Drinking From A Fountain That Is Pouring..., The Yanks Have Their Super Bowl XLI, and Arsenal's Tank

Holy shit a win. Like, a regulation one! Let's knock out some bullets and then some baseball and footy thoughts.

Sector 1901 - Drinking From A Fountain That Is Pouring...

I know, I can't help myself. Some of us still hang on to Butthole Surfers, what can I say?

The Hawks did catch the Avs on the second of a back-to-back, and with Alex Georgiev in net, and walked out of Ball Arena with a 5-2 win. Certainly not what one would have guessed. And unlike their other road win on the season in Edmonton, this wasn't about catching a bad goalie on a bad night and then just hanging on. Sure, Petr Mrazek had to make some saves in the third, but the Hawks were pretty good value for taking the two points. Let's make it happen, captain!

• If you don't believe me, just check out the metric-counts. The Hawks ran the first period, when they might have caught the Avs sleeping but hey fuck it that happens sometimes, tuned things down in the second, and only had to do a shade of hanging on in the 3rd. Instead of packing the neutral zone, the Hawks did their best to try and stop Cale Makar and the rest before they even got going in their own zone, which carries some risk but worked a treat last night.
• I've been harsh on Luke Richardson and his team's passivity at times this season. That wasn't the case in Denver though. Even in the 3rd, the Hawks had two forecheckers deep and we're doing their best to step up at their line, and sending extra men at the puck along the wall in their zone when the opportunity presented instead of cowering in a box. Sure, at some point a team has to call off the dogs while protecting the lead against the Avs on the road, and they're going to produce some chances when they have to go hellbent for leather. But this looked far more like how we would want the team to play when they're serious about things again.
• It didn't start out great for Luke, though. After the Hawks first power play, which was excellent, the second unit had the Avs PK completely exhausted and pinned in the zone. To the point where the Hawks could execute a change while still in possession. And instead of sending out Bedard and whatever other available offensive player over the boards, Luke just sent out Jason Dickinson's line. And it eventually amounted to not much. Yes, Bedard had only been off the ice for a minute while the second unit was out there but this was a prime opportunity to get him out there against a completely vulnerable opposition. Kind of thing a coach needs to see.
• In Luke's favor, he did do as we asked and separated Foligno and Bertuzzi on power play units, replacing the former with Reichel on PP1. And the Hawks power play looked better on both units. Sometimes this shit is easy.
• It was a big night for two Hawks d-men. One was Alex Vlasic, who clearly has been given a new role lately of being the go-go gadget guy with Connor Murphy backing him up. Vlasic was deep in the Avs zone quite often, looking to join the rush, and being effective at it. That might start some questions going forward about what the Hawks blue line looks like in two or three years, but we'll save that for another time.
• The other d-man having himself a time was Murphy, which of course he would after I wondered if he was washed after Saturday night's loss. Perhaps the comfort of having the Hawks best d-man as his partner stoked something, as he was a physical force most of the night.
• On the other side of the spectrum, T.J. Brodie is the exact pile of goo we thought he would be. When Alex Martinez comes back, he should not be replacing either Allan or Kaiser in the lineup. This is the same bullshit we dealt with last year, as Nolan Allan isn't going to become a plus NHL player cleaning up all these messes.
• Kaiser also had a 98 xG-percentage on the night. That'll play.
• Not all roses. On the Avs first goal, this isn't the kind of effort from a veteran you're looking for when Casey Mittelstadt is that free in between the circles:
  
  

That's Taylor Hall in the trail technique, and the replay from the Hawks end was more damning because Hall is coasting through the neutral zone and staring directly at Mittelstadt peel open for a good couple seconds before he even got the puck.

• Speaking of vets not being vet-like, with the Hawks up 3-1 Bertuzzi needlessly went barreling into Georgiev for a goalie interference penalty late in the first. That would eventually turn into a 5-on-3 that the Avs scored on and got within a goal after a period the Hawks had dominated. That's just not the kind of shit that can happen, but I won't expect any postgame scrum about those two tonight. Yes, Bertuzzi was driving hard to the net but that call is automatic and there just has to be more sense than that. Or there should be from any player with a brain, and I suppose Bertuzzi doesn't qualify.
• That 5-on-3 goal from MacKinnon caused some to lose their mud on Seth Jones on the internets, but there isn't much Jones could have done. First, it feels like MacKinnon can score that goal whenever he pleases. Second, on a 5-on-3, Jones can't commit to the outside as much as he might want to, which means Mac K is going to have all the room he could ever ask for. Shit happens.
• Speaking of Mac K, Jared Bednar was intent on getting him out against the Hawks checking line most of the night, and Jason Dickinson and crew got the better of the fight. Not sure what any long term goals for Dickinson, Donato, and Mikheyev would be, but at the very least they free up others who do have long term goals to do stuff in easier settings.
• I guess I hadn't noticed last year, but Darren Pang has a little too much Pierre McGuire in him. Murphy laying out a big hit doesn't mean we have to do a, "Hey remember that part when Murphy hit a guy in Calgary?" for three minutes while the game is going on. Pang is way too happy to mention or reference things from the past that are even less related than that.
• Speaking of CHSN, what is with the blank space in the scorebug, especially on the power play? What happened to the slender, vertical one that didn't intrude the game that was used during the power play?

That's obtrusive. Whoever's passion is graphic design and is in charge of this, clean it up.

All right, enough of that. With the Ducks and the Sharks in the upcoming week, the Hawks have a chance for a decent little streak here.

Well, I guess I know what it looked like to the rest of the world when the Bears crapped themselves in Super Bowl XLI. As that's what the Yankees are doing in their grand return to the World Series after a 19-year wait.

They have been dumb in the field, on the basepaths, in the dugout, and certainly at the plate. The send of Giancarlo Stanton when he can't move from here to the kitchen in less than three minutes will live forever. As does with all their errors in Game 1, Aaron Boone's brain turning to mush (making the same move with Nestor Cortes in Game 3 but getting away with it). The Dodgers pitching has been good, but Yamamoto and Buehler were way shakier against the Mets and have breezed through the Yankees.

Clarke Schmidt can't be left in to walk four hitters in a game the Yankees have to have. Not after a day off and with the Yankees not needing a bullpen game in the future like the Dodgers will roll out in Game 4.

Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys, really.

The Kickmen - Arsenal's Gas Tank

• While Arsenal might look at their injury list at the end of 90 minutes on Sunday and think that a 2-2- draw with Liverpool isn't all that bad, it's that injury list I'm curious about. I watched that same Liverpool go toe-to-toe with Man City for two straight seasons in 18-19 and 19-20, and then collapse in the season after that. Yes, it was the pandemic season, and those are unique circumstances.
  
  But the Gunners have some of the same issues. Three of the six players who have logged 2,500+ minutes the past two seasons while Arsenal were trying to chase down City were Martin Ødegaard, Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel. The latter two had summer tournaments thrown in on top of that (though only Saka played big minutes for his national team). All three are either shelved or have missed time so far this season.
  
  No, Arsenal don't play as frantically as Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool did. Mikel Arteta has taken great pains to have more control and not have to expend as much energy over a full season. But it's still a heavy burden and worth watching.
  
  And people may ask why players at City don't crumble under the weight of the minutes load they carry over multiple seasons. Normal rules just don't apply there, let's be honest.
• We can end with Eberechi Eze making sure Pedro Porro can't look his friends in the face for a good few months:

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