped off the stick of Timo Meier to Crawford, who could not control the rebound. Maatta lifted his own stick off the ice to tie up Marleau, but that did not stop the forward from scoring yet again, tying the contest at 4–4.

After two periods, the Blackhawks and Sharks found themselves tied at four goals apiece with the visitors leading 23–22 in shots.

Third period

The Blackhawks did not look like they wanted to win in the third period. San Jose had the majority of the chances, and, luckily, Crawford stopped almost all of them.

Almost is the keyword there. Five minutes into the final frame, the Sharks circled around the Blackhawks for much too long. The puck found Joe Thornton behind the net and he spotted a wide-open Barclay Goodrow directly in front of the net. There was no defender on him, as Alex Nylander and Erik Gustafsson were both tied up with the same player along the boards. The Sharks had their first lead of the game at 5–4 and the Blackhawks looked dead on their feet.

What a Goodie. pic.twitter.com/kaziUNMO9Q

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) October 11, 2019

In the final minute or so of the game, Chicago did have a decent amount of chances. None of them made their way into the net behind Dell and the Blackhawks lost 5–4, as San Jose earned their first win of the season. The Sharks outshot the Blackhawks 34–30 in the game.

The Blackhawks will remain at home Saturday night to face the Winnipeg Jets at 6 p.m.

Pluses

• Dominik Kubalik was the best player for the Blackhawks. He scored the first goal of his NHL career and controlled play when on the ice. He looks like a steal so far.

Minuses

• The penalty kill picked up right where it left off last year: looking terrible. San Jose scored two power play goals and now the Blackhawks are only 50% (three of six) on the penalty kill. That is not good enough at all.
• After a good first game and stellar preseason, Alex Nylander was invisible tonight. He was bumped off the first line and moved to the third line, then eventually switched in for a double-shifting Patrick Kane.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks fall 5-4 to Sharks in home opener appeared first on The Rink.

7:30 p.m. CDT

United Center

TV/Radio: NBCSN/WGN

Projected starters

Chicago — Corey Crawford (0–1–0, save percentage: .895, goals against average: 4.13)

San Jose — Aaron Dell (0–1–0, save percentage .897, goals against average: 3.08)

Team statistics

Power play
Chicago (50%, third)
San Jose (5.9%, 26th)

Penalty kill
Chicago (66.7%, 23rd)
San Jose  (85.7%, ninth)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (31.0, 17th; 38.0, third)
San Jose (32.0, 14th; 30.5 20th)

Shooting percentage
Chicago (9.7%)
San Jose  (3.2%)

Face off percentage
Chicago (37.9%, 31st)
San Jose (50.3%, 14th)

Average height and weight
Chicago 6-foot-1, 198 pounds
San Jose 6-foot-1, 203 pounds

Projected lines and pairings

Blackhawks lines

Alexander Nylander — Jonathan Toews — Patrick Kane

Alex DeBrincat — Dylan Strome — Andrew Shaw

Brandon Saad — David Kampf — Dominik Kubalik

Drake Caggiula — Zack Smith — Ryan Carpenter

Duncan Keith — Erik Gustafsson

Olli Maatta — Brent Seabrook

Slater Koekkoek — Connor Murphy

San Jose Sharks

Timo Meier — Logan Couture — Patrick Marleau

Evander Kane — Tomas Hertl — Barclay Goodrow

Lean Bergmann — Joe Thornton — Kevin Lebanc

Daniel Yuktaikin — Dylan Gambrell — Lukas Radil

Marc-Edouard Vlasic — Brent Burns

Brenden Dillon — Erik Karlsson

Mario Ferraro — Trevor Carrick

Analysis

“The more things change, the more things stay the same.” That could be an expression Blackhawk fans use to describe the team’s season opener on Oct. 4 in the NHL’s Global Series game last Friday. After a full offseason in Jeremy Colliton’s system, as well as the additions at goalie and on defense, the season opener was a carbon copy of a stereotypical game from last season.

That said, there were a few glimmers of sunshine. Alex Nylander looks like he could be able to fulfill his potential in Chicago. He displayed silky hands with his first goal in a Blackhawks sweater. The newly extended Alex DeBrincat continues to snap one-timers past goalies and Patrick Kane will continue to dazzle with his stupendous play. The Blackhawks also will be boosted by the addition of Connor Murphy to the lineup.

It is not all doom and gloom for the Chicago Blackhawks. The San Jose Sharks are struggling with their own set of problems. While the Blackhawks’ first game might have been disappointing, the Sharks’ start to their season has been downright dreadful. The Sharks are 0–4–0 to begin their 2019–20 campaign. After re-signing Erik Karlsson and locking up Evander Kane, this is not the type of start to a season they expected.

The Sharks, in desperate need of a morale lift, turned to a face familiar to the organization. They signed veteran and longtime Shark Patrick Marleau. Marleau, bought out by Carolina this summer after being acquired from Toronto, is returning home to San Jose for a swan-song season. Reports are that Marleau will dress for Thursday night’s tilt against the Blackhawks. While Marelau’s consecutive games played streak will continue, can he help the Sharks stop their losing streak?

Tonight’s matchup will feature two teams in desperate need of a win.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And, be sure to look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on The-Rink.com.

The post Preview/Game thread: Chicago Blackhawks vs. San Jose Sharks appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Blackhawks Starting Lineup

Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Dylan Sikura
Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Dominik Kahun
Brendan Perlini–Artem Anisimov–Patrick Kane
Chris Kunitz–David Kampf–Dominik Kahun
Duncan Keith–Erik Gustafsson
Gustav Forsling–Brent Seabrook
Slater Koekkoek–Connor Murphy

FIRST PERIOD

Chicago opened the period with an early power play, as San Jose forward Marcus Sorensen was penalized for goaltender interference at the 2:33 mark of the period. Sorensen went hard to the net, making contact with Crawford’s head. As usual with this Blackhawks team, not much happened after an opponent took liberties with their goaltender. Crawford appeared none too happy, remembering San Jose forward Evander Kane ran him earlier this season.

Less than a minute later, San Jose defenseman Brent Burns was sent off for high sticking Alex DeBrincat. With the two-man advantage, DeBrincat scored his 39^th goal of the season. The goal, reviewed by Sharks’ head coach Peter DeBoer, stood after it was determined Jonathan Toews did not interfere with San Jose goaltender Martin Jones.

