Superb `Stadium Series Blackhawks-Penguins Game

Blackhawks 1 - Penguins 0

Patrick Sharp lit up the lamp to open the snowy scoring in the first period.  He was the first among the Blackhawks, who jumped a couple of feet off the ice out of sheer excitement at being in that wintry spectacle.

Blackhawks 2 - Penquins 0

What can you say about the super-nifty goal that Jonathan Toews scored in the second period?  He took defenseman Brooks Orpik to school, practically undressing him and then blowing by him, with his stick handling.  Toews had presence of mind, after all of that, to stuff a backhander very low five-hole.  You see, even he was so excited that he jumped into the arms of his teammates on the bench.  

Blackhawks 3 - Penguins 0

Patrick Kane, well known for his own brand of magic with the hockey stick and puck, showed tremendous patience and vision on this play.  At the perfect moment, the puck was on-blade for Kris Versteeg simply to tap in.

Blackhawks 3 - Penguins 1

The Blackhawks weren't just happy and excited.  But Brent Seabrook in particular was also magnanimous.  I thought it was a deflection, from our vantage point in the stands, but this was a tap-in goal he scored for the Penguins in the third period like that of Versteeg.  Aw, he must've lost his bearing in relation to Corey Crawford, so his clearing attempt turned out to be a shot on goal.  So clearly it's Blackhawks 4 - Penguins 0, still.    

Blackhawks 4 - Penguins 1

I like Bryan Bickell.  Following a successful campaign last year, through the Stanley Cup Final, and following a huge pay raise during the summer, he seemed to have lost his mental edge and struggled to contribute offensively.  At one point he wasn't even hitting opponents with the big-body checks he was known for.  So I'm happy when he plays well.  Here it was an ugly goal, a dirty goal, a greasy goal.  Whatever.  He was Johnny-on-the-spot with a nice feed from Brandon Saad, and stuck with it, after his first shot was denied, and punched it through.

Blackhawks 5 - Penguins 1

Finally it was defenseman Simon Despres' turn to do the Brent Seabrook thing.  This was was more of a deflection-and-tap-in hybrid, though, off a rebound from an upclose shot by Jonathan Toews.  No matter how it happened, it was the second tally for the Captain, who won first-star game honors for his superb performance in that weather.  

A Blackhawks win was exactly what we fans needed, and it made the Soldier Field cold feel like living room warm.

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD