Blackhawks-Coyotes: Chicago Nearly Gives It Away

Patrick Kane's boneheaded penalty during a Chicago power play early in the second period gave the Phoenix Coyotes life they didn't deserve.

Up to that point, the Hawks had dominated Phoenix, en route to building a 2-0 lead. The Hawks had taken control of every aspect of the game. They were very close to ending the night.

Once again, dumb penalties almost did the Hawks in again.

Fortunately, the Blackhawks recorded their second shootout win of the year, 3-2.

Nikolai Khabibulin was brilliant once again, stopping 36 of 38 shots and standing tall during the shootout frame.

Much of the credit defensively goes to another stalwart performance by All-Star defenseman Duncan Keith. The man is just absolutely brilliant. It makes one wonder how a defenseman who is afraid to shoot the puck in key situations gets gobs of money, while the other, who sits back and commands his team to victory, makes much less.

Such is life.

We see it in the workplace everyday. There is the guy in the office who stays late, gets the job done, brings the reports in on time, makes sure every system is running correctly, while the CFO gets up at the board meeting and takes credit for all the company's goings-on.

Kris Versteeg is quickly becoming the hot news of 2008. His goal in the first put the Hawks up 1-0.

Penalties, and hordes of them, brought Phoenix back into the game. Aaron Johnson's pathetic holding-the-skate penalty may have been the king caper of the evening. Shortly thereafter, Shane Doan (and his ghey name) tied the game at two apiece.

This author would also like the "Dustin Byfuglien running the point on the power play" experiment to stop—immediately. Byfuglien's place is in front of the net, and also making sure that pucks deep get freed for skilled players.

It will also be nice when Wisniewski gets back so the Hawks can get rid of the Sopel-Walker circus that invades our living rooms every day. I'm not sure if Matt Walker's legs are made of cement, but they certainly look like it.

All in all, it's two points. It's also two points that I didn't necessarily feel the Blackhawks deserved. Usually that's a sign of a solid hockey club.

Stick it in your mouth, Phoenix.

'Til next time.