After review, the officials confirm the call on the ice stands = GOOD GOAL!#Blackhawks ~officially~ up 1-0 in San Jose. #CHIvsSJS pic.twitter.com/SfegCBefFJ

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 29, 2019

Connor Murphy extended the Chicago lead to 2–0, beating Jones with what appeared to deflect off a San Jose defender in front. The goal, Murphy’s fifth this season, was assisted by Brandon Saad and Artem Anisimov.

This goal is *chef's kiss*#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/bOhfvwGL55

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 29, 2019

The Blackhawks extended their lead when Toews scored from the left side of the net, at the 10:59 mark. The goal, tying Toews’ career high in points (76), was assisted by Saad and Erik Gustafsson.

Heeeeeeere's Jonny!#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/KOPwYKl9nD

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 29, 2019

Exactly one minute later, San Jose cut the lead to 3–1 when forward Lukas Radil barely beat Crawford over his left shoulder after deflecting a shot off his glove. Tomas Hertl and Burns assisted on the goal.

Whatever works, right? ¯_(ツ)_/¯ #StealthMode pic.twitter.com/RRGZGJTe2e

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 29, 2019

Brent Seabrook took back-to-back penalties late in the period, giving the Sharks a clear jump in their step. The good news, the Blackhawks were able to kill off both penalties, ending with Saad missing a late chance, as the period came to an end.

Chicago outshot the home team 14–9 in the period.

SECOND PERIOD

Just over two minutes into the period, Gustav Nyquist cut the Chicago lead to 3–2. Nyquist was the recipient of a pretty doorstep pass from Hertl for this 20th goal of the season.

#SJSharks Tim Heed -> Kevin Labanc – > Tomas Hertl – Gustav Nyquist. Sharks down by 1.

Or what we call duck duck duck GOOSE! pic.twitter.com/02Aq0wGtHr

— TEAL TOWN USA – A San Jose Sharks Podcast (@TEALTOWNUSA) March 29, 2019

Chicago wasted no time extending their lead back to two goals when DeBrincat buried his 40th goal of the season, and second of the game. DeBrincat becomes the second Blackhawks’ player to reach 40 goals this season, joining Patrick Kane.

Pass that thing and watch me flex
Behind my back, you know what's next#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/Z7drmJBOYK

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 29, 2019

Even with a two goal lead, Chicago looked like the team in scramble mode, especially when Seabrook took his third penalty of the game. While shorthanded, Murphy was called for closing his hand on the puck, giving the Sharks another two-man advantage.

San Jose was able to take advantage of this two-man advantage, scoring off the stick of Hertl as he  deflected a nice pass in front from Sharks center Joe Thornton, making the score 4–3.

Ninja Hertl in full stealth mode with his 34th goal of the season pic.twitter.com/TFrwNosxfa

— Sharks on NBCS (@NBCSSharks) March 29, 2019

At the 16:06 mark, Slater Koekkoek found himself out of position, giving San Jose forward Timo Meier a quick breakaway and beat Crawford for his 29th goal this season. As we have seen many times before, the defense left Crawford out to dry. The goal tied the game at 4–4.

9:05PM #TimoTime #StealthMode pic.twitter.com/C28DpcSfLt

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 29, 2019

For as bad as the Blackhawks looked after taking a two-goal lead early, they did not quit when the Sharks tied the game. Chris Kunitz put the opponents back on top when he tipped home a Kane shot past Jones. The goal, assisted by Kane and Gustafsson, gave the veteran four goals this season.

Chicago was outshot by San Jose 12–5 for the period, giving the Sharks a 21–19 advantage after two periods.

THIRD PERIOD

The wide open game did not end after two periods. As the game went to the first commercial break after seven minutes of action, Chicago was outshooting San Jose 4–3. Both teams exchanged some really good chances but could not find the back of the net.

Both Crawford and Jones shared top-notch saves throughout up to the last commercial break. With 2:44 left to play in the third period, the wild game was still scoreless for the period.

With just under 1:30 to play, San Jose pulled Jones for the extra attacker. After what appeared to be an icing call against the Sharks was waived off, San Jose put an extended pressure on the Blackhawks but could not tie the game, giving Chicago the 5–4 victory.

THE GOOD

Alex DeBrincat scored his 40^th goal of the season, making him the youngest Blackhawks player to 40 goals. The second-round pick is looking like a steal and will get paid well soon.

The game was entertaining. If you stayed up past midnight, you were not disappointed.

THE BAD

Brent Seabrook took three penalties in the game. Although the chances of the Blackhawks making the playoffs is something for “meatballs” to think about, your veteran player cannot be a “meatball” himself in the game.

Teams know the Blackhawks are soft and easy to play against. You can run their goalie, win most board battles in deep and can plant in front of their goalie without any repercussions.

The post Chicago beats San Jose 5–4, DeBrincat reaches 40 goals appeared first on The Rink.

9:30 p.m. CST

SAP Center at San Jose

TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Corey Crawford (13–18–3, SV%: .909, GAA: 2.91)

San Jose – Martin Jones (34–17–5, SV%: .898, GAA: 2.91)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play

Chicago (20.5 percent, T-11th)

San Jose (23.8 percent, Sixth)

Penalty Kill

Chicago (73.1 percent, 31st)

San Jose (79.7 percent, 19th)

Shorts for/against

Chicago (32.6, T-11th; 34.7, 30th)

San Jose (33.4, Fourth; 28.4, Second)

Shooting Percentage

Chicago (9.9 percent, Ninth)

San Jose (10.6 percent, Sixth)

Faceoff Percentage

Chicago (49.4 percent, 21st)

San Jose (50.4 percent, 13th)

Average height and weight

Chicago 6’1”, 195 lbs.

San Jose 6’1”, 200 lbs.

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks

Alex DeBrincat–Jonathan Toews–Patrick Kane

Brendan Perlini–David Kampf–Dylan Strome

Brandon Saad–Artem Anisimov–Dylan Sikura

Chris Kunitz–Marcus Kruger–Dominik Kahun

Duncan Keith–Erik Gustafsson

Gustav Forsling–Brent Seabrook

Slater Koekkoek–Connor Murphy

San Jose Sharks

Timo Meier–Logan Couture–Joe Pavelski

Evander Kane–Tomas Hertl–Gustav Nyquist

Marcus Sorensen–Joe Thornton–Kevin Labanc

Melker Karlsson–Barclay Goodrow–Joonas Donskoi

Marc-Edouard Vlasic–Brent Burns

Brenden Dillon–Justin Braun

Joakim Ryan–Tim Heed

Analysis

The Blackhawks began writing their eulogy on Tuesday night in Arizona as the Blackhawks dropped the contest 1–0. An offense that has been very good all season decided not to show up in a game that could ultimately seal their fate for the season. The Coyotes kept themselves very much in the hunt after Tuesday’s win.

Chicago now may focus on young players getting better looks and the impending draft lottery coming up. Perhaps the Blackhawks can luck out and sneak into the top five and draft a player who may be able to help the roster now, if not sooner than later.

The Sharks are on the complete opposite end from the Blackhawks in the playoff picture. The Sharks have already clinched their trip to the postseason and currently sit second to the Calgary Flames in the Pacific Division standings. Despite losing six straight games, the Sharks are still a much better team than the Blackhawks and should likely be able to use this game to get back to their winning ways.

The Sharks weak point this season has been goaltending. Although he has 34 wins, Martin Jones has struggled this year, posting a .898 save percentage and a 2.91 goals against average (GAA), which is identical to Corey Crawford’s GAA. This is one area the Blackhawks may be able to exploit and aid in continuing the Sharks bad losing streak.

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on the-rink.com.

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks at Sharks appeared first on The Rink.

Cam Ward started in net, in the second game of a back-to-back after Corey Crawford still struggled to shake some rust off versus the Kings the night before in LA. Slater Koekkoek had the night off after drawing into the lineup in Saturday’s game and struggling. Evander Kane and Erik Karlsson were out of the game for the Sharks, leaving them down a couple of key players in a game in which they would like to get some points. Head Coach Jeremy Colliton hoped to reinvigorate this team by mixing up the lineup, which saw multiple players moving up and down the lineup.

The starting lines were as follows:
Chris Kunitz – Jonathan Toews – Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Strome – Brendan Perlini
Brandon Saad – Artem Anisimov – Dominik Kahun
John Hayden – Marcus Kruger – Dylan Sikura

Duncan Keith – Erik Gustafsson
Gustav Forsling – Brent Seabrook
Carl Dahlstrom – Connor Murphy

1st Period:

At the 8:16 mark of the first period, the Blackhawks drew a penalty when Forsling was tripped in the defensive zone. The Chicago power play got some good chances, as Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews tried to give the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead, but nothing materialized.

A few minutes later, at the 12:16 mark of the period, Tomas Hertl managed to slide through the changing Blackhawks defense and lift the puck over a sprawled out Ward and into the back of the net. The Blackhawks managed to get a few more chances as the period went on, with the Brendan Perlini line getting some good pressure in front of Martin Jones but, again, nothing became of it.

In the final minute of the period, Dylan Strome led a 2-on-1 down the ice with Alex DeBrincat but held onto the puck.  Strome fired it past Jones at the 19:33 mark of the period to send the teams to the dressing room knotted in a 1-1 tie.

Strome and DeBrincat team up to tie it up at the end of the 1st period!

: https://t.co/JQ4FxNzkle pic.twitter.com/gpkuf3UCWl

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) March 4, 2019

2nd Period:

Gustav Nyquist started off the period with an area pass to Logan Couture, whose tip was saved nicely by Ward.

A minute later, Tim Heed put a slap pass toward the front of the net that directed off of Joonas Donskoi and Timo Meier before finding the twine. 2-1, San Jose.

The Sharks had a couple more good chances with Michael Haley in front of the net and Barclay Goodrow getting a rebound chance, but Ward stood tall and stopped both shots.

Later, Erik Gustafsson managed to put the puck past Jones after a nice give and go with Jonathan Toews and a nice wrist shot through traffic, knotting the game up at two each. 2-2.

Oh, you say you have some high-scoring defensemen?

Meet GUS! : https://t.co/JQ4FxNzkle pic.twitter.com/MqaXI08YDP

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) March 4, 2019

With just over 14 minutes gone by in the period, the Sharks got some really good pressure on in front of Ward, peppering the defense with pressure and shots on goal, all of which were stopped.

With 17:37 left in the period, though, the Hawks got a chance on the power play. Alex DeBrincat missed the net with the best chance of the man advantage when he hoisted a Toews feed over the net and hit the glass, and the period ended with a 2-2 tie.

3rd Period:

After a back and forth couple of minutes to begin the final period, the Sharks gained possession, with Joe Thornton outmuscling Artem Anisimov to feed the puck out in front for a top shelf goal by Marcus Sorensen, making it a 3-2 Sharks lead.

Later, the Sharks then went on the power play, after a tripping call on Brendan Perlini, which gave the Sharks a prime opportunity to increase their lead. While the Blackhawks killed off the initial penalty, the Sharks had a delayed penalty coming when Patrick Kane slashed Michael Haley, who persevered to take the puck behind the net and then fed it out in front to a waiting Brent Burns who ripped a shot that went off of the Sharks’ Melker Karlsson to give the Sharks a 4-2 lead.

The Hawks kept bringing the puck into the Sharks’ zone, but the Sharks played stonewall defense, blocking passes and shots to stymie the chances Chicago generated. The Blackhawks looked like they had nothing left, as shot after shot was being blocked by a player or stopped by Jones.

Melker Karlsson scored again on an empty net goal late in the period to put things away for good. The Blackhawks have dropped 4 of their last 5 games, and the last 2 in a row.

The Blackhawks’ next game is at home versus the Buffalo Sabres, starting at 7:30 CT.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks Fall to The Sharks to Wrap West Coast Trip appeared first on The Rink.

