Khabibulin...again
Here's how much Joel Quenneville wants to wrap up fourth place tonight against Columbus: Nikolai Khabibulin is starting again in goal despite it being the second night of back-to-back games.
The Hawks need 2 points to clinch fourth and home ice in the first round of the playoffs.
Great move by Quenneville. Khabibulin is playing as well as any goalie in the league and there's no reason to put any added importance on the two games with Detroit this weekend other than to come out of them healthy.
If the Hawks don't get 2 points tonight they still could slip into fifth behind either Calgary or Vancouver.
The Flames have two games to play, both against Edmonton, which was eliminated from playoff contention on Tuesday night.
The Canucks host Los Angeles on Thursday then finish at Colorado on Saturday.
Khabibulin is 7-1-1 in his last 9 starts and has a .954 save percentage in his last 4 games.
This is the first time this season he will have started on back-to-back nights. Cristobal Huet has done it four times, mostly out of necessity when Khabibulin was injured.
Sconnie is right, Calgary is the best hope for the BH to get by the first round unless the ref's se diferently.
We beat Calgary easy. We lose to Vancouver (home ice or no). And Columbus would be a tossup.
Thank you Tallon for not trading Kabbi. If you have been watching the games in OH and TN the stadium has been the best for fans . The UC is so dull and is not condusive for fan support. The game tonight was won by the referring and they shoulld not be selected by to be apart of any post season games. It was aweful what they let OH get away with.
Huet. The Hawks took a one goal lead and he got caught behind the net and RJ Umberger scored an easy one to tie. Then on a face off in the Hawk defensive zone, Huet let a board rebound puck get in front of him to Dorsett for another easy one. Nash scored the third one from the left boards, an angle almost 160 degrees from the goal line, where Huet was not hindered visually but either lost sight of the shot or was handcuffed.
Vermette's overtime winner on a two on one, where it was goalie vs. shooter, and he five-holed.
I will not call the last one anything but a good goal.
Wanna know why Knabby's starting?
Re-read the above.
it's not like he is a poor choice. and khabi has already gone down with injury twice this year - i don't see the need to play him back to back and risk injury, when huet has shown he can do the job.
it may work out, but I think it is unecessary. edmonton will be up for calgary despite being out of the hunt, if only because of the rivalry - they'd love nothing more than be the team to prevent the flames from winning the division - that is their "cup".
vancouver should win both their games, but LA & Colorado haven't exactly rolled over here either - LA beat edmonton to knock them out of the hunt, and colorado already beat vancouver & took SJ to a shoot-out on the road.
hawks should be able to manage at least 2 OTL points in their last 3, with Huet in net for 2 of them, imo.
Hopefully Khabi doesn't get hurt again by playing back to back, but if he does, it most definitely won't have been worth the risk.
. . . then you let Huet play both games against Detroit. Think how much confidence the Hawks will have going into the playoffs if they can win at least one game against Detroit playing in front of a shooter tutor.
and resting their guys?
I believe Kalamazoo is now in the UHL, in which case the Hawks win 43-1. The lone goal being due to a Campbell Giveaway.
After the Canucks big win last night over Calgary, who think we will get the Flames in the first round? With both teams tied at 96 points (Calgary has tie-breaker), the Flames have a home-and-home with Edmonton this weekend while the Canucks host LA and then finish up in Colorado Saturday. It seems to me that the Canucks should have no problem winning those games and Calgary will likely lose one of those contests, putting us against them in Round 1. I would rather get Calgary but think the Hawks can take down either the way they are playing right now.
He wants to ride the hot goalie - so go for it! We really need to lock 4th to have a chance at getting to the 2nd round. My prediction: we will lock 4th tonight with a win; French Fry will be in for the remaining regular season games and Nik will see the playoff action all the way to the end. Hopefully that will be well beyond the first round, but you never know...
...Khabibulin getting injured. Cross the fingers and knock on wood that he stays healthy.
Let's go, boys! Clinch 4th tonight!