"I was just looking for the other half of my face." (Credit: BRIAN SNYDER, REUTERS)

You had to know this was coming.

It’s not as if the ‘Hawks haven’t played back-to-back games before – in fact, they came into the game 8-3-1 in the second game of back-to-backs this season – but it was pretty evident the Detroit game took a ton out of the Blackhawks. The Boston Bruins dictated the pace and took it to the ‘Hawks in a 3-0 shutout from Tim Thomas.

Jonathan Toews ended up a minus-3 for only the fifth time in his career as the Blackhawks mustered only five shots on goal in the first period, giving Thomas basically 20 minutes off to start the game. There was basically zero energy, and Corey Crawford gets the credit for the ‘Hawks coming out of the first unscathed.

Boston simply played its game, and there was nothing the Blackhawks could do about it, even though they literally tried to rip off the Bruins’ faces in the process. Shawn Thornton needed 40 stitches after Fernando Pisani’s skate cut him across the forehead.

(Quick sidenote: Any chance this heats up the NHL’s talks of mandating visors? I say yes.)

Dallas lost to Phoenix in a shootout, meaning they’re six points back of the eighth-place Blackhawks. Chalk Tuesday up as tough loss, and move onto Columbus on Friday fresh and ready to go.

Here’s your Boxing…

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Fill ‘er up: Ran-out-of-Gas Boxing with Blackhawks/Bruins - Blackhawk Up - Blackhawk Up - A Chicago Blackhawks Blog

Photo: Getty Images

The guy you’re looking at here is the leading contender for the Vezina trophy, given to the league’s top goaltender. He won the title back in 2008-09, had a startlingly bad year in 2009-10, and has now come back just as strong as he was two seasons ago. He’s big, covers a lot of the net, but is also mobile. It’s as if his hands are magnets: the pucks are just drawn to them. 32 wins, 2.00 goals-against, and a .939 save percentage. And he’s just now starting to hit his stride.

Vezina… You know, if you replace the ‘ez’ with ‘ag’ it— never mind…

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Nobody Washes Their Underwear: Blackhawks visit Boston - Blackhawk Up - Blackhawk Up - A Chicago Blackhawks Blog

Credit: Andrew Weber-US PRESSWIRE

Marian Hossa deserves every bit the credit for this victory, and not just because he scored the game-winner.

The Blackhawks’ 3-2 overtime victory Monday against Detroit came to fruition mainly because of Hossa’s 23:54 of purely superb play on both ends of the ice. I’ve said it over and over again, but watching this guy play is a thing of beauty and we’re lucky to be able to witness it.

If Hossa had scored on that breakaway after jabbing the puck off the boards between two Red Wings, we may be talking about this being his best game of the season. It would have been nice to see him put more of a move on Joey MacDonald, but it shouldn’t take away from the original play he made to get into that position.

Hossa’s overtime winner was more than deserved after Patrick Kane fought off the entire communist party to control the puck then drew the penalty from Henrik Zetterberg at the end of regulation.

Oh, and I hope Todd Bertuzzi is having his toenails ripped out one by one with metal tongs while having farts blown in his face by Yokozuna as Failure to Launch plays on loop in the background. Ultimate torture.

Here are a few more thoughts before Boxing…

↔  To state the ridiculously obvious, the two points earned are insanely important. However, they became a hell of a lot more important when the Ageless Wonder Teemu Selanne decided to net an effing hat trick in Anaheim’s 5-4 win against Colorado later in the evening. A Blackhawks loss in the OT would have put them two points back of the Ducks for 7th. Despite the victory, the ‘Hawks are stuck in eighth.

↔  MacDonald played a hell of a game, don’t get me wrong. My issue with what most have deemed an exceptional performance lies in the fact the Blackhawks were rather non-existent around the net on point shots. MacDonald had clear looks at nearly every shot put on him. The one time someone made him smell their ass, Toews was the culprit and the puck sneaked through on a Brent Seabrook shot and hit the post. If the ‘Hawks put more traffic in front, MacDonald may not have had the performance everyone is lauding.

↔  Niklas Lidstrom may play until his 84 years old — and everyone would still fear him.

↔  Bertuzzi’s hit was unquestionably a scumbag move from a scumbag player who’s been a scumbag for his entire career. If you think I’m overreacting because Ryan Johnson played the duration of the game and still was a factor at center, look at the replay. Bertuzzi came at Johnson with his elbow up and no regard for the consequences of his actions. There was no “hockey play” made. Will he be suspended? Probably not, since he’s been somewhat clean for the past couple of years. However, the NHL is doing everything possible to rid the league of hits such as these. They need to do something about it.

And with that, here’s Boxing…

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Get on Your Hossa: Overtime Boxing with Blackhawks/Red Wings - Blackhawk Up - Blackhawk Up - A Chicago Blackhawks Blog

"There are no delicatessens under Communism." (Getty Images)

With eight games remaining and the Blackhawks clinging to eighth place, they’ve managed to put themselves in one of the most hated positions any of us could possibly dream: The Red Wings will be a major hurdle in the ‘Hawks chances to make the playoffs.

Tonight begins the first of three meetings against Detroit before the regular season ends. That’s about as appetizing as a shit sandwich topped with wet farts.

Just for some quick added pessimism, the last Stanley Cup champion to miss the next year’s playoffs was the 2006-07 Carolina Hurricanes.

Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, here’s a positive: Pavel Datsuyk won’t play tonight, and Johan Franzen sat out Saturday’s 4-2 Wings win against Toronto. Jimmy Howard is day-to-day after injuring his shoulder against the Maple Leafs, and with Chris Osgood on long-term IR, it looks as if Jimmy MacDonald will be in net tonight.

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Maybe he’s just very well… ‘Red’: Blackhawks visit Red Wings - Blackhawk Up - Blackhawk Up - A Chicago Blackhawks Blog

"My head hurts from the excitement that I did something positive for once"

Photo: zimbio.com

Six former Hawks took the ice on Friday with one of those being a goalie who recorded his second shutout of the year. The other five who were skaters provided two points, one of each a goal and an assist.

Saturday we had A COLIN FRASER SIGHTNING! as well as 22 other former featherheads to take the ice. The one goalie came away with another win helping his team stay in the top three in the west and the skaters scored two goals and two assists for a total of four points. Two injuries happened in games that could potentially help the ‘Hawks down the road. Keep your fingers crossed!

Last night there were ten former Blackhawks to play. Two were goalies with one losing on in regulation while the other lost in a shootout. The other eight skaters provided three points on one goal and two assists.

Let’s hope that the Hawks rebound tonight and stay tuned for Tim’s preview of tonight’s game.

Click the jump for updates from the weekend’s games

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