9:00PM CST
SAP Center
TV/Radio: NBCSCH/WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – CAM WARD (14–10–4, SV%: .893, GAA: 3.71)
San Jose – MARTIN JONES (30–13–0, SV%: .896, GAA: 2.95)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (22.2% – 10th)
San Jose (25.3% – 4th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (72.6% – 31st)
San Jose (81.4% – 10th)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (32.1 – 14th, 35.0 – 30th)
San Jose (33.8 – 3rd, 28.4 – 2nd)

Shooting %
Chicago (10.4% – 8th)
San Jose (10.6% – 5th)

Faceoff %
Chicago (49.6% – 19th)
San Jose (50.9% – 10th)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 195lbs
San Jose 6’0″, 199lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks
Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Strome – Dominik Kahun
Brendan Perlini – Artem Anisimov – Dylan Sikura
Chris Kunitz – Marcus Kruger – John Hayden

Duncan Keith – Brent Seabrook
Gustav Forsling – Connor Murphy
Slater Koekkoek – Erik Gustafsson

San Jose Sharks

Timo Meier – Logan Couture – Joe Pavelski
Kevin Labanc – Tomas Hertl – Joonas Donskoi
Marcus Sorensen – Joe Thornton – Gustav Nyquist
Micheal Haley – Barclay Goodrow – Melker Karlsson

Brenden Dillon – Brent Burns
Tim Heed – Marc-Edouard Vlasic
Radim Simek – Justin Braun

Analysis

After a deflating loss in matinée action yesterday against the Kings, the Blackhawks head to northern California to face the Western Conference’s second best team, the San Jose Sharks.  The Sharks are near the top in most basic statistical offensive and defensive categories, which could prove to be difficult for the Blackhawks.  While the Sharks have one of the most potent offensive teams, they also have one of the league’s most stingy defensive teams.

Where the Blackhawks can take advantage is the goaltending.  Martin Jones has been one of the worst starting goalies in the NHL, in 5v5 save percentage (.896).  Even though the Sharks give up only 28.4 shots a game, they still allow almost three goals a game on average.  If Jeremy Colliton‘s team can put up three or more goals, they will have a solid shot at surprising the Sharks.

This, of course, is dependent on the Blackhawks continuing a recent trend toward allowing less shots against (versus the season as a whole), as they have given up 35 or less in their last 5 games (35-31-29-32-25).

San Jose has been without forward Evander Kane and defenseman Erik Karlsson.  These huge absences could loom large for the Sharks tonight.

By the way, the Sharks boast one of the better home records in the NHL this season at 20-5-5.

Back in December, the Sharks took the outmatched Blackhawks apart, 7-3.  Both starting goaltenders were pulled, but it was the Sharks who eventually opened the flood gates.

Game note: Sharks defenseman Brent Burns comes into this contest with a 454 game iron-man streak.

Comment below in our live game thread!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on the-rink.com.

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks at Sharks appeared first on The Rink.

This was your Blackhawks starting lineup:
Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Dominik Kahun
Alex DeBrincat – Dylan Strome – Patrick Kane
Dylan Sikura – David Kampf – Brendan Perlini
John Hayden – Marcus Kruger – Andreas Martinsen

Duncan Keith – Henri Jokiharju
Erik Gustafsson – Brent Seabrook
Carl Dahlstrom – Connor Murphy

Chris Kunitz and Brandon Manning spent a quiet night watching from the Jeremy Colliton Chicken Finger and Popcorn Buffet in the press box, probably deservedly so.

The first period was a total shootout from the drop of the puck.  Just two and a half minutes into play, Alex DeBrincat gave the Blackhawks a very rare 1-0 lead.  He took a neutral zone pass from Erik Gustafsson, skated over the Shark’s blue line, took a half step to the middle of the ice and snapped a wrist shot that squirted through Martin Jones and dribbled into the net.

Less than a minute after the DeBrincat goal, Dylan Strome gave the Blackhawks an even more rare 2-0 lead.  A Connor Murphy shot from the high slot deflected off a Sharks stick, and then Strome redirected it past a surprised Martin Jones.

The Blackhawks held that 2-0 lead for just over seven minutes, until they blew their lead. The Sharks fought back to get goals from Melker Karlsson and Marcus Sorensen in a matter of 42 seconds.

The good news was that the Blackhawks actually responded and took that lead back. Dylan Sikura showed some nice power up the middle of the ice and managed a shot that Jones made a toe save on. Brendan Perlini followed up the original shot and chipped it past Jones. Out went Jones and in came Aaron Dell.

Sikura powers through the defense and Perlini finishes off his effort! #Teammates #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/WMJEYKEK0d

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) December 17, 2018

Thirteen minutes into the game and five goals were on the board already.  Five more were scored the rest of the way, and none were from the Blackhawks.

With 1:30 left in the opening period, while chasing down Logan Couture, Dylan Strome was pushed into his own goaltender by Evander Kane and Corey Crawford went down hard.  In fact, Crawford’s head bounced off the goal post and he stayed on the ice.  He eventually made it off the ice under his own power but that was the end of the night for the Blackhawks goaltender.

More concerning for the Blackhawks was that arguably their most important player was laid out with a hit to the head which kept him out for nine months.  It was confirmed later that Crawford has a concussion.

Corey Crawford leaves the game after this nasty collision. pic.twitter.com/WCKD7Mgczh

— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) December 17, 2018

The first period ended with the Blackhawks up 3-2 but the Sharks leading in shots 8-5.  Now without their veteran goalie, the real Blackhawks showed up…

The start to the second period was filled with sloppy infractions. The Blackhawks started the period on the power play, but were then assessed a terrible penalty when David Kampf’s stick broke and he was given a penalty. Eventually, the Sharks tied the game back up on the resulting power play, with Evander Kane found a loose puck in the slot area and hitting a gaping net.

Three minutes after the Sharks tied the game, they took their first lead of the night. Barclay Goodrow redirected a long Justin Braun shot past Cam Ward making it seem a lot like the Blackhawks could not catch a break.

The Sharks expanded their lead to 5-3 at the 17:17 mark of the second period. Logan Couture posted up in the front of Cam Ward and redirected a long, knuckling Brenden Dillon shot past the helpless Hawks netminder. The concerning part of the play was that the Blackhawks were not able to get the puck out of the zone, more than once, preceding the goal.

This is how the second period ended, as the Blackhawks had only 13 shots in 40 minutes while the Sharks had 22 shots on net.

In the third period, the play slowed down considerably, especially for the Blackhawks.  With seven minutes remaining in regulation the Sharks added a cushion goal on the power play, which was a result of David Kampf taking a chance and trying to intercept a pass for a shorthanded break-a-way.  Kampf missed the pass and the Sharks ended up with a 3-on-2.  Kevin Lebanc snapped a pretty impressive shot over Ward’s glove and put the game far out of the Blackhawks’ reach.

San Jose added a seventh insurance goal, but that was just a formality.  When the final horn sounded the Blackhawks had given up five straight goals to finish the game and lost 7-3.  They finished with a mere 20 shots on net.

