Game Recap: Hawks @ Golden Knights 4/16

Are you actually reading this? Here. Let me save you the trouble. Nazar looked great, Slaggert looked solid, Bedard got an assist.

Now you can move on with your life.

In an otherwise pretty exciting night for hockey around the league, the Hawks dropped this one 3-1. It's not that they didn't try, because they certainly caught the Knights off guard in the 1st period. At 5v5, both teams had a 50 Corsi, meaning both teams shared the same amount of shot attempts in the 1st.

The Knights would turn the heat up in the 2nd, making the Hawks play in their zone most of the night. But the Hawks didn't look horrible. Sure, there was that turnover by Frank Nazar that led to the Knights' second goal, but those are the mistakes that are expected and not worrisome. Then we have mistakes like Jarred Tinordi missing a breakout pass which led to a very dangerous chance.

Otherwise, I had fun watching this one.

Thoughts

• Connor Bedard got his point when he made a nice pass to Jason Dickinson for a dirty goal. Otherwise, Bedard was stifled again and bodied a few times. He had 1 shot on goal and 3 shot attempts. He's looked fatigued, and I don't blame him.
• Nazar and Landon Slaggert played very well together. It was beautiful. That line, which also featured Joey Anderson, had a 42.11 Corsi and a team-high 66.70 expected goals share.
• I thought the Reichel-Athanasiou-Donato line looked alright. They had a 55 Corsi but only an expected goals share percentage of 39.40. Lukas Reichel was noticeable as he made some great plays to keep the puck in the OZ and he looked solid on the backcheck.
• Petr Mrazek had a solid game, despite the loss. He's had a great year and I really hope this is something he carries over next season.
• No Kaner in the playoffs :( also means no Red Wings in the playoffs :) which means I can stop pretending to root for Detroit because they suck and Patrick Kane is awesome.