Hawks head to the Steel Town…

Posted 4:44 PM ET | Comments 0

Tonight the red hot, sizzling Hawks will try for a sixth consecutive victory when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight at Consol Energy Center, without star defenseman Brent Seabrook. As you know Seabs was on the end of a hit from behind by the Flames Rene Bourque Sunday night. Monday it was announced that Bourque will sit two games for the hit. In my opinion, any hit from behind or head hits, if the player being hit is injured, the NHL should sit the player initiating the hit for the same time period as the player being injured. This is one way the NHL can clean this garbage up.

But Back to tonight’s game, the Hawks have the most points (46) in the NHL and of late, scoring first seems really important to their success. When scoring first, the Hawks have the game's best mark in the league with a .929 winning percentage. The Pens have been dealt with substantial injuries lately, especially to Sid the Kid and other players which is beginning to take its toll on Pens, who have lost four of its last six games. Although the Pens are without Crosby tonight, this road game is a good test for the Hawks and some NHL experts are calling tonight’s game a possible Stanley Cup preview. I won’t hold my breath. The Hawks have greatly improved in the last 11 games but their schedule gets a LOT more interesting from here on out. Not that I think this Hawks team is bad. Far from it. I think it's very good. I just have no idea how very good. I'm not sure any of us do. Tonight is one of those nights we may get a clue. As I’ve stated before, in my opinion still have areas of the game to fix (see my prior blog posts) and I also still expect Stan to pull the trigger on another solid blue line defensemen and a possibly a top 6 forward. Looking ahead The beloved Hawks will face the Canadiens, Kings, Red Wings (I mean Scum) and the Flyers. These are legit teams sports fans. It’ll be fun to see how the Hawks stack up.

Tonight's expected lineup:
Stalberg-Toews-Kane
Sharp-Kruger-Hossa
Brunette-Bolland-Bickell
Smith-Mayers-Frolik

D-Men:
Leddy-Keith
Hjalmarsson-Montador
O‘Donnell-Scott

Brick Layer:
Emery (Confirmed)

Odds and Ends
- The Hawks have won five in a row for the first time this season and have yet to lose in regulation this month, compiling a 7-0-1 ledger in December. The Hawks are also 9-1-1 since their three-game losing streak from November 18-23.
- The Razor has gone 6-0-1 in December after an unimpressive showing in October and November.
- The Hawks, who are 10-6-1 on the road this year, will be on home ice tomorrow to host the Montreal Canadiens.
- Car Bomb is out again tonight with a head injury sustained in the Wild game.

GO HAWKS!

Thanks for reading.

Scott