Friday vs. St. Louis Blues

Unfortunately for the Kraken, they never got rolling against the visiting Blues. Goaltender Ville Husso stopped all 20 shots he faced for his second shutout of the season, and the Blues got all the scoring they needed in the first period from Tyler Bozak and Brayden Schenn.

St. Louis added three more goals in the third period from Pavel Buchnevich, Colton Parayko and Jordan Kyrou to solidify a 5–0 win.

Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord stopped 19 of 22 shots with Chris Driedger out and Philipp Grubauer taking the night off. Defenseman Vince Dunn had a rough night as well, playing only 17:50 and watching three goals against up close.

Sunday vs. Florida Panthers

Following Seattle’s whitewashing against the Blues, the Atlantic Division-leading Panthers came to town Sunday evening. Once again, the Kraken struggled out of the chute, but this time scored three goals in the second and two more in the third to surprise the Cats. Colin Blackwell and Yanni Gourde set a Seattle team record by scoring goals 17 seconds apart.

The game was not without its drama, though. After taking a 3–1 lead in the second, the Kraken surrendered two goals to close out the second period and head into the intermission tied at 3–3.

Mason Appleton and Calle Jarnkrok secured the win with their third period tallies. Grubauer was back in net and had a solid 23-save performance, including a clutch 12-save third period.

Last week’s hero, Carson Soucy, played only 4:41 before leaving with an injury.

The Kraken host the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. The puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. PST.

The post RECAP: Kraken split weekend with Blues and Panthers appeared first on The Rink.

Driedger’s numbers were awful coming into the game, but Philipp Grubauer played the night before and this was a great time to harness some #RevengeEffects. This wasn’t just a milestone game for Driedger, though. Veteran wing Jordan Eberle was playing his 800th career NHL game and would also figure big in the final score.

the force is strong with @ChrisDriedger pic.twitter.com/ZAU2l4sh9o

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) November 27, 2021

In what is becoming strangely familiar, the Kraken were outplayed fairly significantly in the first period, getting outshot 14–9 and pinned their own end for much of the period. Like their game against the Hurricanes, the Kraken weathered the storm and came out ahead at the first intermission. Florida sandwiched a goal by Patric Hornqvist between ones by Kraken forwards Eberle and Ryan Donato which shockingly had the visitors up 2–1.

After a scoreless seconds period where Driedger turned away all 13 shots he faced, the Kraken nursed their one goal lead and a little bit of momentum long enough for Eberle to score his second goal of the night which was the backbreaker.

Jordan Eberle with the hot hands pic.twitter.com/TtFFJNS18n

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) November 28, 2021

Hakstol’s troops seemed to take the motto “the best defense is a good offense,” because they kept the pressure on Florida for most of the third period. This pressure resulted in Eberle’s second goal and, eventually, Jamie Oleksiak’s first goal as a Seattle Kraken into an empty Florida net in the final minutes of the game.

When the final horn sounded, the Kraken were 4–1 winners after breaking the Panthers’ home winning streak. They also finished a streak of games where they faced teams in the top-10 for seven of their previous 8 games and pulled out a respectable 3–5 record. Letting your goalie get pummeled and forcing him to carry you on his back is not a recipe for long-term success but a couple to jumpstart your team never hurt.

Anchor points

Grubauer had his night to shine against Carolina and this was Driedger’s turn. He harnesses some kind of voodoo revenge magic and showed a little of what General Manager Ron Francis picked him from Florida for, in June. Driedger stopped 33 of 34 total shots on net, including a Jonathan Huberdeau breakaway and eight of nine high-danger chances.

the video speaks for itself. pic.twitter.com/kJjnr7pppT

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) November 28, 2021

The hot power play was back like it never left. Eberle scored his first goal of the night early in the first period with just a few seconds left on the penalty to Gustav Forsling. 50% is just fine on the night.

  Everyone but the line of Morgan Geekie (55%), Jared McCann (62%), and Brandon Tanev (56%) were underwater in 5-on-5 shot metrics (63% overall).  How do you not love Brandon Tanev?