Pluses

• Jumping out to a 2-0 lead is a really welcomed sight.  The problem was giving up 2 in less than a minute to blow said lead.
• Finally, Brendan Perlini got his name on the scoresheet in the goal column.

Minuses

• It doesn’t go much further than the Corey Crawford play that led to him leaving the game. The last thing this organization wanted to see was Corey Crawford absorb another hit to the head.  This is extremely concerning because they can’t even use him as a trade piece with another concussion.  Colliton confirmed after the game that Crawford does, indeed, have another concussion.  This could get even more ugly, fast, if Crawford is out for an extended period of time.
• Edzo and Pat correctly pointed out a terrible penalty call on David Kampf then proceeded to be absolutely befuddled by the referees not calling a penalty on Marcus Kruger when his follow through caught Kevin Lebanc high under the shield.
• Speaking of power plays, the Sharks were 2/2 and the Blackhawks were 0/4.
• When you are out-chanced in the high danger category 14-7, you’re not winning many hockey games.
• The Blackhawks overall possession numbers were absolutely brutal.  Their Corsi and Fenwick were 37.1% and 30.6% respectively.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks Lose Game And Crawford vs Sharks appeared first on The Rink.

6:00pm CST
United Center
TV/Radio: WGN/WGN

PROJECTED STARTERS

Chicago – Corey Crawford (6–14–2, SV%: .903, GAA: 3.23)
San Jose– Martin Jones (13–7–3, SV%: .901, GAA: 2.83)

TEAM STATISTICS

Power Play
Chicago (11.9%, 31st)
San Jose (23.0%, 9th)

Penalty Kill
Chicago (73.3%, 31st)
San Jose (84.6%, 3rd)

Shorts for/against
Chicago (32.2, 12th; 34.0, 28th)
San Jose (34.7, 3rd; 28.8, 5th)

Shooting %
Chicago (8.8%, 27th)
San Jose (9.2%, 24th)

Faceoff %
Chicago (50.2%,13th)
San Jose (49.9%, 17th)

Avg. height/weight
Chicago 6’1”, 197lbs
San Jose 6’1” 200lbs

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS

Chicago Blackhawks
Brandon Saad–Jonathan Toews–Dominik Kahun
Alex DeBrincat–Dylan Strome–Patrick Kane
Dylan Sikura–David Kampf–Brendan Perlini
John Hayden–Marcus Kruger–Andreas Martinsen
Duncan Keith–Henri Jokiharju
Brent Seabrook–Brandon Manning
Carl Dahlstrom–Connor Murphy

San Jose Sharks
Tomas Hertl–Logan Couture–Timo Meier
Evander Kane–Joe Pavelski–Joonas Donskoi
Marcus Sorensen–Joe Thornton–Kevin Labanc
Barclay Goodrow–Lukas Radil–Melker Karlsson
Brenden Dillon–Erik Karlsson
Radim Simek–Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic–Justin Braun

Analysis

The Blackhawks are now last in the league in both power play (11.9%) and penalty kill (73.3%) percentages. It’s a bad sign when fans joke about “declining the penalty” when given a power play. What is the issue? Many coaches (head and assistant) have tried to figure that out without success.

Chicago also resides in the basement in goal differential (-32) in the league. This stat can get skewed from one poor showing (or great one), but over time, does provide a metric for the team’s performance.

Corey Crawford will be in net tonight. The 33-year old has registered a save percentage over .900 only three times in his last ten starts, allowing three plus goals in all ten games. High percentage chances allowed plays a role in his struggles. However, a lgetimate “goalie win” has not been registered in over a month.

San Jose enters tonight on a three-game winning streak. Forward Timo Meier netted four goals the past two games. The 22-year old also leads the Sharks in points (32) and second in goals (18) behind Center Joe Pavelski (20 goals).

Comment below in our live game thread tonight!

And look for the internet’s most robust recap of the game tomorrow morning on the-rink.com. 

The post Preview/Game Thread: Blackhawks vs Sharks appeared first on The Rink.

With a very strong outing against the Islanders over the weekend, goalie Anton Forsberg made his second straight start in net for the Blackhawks.

In a carousel of the walking wounded, John Hayden took the night off with an “injury” so that Victor Ejdsell could be recalled.

Speaking of Ejdsell, This game was going to be a memorable one for the big Swedish rookie. He made his Blackhawks, NHL and home debut.

Brandon Saad – Victor Ejdsell – Patrick Kane
Vinnie Hinostroza – Nick Schmaltz – Matthew Highmore
Patrick Sharp – David Kampf – Alex DeBrincat
Tomas Jurco – Artem Anisimov – Andreas Martinsen

Duncan Keith – Brent Seabrook
Erik Gustafsson – Connor Murphy
Jordan Oesterle – Jan Rutta

The Blackhawks came out in the first period and surrendered a plethora of shots on net thanks to a little assistance from an early Sharks powerplay.

However, the Sharks opened the scoring half way through the first period.

The aforementioned Victor Ejdsell had a front row seat for the goal, because his guy was the player that gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead. Jannik Hansen dumped off a subtle little pass to Marcus Sorensen just before Hansen made a move to go behind the net, which left Sorensen enough room to beat the startled Blackhawks goaltender.

Five minutes after the Sharks took the lead, an eventful Alex DeBrincat shift resulted in the game tying goal for the Blackhawks. DeBrincat had started the play by initially turning the puck over in the San Jose zone, but hustled back to cause a turnover and then sent Brandon Saad back the other way. Saad dropped the puck to Vinnie Hinostroza, who send a snapshot towards Sharks goalie Martin Jones. Jones made the first save, but the rebound fell to his left and the trailing Alex DeBrincat swatted it into the net for his 26th goal of the year.

The Hawks were not done there, though.

Just a minute and eighteen seconds after DeBrincat tied the game Connor Murphy put them up 2-1. Murphy just let a long point shot go from the right half-boards. The puck took a funny bounce off what looked to be Brenden Dillon and went high over Jones’ glove.

This would be how the first period ended, as the Blackhawks fought back to take a 11-10 first period shot lead.

As the second period began, the home team was a little slow coming out of the gates once again, surrendering an early 4-1 shot advantage. Luckily, they were able to battle back and break even.

It took until just past the 16 minute mark for either team to score. Evander Kane got in behind Brent Seabrook and was off to the races on Anton Forsberg. Forsberg made the initial save, but the puck squirted out behind him and into the net to tie the game.

