Core of Hawks defense won't rest anytime soon
Niklas Hjalmarsson looked like he'd just rolled out of bed, while Blackhawks teammates Brad Richards and Jonathan Toews looked like they'd barely beaten him to the table for breakfast.
The only problem is that it was late afternoon at O'Hare Airport on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after the Hawks downed the Anaheim Ducks 3-2 in triple overtime to even their Western Conference final series at a game apiece.
Most of those who played in that game logged a lot of minutes, but the biggest concern is the situation on defense.
Hjalmarsson, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Johnny Oduya continue to absorb a huge amount of ice time - a total of 84.9 percent of all minutes by Hawks defensemen in the first two games - and there's no clear sign of a reprieve ahead.
"We just had 10 days off (before the series), so I feel pretty good about it," said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville. "I mean, (Anaheim's) defense played just about as many minutes as (Keith, Hjalmarsson and Seabrook). They're playing hockey. There's enough recovery time."
The Hawks are banking on it. Even though it sounded like Quenneville might give a little more ice time to Kyle Cumiskey in Game 3 on Thursday night, there are not many viable options without injured veteran Michal Rozsival (broken ankle). David Rundblad barely played 10 minutes in Game 1, Cumiskey's ice time was limited in Game 2 and 40-year old Kimmo Timonen hasn't earned a bump in playing time either.
It's also unlikely that rookies Ville Pokka or Viktor Svedberg, who will join the team as 'Black Aces' will see any playing time.
"(That) was a lot of minutes last game," said Hjalmarsson, who played a career-high 47:35 on Tuesday. "But we won the game, and we move on from there, start focusing on next game. Personally, I feel fine. I have no complaints."
Third time's the charm?
The Hawks have already faced their current situation twice before in this postseason, playing two days after winning games that lasted long past the end of regulation.
Each time, the Nashville Predators beat them by wide margins at Bridgestone Arena in Games 2 and 5 of that first-round series. This time the quick turnaround will take place at the United Center, where the Hawks haven't lost yet in these playoffs.
"It's mostly how we carry it into (Thursday) night's game, coming off a win like that," Jonathan Toews said. "We can imagine it doesn't feel good to play almost six periods (and) come up on the losing side. That's something we need to focus on, is trying to have a great start like we did in Game 1 and Game 2, keeping that momentum we had coming out of (Tuesday's) game."
PK again a strength:
After struggling to kill penalties in the first two rounds, the Hawks are 6-for-6 in thwarting Ducks power plays after the first two games. That includes a 5-for-5 performance in Game 2, when three of Anaheim's power plays were created by the Hawks' top penalty killers.
The last of those infractions was a tripping minor called on Niklas Hjalmarsson at 10:41 of the first OT. In all, the Ducks got only 6 shots on goal in their five opportunities with a man-advantage.
"I think we're playing the way we want to the last couple games here," Hjalmarsson said. "(Tuesday) we came up with a couple timely kills, huge kills. I think we're doing a good job, putting pressure, doing all the right things."