The advanced possession and analytics metrics were in favor of Florida but the Kraken hit them where it hurt, in the faceoff dots, the high danger area, and goal columns. Those numbers were as follows:

5-on-5 Corsi (total shot attempts) 62% – 38%
5-on-5 Fenwick (Unblocked shot attempts) 59% – 41%
5-on-5 Scoring Chances For 58% – 42%
5-on-5 High Danger Chances For 53% – 47%
5-on-5 Expected Goals For 55% – 45%
Faceoff Percentage 62% – 38%

After an extremely challenging road trip, the Kraken head up to Buffalo to face the lowly Sabres Monday night. The puck drop is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. PST.

The post RECAP: Driedger shines in return to Florida – beats Panthers 4–1 appeared first on The Rink.

Chicago Blackhawks General Manager Stan Bowman’s trade deadline balance sheet looks like the following:

IN
RW Vinnie Hinostroza
RW Brett Connolly
D Riley Stillman
C/W Henrik Borgstrom
C/W Adam Gaudette
F Ryder Rolston
F Josh Dickinson
2021 second-round pick
2022 third-round pick
2021 fourth-round pick
2021 seventh-round pick

OUT
F Brad Morrison
F Lucas Wallmark
D Lucas Carlsson
F Matthew Highmore
C Carl Soderberg
C/W Mattias Janmark
D Madison Bowey
2021 fifth-round pick
2022 fifth-round pick

Net result: Positive, since the Hawks gave up absolutely nothing that is part of their long-term plan or even close to it, and acquired some projectable assets.

Caveat: While the same folks are doing the same “Big StanBo Victory Dance-a-thon” on Twitter this afternoon, if we are really being honest, the actual return here is, ahem, pretty conditional. Put another way, we know that all the “guys” than Bowman unloaded are nothing more than “guys.” But, we also know that:

• Hinostroza has historically been, well, a “guy”
• Connolly has been a disappointment much of his career and will very plausibly be wearing a Kraken sweater this summer
• No one has ever seen Stillman and Carlsson in the same room at the same time
• Vancouver thought Gaudette was worth losing for Highmore
• Rolston has been described in scouting reports as being defensively weak, a perimeter player and lacking high-level hockey sense. But, he is a Notre Dame guy, so, go Stan!

How this will play out: Fifth- and seventh-round draft picks are only slightly more statistically likely to play in the NHL than I am. But, Borgstrom (a 2016 first-round pick), and the second- and third-round picks Bowman acquired could each turn into something of value down the line. Similarly, statistically, many second- and third-rounders do not make it in the NHL (look no further than the Hawks’ own history in those rounds).

But, let’s say Borgstrom and one of those picks matriculate as solid contributors for the Hawks in say, middle- or bottom-six roles? Meh, okay, because in the larger perspective, Bowman gave up nothing he wanted to keep.

So, this trade deadline was overall a “win” for Bowman and the Hawks, but also not necessarily a big win—unless some combination of the picks and prospects Bowman acquired beat the odds, and exceed expectations and current projections.

All we have for now.

The post ANALYSIS: Blackhawks have a no-lose/maybe-win trade deadline appeared first on The Rink.

In the first three games of the year, the Hawks averaged 30 shots on goal per game, while allowing 36 per game. This past week, those numbers have improved slightly to 34 shots for and 32 against per game.

But, it is important to note: two of the first three games of the year were against defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning, and two of the second week’s games were against lowly Detroit. So, the results the Blackhawks have achieved in each slate of games have to be weighted for quality of opponent. Net judgement: At 2–3–1 after 6 games, the Hawks are better than the worst team in the league, but far from being among the best.

Tuesday, Jan. 19: Point taken

The Blackhawks took the ice in Sunrise, Florida, hoping to reverse their early misfortunes. And they almost got there, losing 5–4 in overtime against the Panthers. Up until the end of the second period, the Hawks and Panthers slugged it out to a 2–2 tie, paced by two goals from last year’s scoring phenom and this year’s coaching doghouse resident, Dominik Kubalik.