Bad set of circumstances after making a good save for Forsberg.

The second intermission followed shortly after with the teams deadlocked at two goals a piece, and the Sharks leading in shots on net, 15-10.

The third period started out the complete opposite of the first and second periods. The Blackhawks actually came out with some purpose, jumping out to a 7-2 shot advantage.

With just over four minutes remaining in regulation play, Tomas Hertl stole a loose puck from Erik Gustafsson along the Blackhawks half boards, and raced in on Anton Forsberg all alone. Hertl beat Forsberg high to give the Sharks a 3-2 lead.

One might have thought the game was over, there, but Patrick Sharp was not subscribing to that narrative. Alex DeBrincat was also involved in the play, feeding Patrick Sharp for a one timer in a prime scoring position, and getting his second point of the night. Martin Jones got a piece of the shot but the puck squirted behind him and slowly into the net.

Then came the overtime; and what an overtime it was.

Nick Schmaltz had a great 2-on-1 chance that turned into a clean breakaway but Martin Jones made the save, while Anton Forsberg made a couple of nice saves at his end. Both goalies were exceptional in the extra time.

With no winner after the extra five minutes, it was on to the shootout.

Logan Couture and Patrick Sharp both scored early on to let the game be decided in sudden death. Peter Lebanc (WHO?) was, apparently, just the guy to end said sudden death. He beat Forsberg with a Kane-esque slow down move which earned the Sharks the extra point in the standings.

Pluses

• Anton Forsberg has looked pretty good for two straight games. This is certainly good news, but he is going to need a thorough brainwashing this summer to exorcise the demons that Joel Quenneville has infected his brain with.
• Victor Ejdsell was not dominant or anything, but he held his own. I cannot gripe with his performance, especially after playing only his 3rd game on North American ice. The -3 on the score sheet will look bad, but he was only really involved in the first Sharks goal. I am going to stand by my initial statement that Ejdsell will be the younger, cheaper replacement for Artem Anisimov next season.
• Alex DeBrincat had another good game. Two points, a plus three, and he was a threat to score a couple more times. If the Blackhawks can find him an Artemi Panarin/Patrick Kane type partnership, he may score 40 goal in the next couple of years.

Minuses

• It is always strange to see the Blackhawks beat another team in hits, but this was one of those rare games. Even if it was by the slimmest of margins, 26-25.
• Getting out shot 38-31 at home is something that needs to be fixed.  I’m still not convinced that the members of this defensive corp can improve enough in the off-season to fix this problem.

The post Chicago Blackhawks vs San Jose Sharks Game Recap appeared first on The Rink.

TIME: 7:30PM Central/8:30PM Eastern
RADIO: WGN 720
TV: NBCSCH, NSCA

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:
Anton Forsberg (10-16-3 W-L | 2.98 GAA | 0.907 SV% | 0 SO)

San Jose:
Martin Jones (28-18-6 W-L | 2.44 GAA | 0.918 SV% | 4 SO)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago:
Brandon Saad – Victor Ejdsell – Patrick Kane
Vinnie Hinostroza – Nick Schmaltz – Alex DeBrincat
Tomas Jurco – Artem Anisimov – Andreas Martinsen
Patrick Sharp – David Kampf – John Hayden

Duncan Keith – Jan Rutta
Erik Gustafsson – Brent Seabrook
Jordan Oesterle – Connor Murphy

San Jose:
Evander Kane – Joe Pavelski – Melker Karlsson
Tomas Hertl – Logan Couture – Mikkel Boedker
Timo Meier – Chris Tierney – Kevin Labanc
Barclay Goodrow – Eric Fehr – Jannik Hansen

Paul Martin – Brent Burns
Marc-Edouard Vlasic – Justin Braun
Brenden Dillon – Dylan DeMelo

STATISTICAL COMPARISONS:

Power Play:
Chicago 16.1% (28th)
San Jose 20.9% (12th)

Penalty Kill:
Chicago 79.6% (20th)
San Jose 84.7%(2nd)

Corsi FOR % (5-on-5):
Chicago 52.96% (4th)
San Jose 50.86% (13th)

Faceoffs:
Chicago 49.7% (17th)
San Jose 51.1%(9th)

SUMMARY:

The Blackhawks will give fans a brand new look at the potential future of the franchise, tonight, with the NHL debut of prospect Victor Ejdsell.  Not only will he be making his NHL debut, but he’ll be doing so with Brandon Saad and Patrick Kane on his flank.  Not a bad deal for the kid.  Matthew Highmore looks to be the odd man out.

Pending visa issues, super hyped prospect and future savior of the franchise Dylan Sikura is scheduled to make his NHL debut on Thursday night and will probably move into second in franchise history with 600 goals in his first game (read sarcasm).

As sad as it might be, these latest moves actually give the Hawks fans something to pay attention to, rather than a team that is just simply terrible at this point in the season.

Join our discussion below and look out for a recap following the game or tomorrow.

Follow me on Twitter @PuckinHostile

The post Chicago Blackhawks vs San Jose Sharks Preview & Game Thread appeared first on The Rink.

The Blackhawks were without Jan Rutta, once again, as they announced he would be out day-to-day with a lower body injury earlier in the day.

In somewhat brighter news, rookie Matthew Highmore made his NHL debut on the third line with fellow youngsters Alex DeBrincat and Nick Schmaltz. Not only did Highmore make his debut, but he was in the starting lineup. Great night for the kid. That was about the only redeeming quality of this game

Joel Quenneville announced, on Wednesday, that “hot goalie of the moment” Jean-Francois Berube would be starting two of the three road trip game, which makes you wonder what effect they expect this to have on the psyche of their “official” starting goalie, Anton Forsberg. Do they even care at this point?

Blackhawks starting lines were as follows:
Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Vinnie Hinostroza
Tomas Jurco – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat – Nick Schmaltz – Matthew Highmore
Patrick Sharp – David Kampf – Anthony Duclair

Duncan Keith – Jordan Oesterle
Connor Murphy – Brent Seabrook
Erik Gustafsson – Carl Dahlstrom

Just a couple of minutes into the first period, Artem Anisimov gave the road team a 1-0 lead.

Duncan Keith set up the play by drawing a defender on the half wall, then dishing to Anisimov. The Blackhawks center quickly released a shot, using a Sharks defender as a screen and beating Martin Jones. This is where the Hawks good fortunes went up in flames.

