You're A Weird One, Mr. Grinch

This time, the Hawks come out on the right end of a weird game.

The urge, after yet another game where the Hawks were on the ass end of a possession beating at the hands of a team on an actual upward trajectory instead of just talking about one, is to bemoan just how how far and possibly hopeless things are around the United Center. But that wouldn't be accurate, not after Monday's 3-1 win for the Hawks over the Mammoth (MAMMOT!). That doesn't mean there weren't issues, but they're possibly different than first instincts would tell you. It was another weird one, after the penalty-palooza the Hawks and Habs offered the UC faithful on Saturday.

The Hawks held the Mammoth to a completely reasonable 50 attempts at 5-on-5. It's not a great number, but it's an acceptable number. We all remember that this is the same Utah team that racked up nearly 100 attempts on them in a game last season. The Hawks were much better in the defensive zone than they were on Saturday, though still not exemplary. But they also consistently stood up at their blue line, wouldn't let the Mammoth carry the puck into the zone, which really gets them going, and forced them to try and grind out chances through dump-ins and forechecks. That's not Utah's game.

The possession-deficit sprang from the Hawks being unable to create much of anything. Or anything. Or even think about creating anything. They couldn't even spell "create" (in all honestly, they probably, genuinely can't). Utah did the exact same thing to the Hawks that the Hawks did to them, and the Hawks are even less equipped to dump the puck in and try and wrestle it back. That's why the first half of the game, especially, looked like some slightly-updated version of pong. The puck was just bouncing between blue lines, as puck-carriers attempted to try and break through barbed wire and trenches at each line, and then the other team would go the other way and do the same thing. It was the worst, and most expensive, game of Red Rover ever.

Utah seized a bit more control in the 2nd, and basically throughout the rest, by just settling for dumping the puck in. It hardly led to a wealth of chances. It just kept the puck away from their end. There were still too may instances of a Hawks d-man chasing a puck-carrier or recent puck-carrier out beyond the circles or up to the blue line than my weakened digestive track can handle. But the Hawks forwards were much better about beating crashing d-men and others to the crease and net, and Spencer Knight really didn't have to work all that hard to get his first victory of the season. 22 saves is a pretty easy night's work for any goalie.

So as far as process review instead of results review, it's a mixed bag. The Hawks were able to basically nullify what can be an absolute kegger of an offense (though one might notice Utah had a Sunday night on a holiday weekend free in Chicago and wonder about Chicago Flu, but let's leave that). They did that by defending in a way we want to see them do so. This wasn't a trap-and-clear-and-pray bunker operation. They met the Mammoth (MAMMOT!) out on the street, at least defensively. And they won that battle. Good!

Here's a prime example. With three minutes to go in the game and protecting a one-goal lead, look where Donato and Nazar are on the forecheck:

Just a few seconds later, look where Kaiser is:

That's hardly bunkering. This is still trying to force the issue. Believe you me, both Luke Richardson or Anders Sorenson would have had everyone but one forward holding hands with Knight in the Hawks crease while the puck was behind the Utah net.

As far as the offense...well, not as good. But that's basically roster construction, and there's little the players we care about can do about that. Who do you trust to consistently win on the forecheck and then set something up? Yeah, exactly. That's their, and our, lot in life right now.

Bullet-time!

-It's only three games, but Wyatt Kaiser has been the best defenseman on this team, and I don't think it's particularly close. No one seems to have taken to heart Blashill's aggressive defensive ways more than #44. There were times last night where he was challenging guys up by the red line, not just outside his blue line. Numerous times, while one-on-one with various Utah forwards that all come armed with plus feet and plus hands, he angled and cajoled them to the corner or outside the circles with his angles and mobility, and wiped out any chance.

I'm not saying Kaiser is ahead of Vlasic at this point, and he'll never be able to match any point total that Vlasic puts up. What I am saying is that it's starting to trend that way on the defensive end of the ice.

-There was a moment when I thought Levshunov had responded to his scratching on Saturday by trying to play his way back to Rockford. He absolutely whiffed on a puck in the 1st period behind his net that was coming around the boards, and then decisively lost a board-battle that led to one of the few Utah chances.

But, he rebounded nicely. He set up the first Hawks goal with an instinctive pinch that cost him getting obliterated along the wall. There was also this play early in the 3rd:

Yep, that's my insane, Belarussian son following a forward from his own blue line all the way into the Utah zone, harassing him all the way and stunting a Mammoth breakout all the way back to behind their own net. This is the kind of thing that, while I recognize is a long-haul flight from conventional, I pray the Hawks don't try and coach out of him. He senses that he could get "above" his guy when the Mammoth shoveled him the puck, he did, and he forced them back to try again. It looks awkward as shit, it could lead to problems every so often, but it also is going to lead to a lot of turnovers and forced regroups.

-On the other side of the spectrum, Rinzel continues to be...I don't know the word. Bad is too strong. Wonky is probably closer. Inexperienced would be the most accurate. It's happening really fast for him. The Utah goal sprang from Rinzel just completely getting horsed in the corner on a retrieval, and then getting caught puck-watching while J.J. Peterka had a mai-tai in the circle behind him. It's the kind of play that would have gotten Korchinski catapulted into the lake, but I've lost this fight.

-I really have to question just why Connor Bedard is out in the last minute of a game where the Hawks are protecting a one-goal lead. Yeah, I know, #1 center and all that and it should be his responsibility one day if he's going to be the do-it-all guy the Hawks keep pretending he'll be. To be fair to him, he did win the draw that led to Mikheyev's empty-netter. It might have been the only draw he won on the night.

Look, he's just never going to be the type of center a team wants out there in the last minute. There's no point in making him "learn," because that's a road to nowhere. Believe me, I know about roads to nowhere. He's small, he's not going to win those battles for the puck, his defensive awareness is shoddy, and he's not good enough at the dot. It's fine that he won't be that type of player. An offense-only #1 center is hardly the worst thing to have, if the offense is good enough. Sasha Barkov is not his career path. Nazar would have more business out there in that spot, honestly.

This smacks of when Colliton would let Patrick Kane be out there in the last minute of one-goal games the Hawks were leading every time so he could pad his point-totals with empty-netters, even though he had about as much interest in defense as he did in consent.

-A word on the Hawks jerseys. They're terrible! The black collar makes them look like knockoff practice jerseys. How do you fuck that up? Go to any team store and look at the children's or toddler jerseys on sale and then see if they don't look exactly like what the Hawks are wearing. Shameful.