Ouch! That one really hurt. Without their best player, in a game the Blackhawks really, really needed, the Oilers ice their win with an empty netter with 5 seconds left for a final of 5-3. The Blackhawks power play finally looked halfway decent late… they had late chances with the 6 on 5… but nothing. The Oilers goalie was up to the task. 38 saves on the night… this damn Smith guy. Come again? Smith? Mike Smith? Yep, that’s right, that’s him… that’s not just any Smith.
I started feeling more pissed. A little less than 8 years ago, this same Mike Smith, was the MVP for the Coyotes as they knocked the Blackhawks out of the 2012 playoffs. Do you remember? 5 straight OT games before the Coyotes ended us with a 4-0 shutout. Yeah, it was pretty painful. Sure, did this help propel us to the Cup the following year? I like those kind of stories, but this isn’t about that. It’s about this Smith guy. So I looked up that series.
241 shots on goal for the Hawks in that series; 229 saves for this oversized goalie named Smith. That’s good for 95%. On the flip side, this was the series that folks were calling for Crow’s head. The Coyotes had 82 less shots than the Hawks on goal, yet had 5 more goals. An 89% save percentage is not going to cut it in the postseason. Although that series performance by Smith didn’t signal the end of Crawford in Chicago, maybe this one will. With another opportunity for points lost, and the trade deadline creeping, maybe we’re not ready to throw in the towel (we shouldn’t be), but maybe it’s time to pull that trigger with one of our goalies, like I suggested a couple blogs ago. Wouldn’t that be something?
But this conception is entirely wrong and this medicine is either injected or inserted into pellets that help improve the cialis professional cheap health of the penis. While many families choose online for new Ds to complete their drivers ed in Texas, the important thing to remember is that some type of drivers’ education must be completed before obtaining a license. cialis where I would like to share some facts that buy sildenafil australia men should be aware of concerning penile health are outlined here. Studies show that smoking, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle leads to the erectile dysfunction. achat cialis cipla cute-n-tiny.comYes, Mike Smith is kind of on the shit list. He almost, dare I say, deserves a special file all to himself? What other goalie do you hate more? Sure, Luongo jumps to mind, and he did get the upper hand in that series back in 2011, but we owned him for the most part when it counted, right? With Byfuglien living in his grill in 2010, he wilted. The Canucks couldn’t close the deal in 2011 either. He’s retired now. Yet, this Smith keeps on haunting us. Maybe Jonathan Quick, and that painful 2014 series? I’m sure we could go back further to find some goalies we disliked. Right now, I got this Smith guy on my mind.
Sure, it wasn’t just him tonight. We have to own this loss; although we had plenty of chances on offense, we just weren’t good enough on defense. It’s hard bringing it all together isn’t it? Well, the Blackhawks need to figure it out, and quick. There’s no time to dwell on this one; back on the ice tomorrow night in Vancouver… Luongo’s old stomping grounds. Unfortunately, we do have to face Mike Smith and the Oilers one more time on March 5th. Hopefully we’re still in it at that point. Hopefully Mike Smith doesn’t come back and haunt us, again. It would be official then I think… Go Hawks!
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