Halfway through the opening period, Joe Pavelski and the Sharks put on a Globetrotters type clinic with the Blackhawks third pair making a bad pinch, then running around a bit, and eventually leaving poor Matthew Highmore to try and defend against three Sharks players. Needless to say, the play ended poorly for the Blackhawks. Welcome to the NHL, kid, how do you like the smell of tire fires?

This is how the first period ended, with the Sharks narrowly out shooting the Blackhawks 9-8 but morally crushing the fragile ego of this team.

Just over two minutes into the second period, the Blackhawks found themselves digging the puck out of their net once again. They had a couple of chances to clear their own end but clearly failed. The defense also had the opportunity to clear a fat JF Berube rebound and failed at that, as well. Eventually, Kevin Lebanc was staring at a gaping net with the puck on his stick and did not miss.

About three minutes after the Lebanc goal, Timo Meier redirected a long point shot past Berube to give the Sharks a 4-1 lead. The wheels were not only falling off the cart, but they were stuck in a firey pile of excrement.

The Shark-a-lanche kept rolling downhill with over seven minutes still remaining in the middle period, as Joe Pavelski scored the fifth unanswered goal of the night, after an awful Jordan Oesterle pinch led to another odd man break, and another goal Berube had absolutely no chance on.

I cannot say I have seen a pro game where the goalie had less of a chance to succeed than JF Berube did on the first five goals of this one.

That said, the sixth Sharks goal of the night was pretty awful, but did not matter. With less than five seconds remaining in the period, Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic threw the puck from behind the Blackhawks goal line, toward Berube. The shot banked perfectly off the back of Berube’s right leg and dribbled into the net with two seconds remaining on the clock.

In hindsight, Berube should have held onto the initial shot, but he tried to run out the remaining few seconds on the clock and toss the puck back behind his net. Brent Seabrook and Carl Dahlstrom looked like they had never seen a loose puck and had already quit on the play. This goal was a perfect encapsulation of the Blackhawks effort in this game.

Needless to say, this was the end of JF Berube’s sour night in San Jose. When the Blackhawks came out for the third period, Anton Forsberg was in net.

It only took the Sharks two and a half minutes to christen Forsberg, as the Blackhawks just allowed Barclay Goodrow and Melker Karlsson to waltz into their zone and crash the net. Goodrow actually scored by throwing the puck towards Karlsson, but it rattled around and ended in the net without ever making it to Karlsson’s stick.

The Blackhawks had a couple of meaningless late chances with a failed Anthony Duclair penalty shot and, finally, a Nick Schmaltz goal with 32 seconds remaining in the game.

Not the way the Blackhawks would have liked to start this road trip.

Pluses

• Pat Foley was clearly elated to have his good buddy Eddie Olczyk back in the booth. The two were like a couple of giggly elementary school girls for the first minute and a half of the game. Those two were the only elated ones from the Blackhawks perspective.

Minuses

• Erik Gustafsson and Carl Dahlstrom had about as rough of a first period as you can imagine. It seemed like every time the Sharks scored, 56 and 63 were standing around looking befuddled.
• Speaking of bad lines, the kid line of DeBrincat-Schmaltz-Highmore were each -3 on the night.
• I want to like Jordan Oesterle, but Joel Quenneville needs to put a shock collar on this kid. He is beginning to look like a puppy chasing a ball around in the park. No focus, and zero attention span. He cannot be your number two defenseman. CAN NOT. Both Oesterle and Keith were -3 and seemed -5. I am all for trying new things and experimentation, but this experiment is finished.
• At this point, I declare Anthony Duclair is the new Viktor Stalberg. A bunch of flash and speed but no finish. His penalty shot attempt was laughable.

The post Chicago Blackhawks at San Jose Sharks Game Recap appeared first on The Rink.

9:00PM Central

RADIO: WGN 720

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:
Jean-Francois Berube (1-0-0, 1.71 GAA, .947 Save%)

San Jose:
Martin Jones (20-16-6, 2.51 GAA, .917 Save%)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago:
Saad-Toews-Hinostroza
Jurco-Anisimov -Kane
DeBrincat-Schmaltz-HIghmore
Sharp-Kampf-Duclair

Keith-Oesterle
Murphy-Seabrook
Gustafsson-Rutta

San Jose:

Meier-Pavelski-Donskoi
Hertl-Couture-Labanc
Boedker-Tierney-Hansen
Goodrow-Fehr-Karlsson

Ryan-Burns
Vlasic-Braun
Dillon-Demelo

STATISTICAL COMPARISIONS:

Power Play:
Chicago 15.5% (29^th)
San Jose 21.3% (T-6^th)

Penalty Kill:
Chicago 82.3% (12^th)
San Jose 84.4% (1^st)

Corsi FOR % (5-on-5):
Chicago 53.41% (3^rd)
San Jose 51.17% (13^th)

Faceoffs:
Chicago 49.4% (T-18^th)
San Jose 51.3% (8^th)

SUMMARY:

Now starts the future for the Blackhawks. After trading Ryan Hartman and Tommy Wingels at Monday’s trade deadline, the Blackhawks are officially looking ahead to next season and beyond. But where does that leaves this year’s team?

I’m not sure “tanking” is a thing in hockey, but that’s hopefully that’s the route the Hawks take the rest of this season. Bettering their draft position would be the best thing to do for the overall health of the franchise. What that means for this season is playing young players, finding out what you have throughout your system, both AHL and NHL, and maybe even resting some of your “core” players. Maybe Jonathan Toews or Patrick Kane or Duncan Keith sit in a random road game here or there. That is completely speculative of course, but it allows room for the young players to get minutes, rests the older guys, and helps the cause for a better draft pick.

Speaking of young players, Matthew Highmore will make his NHL debut tonight on the third line with Nick Schmaltz and Alex DeBrincat. It will be a good opportunity for the youngster to make a good first impression.

The Sharks on the other hand, have been OK lately. They are battling for a playoff spot, and will come out ready to play. In the previous matchup between these two opponents on February 23, the Blackhawks won 3-1.

We’ll recap tonight or tomorrow AM. Join the conversation below!

Follow: @CoachMajewski

The post Chicago Blackhawks at San Jose Sharks Preview & Game Thread appeared first on The Rink.

