A bit of a summary from tonights game:
1st period, Great pass by Beach...too bad Froese couldn't handle it. Must suck to have to play on a line with bums like Froese and McArdle. McNeill showing his strength along the boards, looks good so far. Later, Kyle Beach Snipe Show!!! Makes it 1-0...gets the puck and makes a great shot with a quick release. Shift after the goal, McNeill looks great on the forecheck, lays a huge hit and then steals the puck..gets a great chance right in front of the goalie but maybe one too many moves and he gets stopped. Danault almost pulls off a sweet deke but loses control. Then Hayes with a mini-breakaway but he goes forehand, backhand and it goes wide.
2nd period, Lalonde gives up breakaway chance, but Karlsson with a nice save. Milwaukee keeps possession and Lalonde continues to look brutal, just flailing his stick at the puck like a lazy a-hole and they almost score again. I can see why Martini liked him so much..he is brutal. Mark McNeill showing good skating ability and good battle along the boards on the cycle. Phillip Danault with a steal in the neutral zone, he creates a 2 on 1 and makes a great feed over to Svensson to give him a great look but he flubs it and can't even get a shot off. Hogs get a PP...they 1st put out McArdle, Mills, and Lalonde on it...great idea. Kyle Beach almost gets his second goal...great cross-ice feed from Brandon Pirri. Beach with a great shot that is re-directed by a Hogs player in front on net. Hogs with idiot too many men penalty and give up goal. That is about right. Danault goes to the net and gets the puck off rebound from Nordstrom shot but goalie makes a nice poke check. 3 on 1 blown by Pirri/Olesz/Clendening...no shot off. Couple seconds later, Stanton takes it over the blueline himself and fires it past the goalie. 2-1 Hogs.
3rd period, McNeill steals the puck and makes a great pass to Pirri who is infront of the net and he gets a point blank back hander but it goes wide. Hogs on the PP, great pass from St Pierre to Hayes and he is right in front of the goalie, tries to lift it up but can't get it past the goalie. The Hogs give up quite a few good chances and get a couple looks at he empty net themselves but neither team can bury it. Hogs win 2-1. Huge win...it was a must win to stay in this playoff race.
NOTES:
-Ryan Stanton is NHL ready. He is impressive almost every game I watch. He SHOULD definitely be on the Hawks next year if you ask me. He can replace Rozy...a Brookbank/Stanton rotation for #6 defenseman will be cheap and solid.
-Not a huge game for either Danault or McNeill, but I was more impressed with McNeill tonight. Not really fair to compare though since he played more and with Hayes and St Pierre. But McNeill really impressed me with his two-way game and ability to take the puck away whether it be in the offensive zone, d-zone or neutral zone. I like his skating and I think he will be a good NHLer for sure. It does seem like they are preparing him for the inevitable position of RW in the NHL. I do wish he would show some more scoring potential and finishing ability or playmaking ability like I originally thought he would. Still, can't complain because IMO he will be a good/great 3rd line RW with possible upside. Danault showed a bit of his defensive play and a couple nice moves in the offensive zone. Clearly not enough to judge his AHL play thus far although he was the more impressive of the two last season. He should be playing 3rd line center and not 4th line center but whatever.
-Kyle Beach can be a good NHL player. I'd like him as a 4th liner on the Hawks when Carcillo leaves in 2014-15. He doesn't take as many stupid penalties although he does mix it up quite often. We saw though how big of an idiot Carcillo was with the Flyers and how he has toned it down under Quenneville. Beach is in a bad environment in Rockford IMO because it is almost like they encourage them to play as stupid as possible. I'd like to see what he can do at the NHL level as he clearly has the offensive skill, size and toughness to succeed as an important 4th line player who will stick up for teammates. He had a nice goal just getting it on net using the screen in front. He also almost had a 2nd goal that he probably gets 9/10 times but it went of the heel of his stick.
-Klas Dahlbeck has potential to be a Hjalmarsson type player. He doesn't show any offense really but he is solid in his own zone, blocks shots and has an active stick in the d-zone. He could be a solid bottom pairing d-man in the future.
-Brandon Pirri is a guy who gets lots of chances and creates them as well. He does need to be more honest in his own zone but he certainly has the talent to succeed at the next level. Not sure it will be with the Hawks but he could be a possible option for 2nd line center if we never find one in the coming years.
-Hayes looked good although he didn't have any points. He could've had a couple if he had a bit more luck. We all just saw what he was made of.
-Clendening really does make some boneheaded plays in all 3 zones but he is a good player. I just hate sometimes it seems like he makes the wrong play, like not getting it on net when he should or not firing it around the boards in the d-zone when he should, ect. I like his potential as a 5th defenseman on the Hawks who can be a PMD and hopefully run the PP with Leddy. He needs to keep working on his shot.
-Steve Montador should be claimed. He is clearly an NHLer and deserves to be on an NHL team. Hopefully he gets claimed and can stay healthy as I always liked him when he was.
-Joakim Nordstrom, like Danault didn't get much minutes. I did like what I saw...basically what I expected as a good defensively responsible player who might have some untapped offensive potential. He will likely be in Rockford for a while though and hopefully he pays his dues because I could see him helping the Hawks in the future after some Hawks players cash themselves out of town(like how Colin Fraser, Bryan Bickell, Jake Dowell, ect stepped in as older prospects from Rockford).