Patrick Kane (19:10 of the second) and rookie Philipp Kurashev (6:06 of the third period) pushed the Hawks out to a 4–3 lead. Kane’s goal came on an end-to-end rush and one of his patented physics-defying backhands over a hapless Sergei Bobrovsky.

But Florida tied the game at 7:17 in the third on a power play goal by Patric Hornqvist, tipping a Keith Yandle blast past rookie netminder Kevin Lankinen, making his NHL debut.

Frank Vatrano won the game for Florida in overtime, with Duncan Keith, Pius Suter and Andrew Shaw skating for Chicago.

Friday, Jan. 22: At last, a win

Lankinen took the net again against Detroit in the Blackhawks’ home opener, signaling that Chicago wants to give the Finnish goalie a hard look—and why not, since neither Malcolm Subban nor Collin Delia had given them reason not to in the first three games. Lankinen got better results this time, saving 30 shots in a 4–1 victory for the first victory in his young NHL career.

The game was never really close, with Kane, Calvin de Haan, Shaw and Mattias Janmark tallying for Chicago. Although rookie Ian Mitchell was -6 for the year at this point, and has looked a bit overwhelmed by the pace of NHL play, he showed his offensive zone instincts, gaining the second assist on de Haan’s blast, with nice, nifty pinch and pass for the newcomer’s first NHL point.

Sunday, Jan. 24: A bit of a roll

What became clearly evident in today’s game (and Friday’s) is that as much as the Blackhawks are a “rebuilding” team, Detroit is a worse team. The Blackhawks humiliated the Wings in the matinee rematch at the UC, 6–2, behind a hat trick from rookie Pius Suter, and individual tallies from Mattias Janmark, Connor Murphy and Kurashev. Detroit’s two goals were scored by Tyler “Don’t call me ‘Todd,’ Pat Foley” Bertuzzi.

Takeaways from this game: Suter’s game is different from that of Kubalik, last year’s “Euro Import of the Year,” but Suter has the earmarks to possibly earn the crown this year. Suter’s game is quieter and greasier than Kubalik’s, but also effective in perhaps more ways than just scoring; he looks like another nice find for the Hawk scouting staff. Lankinen was again solid in net, albeit facing a season-low 27 shots against.

The Hawks did a very effective job taking away transition through the neutral zone and jamming up their own blue line.

After two weeks: What do we have here?

It would seem a very good way to evaluate this team is breaking their performances down into the three back-to-backs against Tampa Bay (0–2–0), Florida (0–1–1) and Detroit (2–0–0). The Hawks were dominated by arguably the league’s best team, were, meh, not-good-to-okay against a middling team in Florida and looked strong versus a bad Detroit team—a team that simply does not have a Kane, a Kubalik, a Keith, etc. The truth is, the Blackhawks are playing about as you would expect for a team that will finish about 12th through 14th in its conference, which is fine. After all, no one with a shred of sanity expects much better.

But, the rebuilding comparisons with Detroit are telling. After all, the Red Wings’ long, slow slide into a mediocrity and now 6-7 years’ long rebuild has been so arduous and painful precisely because they chose to rebuild, at first, the way the Hawks have: By retooling around the edges while holding on to highly paid, aging veterans.

Hawk fans can only hope—as Adam Boqvist struggles to find his footing in the NHL and alleged pillars of the rebuild, Alex DeBrincat and Dylan Strome, have looked pretty pedestrian for over a year now—that they were not facing today what they will be a handful of years from now, after Kane and Keith at minimum are no longer top players or even Blackhawks at all.

Still, nothing creates success like success. The new Hawks have had a little taste of it this week. Comment below.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks show progress, going 2–0–1 for the week appeared first on The Rink.

For the Hawks at this point, these games are all about finishing the year strong, and making more positive plays than mistakes, and giving experience to their young players, as they look toward the offseason.

The Blackhawks lines and pairings were:

Brandon Saad  Jonathan Toews  Dominik Kubalik
Alex Nylander  Dylan Strome Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat Kirby Dach  Drake Caggiula
Matthew Highmore  David Kampf Ryan Carpenter

Duncan Keith Adam Boqvist
Slater Koekkoek  Olli Maatta
Lucas Karlsson  Connor Murphy

Corey Crawford manned the net for Chicago, and Sergei Bobrovsky for Florida.