7:30PM Central

RADIO: WGN 720

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:
Anton Forsberg (7-12-3, 2.90 GAA, .910 Save%)

San Jose:
Martin Jones (19-15-5, 2.53 GAA, .916 Save%)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago:

Saad-Toews-Wingels
Jurco-Anisimov-Kane
DeBrincat-Schmaltz-Duclair
Hinostroza-Kampf-Hartman

Keith-Oesterle
Murphy-Seabrook
Gustafsson-Dahlstrom

San Jose:

Meier-Pavelski-Donskoi
Hertl-Couture-Labanc
Boedker-Tierney-Hansen
Goodrow-Fehr-Karlsson

Ryan-Burns
Vlasic-Braun
Dillon-Demelo

STATISTICAL COMPARISIONS:

Power Play:

Chicago 15.8% (29^th)
San Jose 21.9% (5^th)

Penalty Kill:

Chicago 82.7% (7^th)
San Jose 83.8% (2^nd)

Corsi FOR % (5-on-5):

Chicago 53.50% (3^rd)
San Jose 51.37% (12^th)

Faceoffs:

Chicago 49.7% (18^th)
San Jose 51.0% (T-11^th)

SUMMARY:

I know we are all going to look at Wednesday’s shootout win over the Ottawa Senators as the turning point in the season, right? You know, that win that started the long winning streak leading to a surprise playoff birth… I WISH!

But the reality is, I am not sure if I even want the Blackhawks to win games at this point. What does Wednesday’s win, in an ugly and boring game, do for the franchise? They aren’t making the playoffs, so it only hurts their chances at a higher draft pick. Maybe that was Coach Joel Quenneville’s logic behind playing Tomas Jurco, of all people, with Patrick Kane.

The Hawks should look no further than their roommates at the United Center; I never thought I would say this, but the Blackhawks should be copying the Bulls. Play the young guys to find out what you have, while also losing games to help better your draft picks… But, I digress.

Despite losing to the Nashville Predators 7-1 last night, this San Jose Sharks team is very solid. As you can see above, they are incredible on special teams, often the difference between wins and losses for the Blackhawks this season.

On a positive note, Anton Forsberg has been very solid in net ever since Jeff Glass was sent back to Rockford. In the four games since the roster move, Forsberg has not given up more than three goals in a single game, has a 2.25 goals against average, and a .924 save percentage. He even just looks more confident in net, and these are good signs for the Blackhawks, especially with the unknown health of Corey Crawford.

Tonight, and every other night, the Sharks are playing to solidify their playoff spot, and I would expect them to play a great game. On the other hand, I would expect the Hawks, featuring Tommy Wingels and Jurco in the top six, to be less than stellar tonight. Nothing against Tommy Wingels, who has been one of the few Hawks who has been a joy to watch all season, but he is NOT a top six player.

As always, I hope it is at least an entertaining game, but like I said, I’m really not rooting for Blackhawks wins anymore, because they will NOT benefit the team down the road.

We’ll recap tonight or tomorrow AM. Join the conversation below!

Follow: @CoachMajewski

The post Preview & Game Thread: Blackhawks vs. Sharks appeared first on The Rink.

DENVER, CO– 56 penalty minutes is a statistic that is a pretty clear indicator as to what kind of game the No. 3 Denver Pioneers and No. 1 St. Cloud State Huskies had Saturday night.  After a very close game Friday won by Denver 4-2, Saturday night’s game quickly got out of hand.  The Pioneers scored three goals in the 2nd period and two more in the 3rd to knock off the top-ranked Huskies.

The game included several hard hits, major penalties, and a heated skirmish at the end of the game when emotions boiled over for the Huskies.  After going 7-0-0 to start the season, the Huskies weren’t ready to hand the top ranking back to Denver after just one week.  Messages were sent and there is clearly some unfinished business between the two division rivals.  The next time St. Cloud and Denver meet is in St. Cloud February 23rd and 24th.

Before the season started, Denver was picked by most to be a heavy favorite to repeat as National Champions.  However, last weekend the Pioneers were swept by the Western Michigan Broncos in an unexpected series loss.  Denver quickly got back on track with these wins against St. Cloud, but they aren’t in the clear just yet.  Next weekend, the Pioneers host the University of North Dakota who was ranked No. 2 overall in last weeks USCHO poll.

? Redirection ?

Dylan Gambrell makes it 4-1 @DU_Hockey on the power play. #NCHCHockey pic.twitter.com/HMzT3ILW3S

— The NCHC (@TheNCHC) November 12, 2017

After the game Saturday night, The-Rink caught up with Denver’s Dylan Gambrell, a San Jose Sharks prospect, who tallied a goal and an assist Saturday night.

Photo courtesy of NHL.com

Interview with Dylan Gambrell from the University of Denver

Talk about tonight’s win and what it means to beat top-ranked St. Cloud State a couple nights in a row.

Honestly it’s exciting when you have a chance to take on the #1 in your own building. I think we brought it yesterday and we improved tonight.  You can see that in the results.

Head coach Jim Montgomery talked on Friday about the Pioneer forwards needing to be more physical on the forecheck with St. Cloud.  How much did that contribute to tonight’s game plan?

I think it was huge.  When you take the body on Friday, it definitely takes a toll coming into Saturday.  We came out early and we we’re definitely more physical which led to our success this weekend.

We saw you use the spin-o-rama move on your breakaway.  When’s the last time you used that in a game?

(laughs) Uh… a long time.  I was trying to do something just to get to the net, but it almost worked out.

Adam Plant played a really strong game tonight.  Talk about his leadership role on the team, especially with captain Tariq Hammond out of the lineup. 

Adam’s great on the power-play, he’s really good at shooting through traffic, and is really good at finding the net.  Putting pucks on net clean is always useful for our team.

It got pretty heated at the end of the game.  What do you expect from St. Cloud State the next time Denver plays them?

They’re going to be ready, and we’re going to be ready for them.  They’re going to want to come back and get some redemption.  We have to be at our best because we know they’re going to bring theirs.  

What have you been working on this season as far as development that you and the Sharks talked about over the summer?

We talk a little bit, but development wise I’m just trying to do all the little things right.  Sharpen up my play in the offensive zone and neutral zone.  I want to do the little things right and just play hard.

NEXT:  ARE THE BLACKHAWKS THIS BAD?

The post NCAA: Dylan Gambrell Knows St. Cloud State Will Be Back For More After Sweep appeared first on The Rink.