By Brad Vandenberk
The last game of this year’s three-game rookie tournament saw the Blackhawks and Senators faceoff. Teuvo Teravainen, Mark McNeill and Kirill Gotovets worked their way back into the lineup, with Cody Caron, Ryan Van Stralen and Justin Holl all out for this one. Mac Carruth was in between the pipes for the Hawks with Chris Driedger on the Ottawa side.
Highly touted Ottawa rookie Curtis Lazar did not dress, nor did Matt Puempel, another top Sens prospect who scored in each of Ottawa’s first two games.
Line up:
Ross “A” Rasmussen Danault “A”
McNeill “A” Teravainen Broadhurst
Welychka Carey Hartman
Bauman Thorson Wise
Svedberg Van Riemsdyk
Gotovets Johns
Swindlehurst Fournier
It didn’t take long for the first fight to take place. Just 3:25 into the contest Chadd Bauman drops the gloves with Alex Lepkowski. There were a ton of penalties – not only in this game but overall throughout the tournament.
The Senators get an early 5 on 3 when Phillip Danault and Paul Swindlehurst are in the box. The Hawks do a superb job on the penalty kill creating some chances the other way.
Stephen Johns and Darren Kramer chuck the knuckles when Johns takes exception to a hit. Johns threw a few nice punches before Kramer even knew he was fighting.
The Hawks strike first when Teuvo Teravainen turns in the slot and shoots with Mark McNeill gathering the rebound and beating Driedger, 1-0. Trevor Van Riemsdyk received the other assist.
At the 4:40 mark of the period McNeill tries to leave the zone and has the puck stolen and quickly turned into a goal by Ryan Dzingel to tie the contest 1-1.
The Hawks get their first attempt on the power play when Swindlehurst gets hit from behind. Teravainen gets a long pass from Carruth but is stopped at the other end. McNeill and Francis Perron exchange penalties during the remaining minutes of the period.
Just like yesterday the Hawks put another goal in with 2.5 seconds remaining. This time it was Viktor Svedberg roofing a shot on Driedger with Alex Broadhurst and van Riemsdyk getting the assists. Period ends 2-1 with the Hawks leading in shots 13-11.
The middle frame opens with the Hawks on a short 35 second power play. They don’t muster up a lot on the fresh ice, but the Sens do when Perron roofs a shot over Carruth 2-2. Matt Carey gets called for a phantom high stick when a puck hits the opposing Ottawa player. The penalty kill is impressive once again with a number of shorthanded chances. The refs start to resemble the NFL with penalties all over the place. Seemingly every other minute there was a different penalty. Don’t look now but yes another fight takes place when Vincent Dunn tries to grab Broadhurst but the Hawks rookie knows better yet still makes the shameful skate toward the box with Dunn getting the 4 minute roughing call. Ryan Hartman once again puts his pesky status on display levelling a Sen at mid ice. Svedberg throws his 6’9” frame around almost knocking a flying Sen into the first row of the Bud Gardens.
Dillon Fournier tries to keep a puck in the zone but Francis Perron tips it past him and send himself on a mini breakaway. He manages to get the puck through Carruth giving Ottawa their first lead at 3-2.
Hawks get 2 power plays to end the period and Carey saw some time on the point with a rocket of a shot from there. He has improved immensely from his debut last season. Great shot and seems like more speed. The period ends with the Hawks still owning the shots on net with 24-19.
Just 1:27 into the final period, McNeill takes a shot from the slot and it tips off Brett Welychka tying the game at 3. Teravainen gets another assist.
Right after the goal, McNeill heads to the box for elbowing, the aggressive penalty came back to work. Jamie Wise gets a shot off and then gets his face wrapped off the post. Garret Ross takes exception to this and goes straight after Jones. They both do a nice little tango and head to the box for unsportsmanlike coincidentals.
The Hawks struggle to get the puck out of their zone and the Sens make them pay. Vincent Dunn slides a pass over to Kramer who makes no mistake beating Carruth to give the Sens a 4-3 lead. Darren Kramer then clips Carruth while coming through the crease and Fournier goes right after him. Kramer gets a game misconduct and Fournier heads to the box for roughing.
Now it was Teuvo time. The youngster flies with the puck behind the net and fools the Sens, who don’t see the craftsmen send a no look pass to a wide open McNeill who gets his second of the night 4-4.
Scary moment near the end of the game when Brett Welychka gets struck with a point shot in the head and pieces of his helmet littering the ice. He went right to the room and did not return. Danault gets a last minute chance but this game heads into overtime.
Teravainen was on every other shift for this overtime, his speed is unmatchable. He finds Johns in the slot who is robbed by Driedger. Teuvo then swats a puck out of the air and heads into the offensive zone only to be saved. This OT was all Hawks. It took to the 1:02 mark before we saw 3 on 3. Broadhurst gets a wide open chance at the side of the net with 5 seconds left but is stoned by Driedger. It’s off to the shootout for the second consecutive night.
Shootout results
Hawks Sens
Teravainen – Miss Prince – scores 1-0
McNeill – top shelf 1-1 Dzingel – Miss
Svedberg – Miss Perron – Miss
Broadhurst – Miss Guptill – Miss
Hartman – Miss McCormick – Miss
Danault – Miss Paul – scores 2-1
Quick Hits:
-Hawks outshot Sens 50-33.
-Hawks go 0/8 on the power play with Sens going 0/6.
Top 3 performers:
1-Teuvo Teravainen – lives up to all the hype. Head up all the time, exceptional vision especially on McNeill’s second goal. The things that most don’t see is how fast his feet are. His stop and starts are very quick and precise. He knows what to do, just needs to get his game adjusted to the NA style, but it’s not far. Finishes with 3 assists. Reminds me of Patrick Kane.
2-Trevor van Riemsdyk – Is a big body that played very well in the last 2 days. He keeps the puck in and has a great first step along the blue line. He keeps his point shots nice and low making it easy to tip. He gets to the corners first and takes his opponents down with ease. Another tough decision to make come camp time with a pile of defensemen already in the mix, but great add for the Icehogs. Finished with 2 assists. Reminds me of a Niklas Hjalmarsson.
3-Matt Carey – Although McNeill played very well, Carey has just improved so much. His speed has improved and he has a rocket of a shot from the point during the power play. He still has a small stature but uses his speed to get to pucks first. Although he didn’t get any points tonight he was noticeable. Reminds me of a Brandon Saad type, just not as big.
Brad Vandenberk