FIRST PERIOD

The game started in typical fashion, but at 4:07, Panthers forward Mike Hoffman jumped a lackadaisical pass by Brandon Saad, generated some speed to get in wide and basically mesmerized Corey Crawford, easily tapping the puck in on a wide open side. 1–0 Florida.

At 6:26, Mackenzie Weegar took a holding penalty. The Panthers successfully blocked some Hawks’ shots before Saad made a nifty individual play with about 20 seconds left in the man-advantage to get open in close—hitting the pipe on a glorious chance. The Hawks failed to convert.

However, Saad got his redemption at 12:54, when he and Dominik Kubalik came in on a 2-on-1, causing the Florida skaters to collapse in deep as the initial shot went to the end boards. Kubalik then alertly found a wide open Adam Boqvist in the slot, who walked it in then adeptly found Jonathan Toews at the doorstep, who put it home. 1–1.

Barely 30 seconds later, at 13:26, Jonathan Huberdeau took a hooking penalty. Again, Florida killed the penalty.

Erik Haula then took a high sticking penalty at 17:13. And again, Florida proved up tot eh challenge. The period ended with shots favoring Chicago 11–4.

SECOND PERIOD

Both teams had some pressure early on. Crawford made a strong save on a nice Evgeny Dadonov shot in close at 5:20, which was part of a flurry of Panther chances during this stretch.

Drake Caggiula (aka “Dat Gritty Little Caligula”) registered a goal, when he tipped home a Connor Murphy blast at 6:21—all of which was basically set up by the strength and tenacity of Toews, who owned the puck down low for several seconds before kicking it out to Murphy at the right point. 2–1 Chicago.

At 8:09, Olli Maatta took the first Hawk penalty of the night, which was killed. But then as soon as that was killed, Duncan Keith was whistled at 10:13. Despite a couple of great Florida chances, Chicago was able to kill this one off as well.

The Panthers put on some strong, sustained pressure at around the 18:00 minute mark against the Hawks’ fourth line. But Crawford and some selfless shot blocks by the Chicago skaters maintained the team’s lead. Shots for the period were 15–13 Florida.

THIRD PERIOD

Kirby Dach took a high sticking minor at 1:11, which the Hawks successfully killed off.  Florida really poured it on in the third period, outshooting Chicago 17–2. Florida’s pressure finally paid off when Mike Matheson scored from the right circle at 18:32.

Regulation ended at a 2–2 tie, pushing the game to OT.

OVERTIME

In the 3-on-3 OT, both teams had excellent chances, with Boqvist hitting the crossbar in the third minute of OT. Both Crawford and Sergei Bobrovsky were excellent in OT.

With an impending offensive zone faceoff at the 4:36 mark of OT, Florida head coach Joel Quenneville took a timeout to try to diagram a play. But Florida came up short, and so the game would be decided by a shootout.

SHOOTOUT

In the shootout, Crawford stopped two attempts, and Toews and Patrick Kane buried theirs. Game: Chicago.

Overall a pretty good effort by Chicago—good enough anyway to beat a Florida team clawing for a playoff spot in their own building.

THREE STARS

1. Jonathan Toews
2. Corey Crawford
3. Mike Matheson

Comment below.

The post Along the boards: Blackhawks down Panthers  3-2 in the shootout appeared first on The Rink.

Head Coach Jeremy Colliton decided that Corey Crawford took enough of a beating in Tampa, and started Cam Ward in net.  Chris Kunitz, Luke Johnson and Jan Rutta all took the night off, as well. Prior to the game it was announced that Brandon Davidson will undergo surgery on Tuesday for his knee, and would be out and undetermined amount of time.

This was your Blackhawks starting lineup:
Brandon Saad- Jonathan Toews – Patrick Kane
Alex DeBrincat – Artem Anisimov – John Hayden
Nick Schmaltz – David Kampf – Dominik Kahun
Alexandre Fortin – Marcus Kruger – Andreas Martinsen

Duncan Keith – Gustav Forsling
Erik Gustafsson – Henri Jokiharju
Brandon Manning – Brent Seabrook

The Blackhawks came out with much more urgency than they had the night previous, getting a solid chance just a minute into the game. James Reimer shut the door, although this pressure was a welcomed sight.

