Blackhawks win third period, lose game.

The Blackhawks ended their five game win streak with a loss against the Penguins in Pittsburgh. The first two periods were the most frustrating and aggravating periods of hockey that I have ever watched. (This is excluding losses in the playoffs the last three years) The Blackhawks actually came out and were playing hard and well in the first ten minutes, and then something happened. Kruger got destroyed by an illegal hit that was not penalized. John Scott came to his rescue and got in the a fight and made Engelland bleed. He received a minor for instigating and a 10 minute misconduct. This lead to a power play goal for the Penguins and they didn't ever look back. The Hawks continued to take stupid penalties and play terrible defense. Emery was fantastic, but was not helped at all by the defense. The offense wasn't much better either, not capitalizing on power plays. After two periods, I was absolutely done. I wanted to turn the game off, but I couldn't because it was the once a month occurrence that I actually got to watch the Hawks on TV and I couldn't pass that up.

The Hawks came out firing in the third period and scored early. The captain got the goal even though it was meant as a pass to Stalberg. Then Stalberg got a real goal which was set up by some great passing from Kane. So, pretty much, Stalberg was the MVP of the game for the Hawks. That doesn't happen often. After those two goals, the Hawks were still behind one and had so many chances in the second half of the third period, but none of them went in. Fleury was fantastic and even with a power play to end the game, the Hawks couldn't score.

This game was pretty pathetic for the Hawks. The defense was terrible and Keith was forced to play 30 minutes including 7 minutes of penalty kill. The Blackhawks still have a game tomorrow against a struggling Montreal team. They should be able to get the win. Crawford will be back in net and maybe the defense will decide to actually play well in front of him. Despite being the best team in the NHL just a night ago, they have many things that need to be fixed. Kruger is hurt for an indefinite time period and that leaves the second center spot open. Kane can probably go there for awhile because he played well at center, but that's still a hole in the team. The Hawks could also use another defenseman.

The Blackhawks are a long way from the Stanley Cup. They were on a five game win streak, but Pittsburgh kindly exposed that the same problems from the beginning of the season are still there.