We watched a different game, then. Hawks were losing battles all over the ice. We did get some great chances despite that, but a lot of it was dump and change and the Ducks were back in our zone. The Hawks rarely have time and space, always a Duck in their shirt.
Yep! The Hawks were losing battles all over the place, they couldn't receive a pass or control the puck. They were horrible in their own end with the Ducks having several extended stays in the Hawks zone. They didn't play a team game with too much one on 3 stick handling turnovers and the guys without the puck were just standing around and not making themselves available as an outlet.
The Ducks on the other hand played an excellent road playoff game. They played as a team and cycled well. They played great in their own end taking away the passing lanes and blocking tons of shots. They were always accounting for their man defensively, and pressuring offensively. And Andersen played great.
The Ducks over all played a great game, and the Hawks didn't. Yet the Hawks still could have easily won this game. That's the issue I have. There are no give away games at this point.
You have to ice the best players you have, you have to put them in a position to succeed, and you have to lay it all out there. The Hawks didn't do any of that.