As it turned out, the pressure didn’t last much longer.

At the 14:12 mark of the first period, the Panthers took the first lead of the game. Mike Hoffman found a soft area across the Blackhawks zone and Keith Yandle set the shot up on a tee for him. The Hoffman laser beat Cam Ward, who really didn’t have a chance.

Brandon Manning tried to fire his team up following the goal by engaging in some fisticuffs with former Blackhawk Troy Brouwer but that did nothing to swing the momentum.

The Panthers took a 2-0 lead at the 6:20 mark of the first period when Erik Gustafsson failed to get a puck deep into the Cats’ zone and it quickly came back the Blackhawks way. The Hawks actually had decent numbers back in their defensive zone, but all three players went to the puck carrier, Colton Sceviour. Sceviour dished the puck to Jared McCann who stopped, went forehand/backhand and beat Ward.

That was all of the action in the first period, and the Panthers headed to the locker room leading in shots 16-8.

Just 49 seconds into the second period David Kampf took matters into his own hands to put the Blackhawks on the scoreboard.

Yes, THIS David Kampf.

Kampf touch this#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/hnAYGDJFJZ

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 25, 2018

Kampf channeled his inner vintage Jonathan Toews driving around and through Panthers defenders, eventually tucking the puck around Reimer’s right skate for a highlight-reel goal.

At the 14:26 mark of the second period, the Blackhawks fought back to tie the game. Brandon Saad drove the puck up the right Panther’s half boards. Once Saad cleared the defenseman, he saucered a backhand pass towards the crease. Patrick Kane was driving to the net and redirected the pass over the Cats’ goalie.

Roughly three minutes after Kane tied the game, his defensive miscue gave the Panthers the lead back. Kane left his man (Aaron Eckblad) to lazily float through the neutral zone which allowed Eckblad to take a nice feed back in the Blackhawks’ zone from Mike Hoffman and beat Ward.

Soon after the Cats recaptured the lead, they were assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which us usually a good sign for an opposing hockey team. Teams not named the Chicago Blackhawks.

Shortly into the power play Colton Sceviour lost his stick and was forced to defend without one for the remainder of the Hawks man-advantage. In typical Blackhawks fashion, they failed to get more than a dribbler or two in the area of the net.

The problems didn’t stop there, though.

Following the unsuccessful power play, the Panthers held possession long enough to forced a couple of tired (and old) Hawks defenders to attempt to keep up. Eventually, Frank Vatrano tipped a puck past Cam Ward to put the Panthers back up by two goals.

As a result, the Blackhawks went into the second intermission down 4-2 and were out shot 18-10 in the period.

At the 10 minute mark of the third period, some solid shorthanded forechecking by Alexandre Fortin led to a break-a-way. Reimer made the original stop but the puck went off Fortin’s skate and into the net. Since there was no distinct kicking motion, the goal stood as called on the ice.

A little pick-me-up for Alex #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/eKEnTbp1bm

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 25, 2018

With 5:43 left in regulation the Blackhawks thought they tied the game off the stick of Brandon Saad but puck ricocheted off the crossbar. Much like the rest of the season, the visiting team was snakebitten.

Clock ticked down to 1.2 seconds remaining in regulation before the Blackhawks managed to tie the score. Alex Debrincat found himself just outside the Panther’s crease after a nice no-look pass from Brandon Saad behind the net and muscled a puck through Reimer to send the game to overtime.

In overtime, the teams traded some excellent opportunities until the 2:32 mark of the extra period. Erik Gustafsson circled in the Florida zone, turned and fired a puck past a surprised James Reimer to win the game.

GAME WINNER#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/Nn64mSjSVz

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 25, 2018

Pluses

• Who doesn’t like a comeback?  The Blackhawks came back from two goal deficits twice.
• Gustav Forsling has been sort of invisible; in a good way.  He had two assists but with this team, if you’re not being noticed for a bad goal or play, you’re doing pretty well for yourself.
• in addition to Forsling, David Kampf, Brandon Saad, and Patrick Kane also had two points a piece.
• Some of the goals weren’t pretty but Cam Ward made 34 saves and faced the majority of the high danger chances.
• Nick Schmaltz led the Blackhawks in most possession metrics, but he also started in the offensive zone almost three out of every four starts.

Minuses

• With the multiple comebacks you have the multiple deficits that the Blackhawks originally gave up.
• Just because he scored the game winner doesn’t mean we all forget the terrible Erik Gustafsson rush and resulting turnover that led to the second Panthers goal.
• That terrible 5-on-3 1/2 power play that eventually ended in the Panthers scoring was inexcusable.  Find a lane and shoot the puck.  If there is no lane, MOVE THE PUCK FASTER!
• The high danger chances favored Florida 16-10.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks Beat Panthers in OT Thriller appeared first on The Rink.

Also in the lineup for the second consecutive game was the enigma known as Jordan Oesterle, who exhibited no signs of rust after spending enough time in the various arena press boxes to qualify for real estate tax assessments. He earned an assist on the Blackhawks first goal Sunday and logged over 20 minutes of ice time in his first game back in the line up.

In other news, not on the ice for this game was the ice cold Richard Panik, who had not scored a goal in twenty plus games. Ryan Hartman was back in the lineup after taking the night off against the Arizona Coyotes for equally as cold play. It should be no surprise to anyone that these two took turns doing the healthy scratch shuffle.

These were the Blackhawks starting lines:
Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Alex DeBrincat
Nick Schmaltz – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane
Patrick Sharp – Vince Hinostroza – Ryan Hartman
Lance Bouma – Tommy Wingels – John Hayden

Duncan Keith – Jordan Oesterle
Gustav Forsling – Jan Rutta
Connor Murphy – Brent Seabrook

Play was pretty even for the opening minutes of the game, with each team throwing three shots on net. The major fireworks were around the head of Denis Malgin, when Connor Murphy absolutely laid him out and sent Malgin to the quiet room. Malgin would not return.

Half way through the opening period, the Blackhawks drew the first penalty of the game. Even though their pressure looked better than usual, the Hawks still tried pulling their typical “way too many passes, way too slowly” charade, and were not able to manage much more than a couple of shots on net before the power play expired.

At regular strength, all four lines seemed to be skating well for most of first period, but it was the first line that took the first lead of the game. Brandon Saad took a pass by Alex Debrincat from behind the net and beat James Reimer on a bang-bang play to open scoring. The #ElGato top six experiment certainly seems to be working pretty well based on the recent results.

The second period literally opened with the Panthers very nearly tying the game on the power play when Vincent Trochek turned Gustav Forsling inside out, and lasered a shot off the Blackhawks crossbar just seconds after the opening face-off.

The Panthers were not done there, though, as they continued to pepper Corey Crawford with shots and rebounds to the tune of seven straight shots to open the period before the Blackhawks managed their first shot.

After Corey Crawford saved several excellent chances, including a partial breakaway, Nick Bjugstad finally solved the Blackhawks goaltender and tied the game. Goose Forsling got caught watching the puck too much and let the Panthers forward in behind for a long breakaway. Bjugstad faked Crawford out pretty convincingly and made no mistake depositing the puck into the back of the cage.

Late power plays each way resulted in no further damage for either team, and the second period ended tied at 1-1 even though the Blackhawks had been out shot heavily 17-5.

Four minutes into the third period the Blackhawks failed to get the puck out of their own end which ended up leading to a Vincent Trochek and Jamie McGinn 2-on-1. McGinn was able to corral a pass in his skates and surprise Corey Crawford by roofing a quick shot over Crawford’s right shoulder.

The third period went back and forth until six minutes remaining in regulation, when Brandon Saad once again imposed his will on the Florida team. Saad got in behind the defense and Alex Debrincat quickly hit him with a pass. The big winger headed to the net, but saw Jonathan Toews out of the corner of his eye. Saad flipped a backhand pass to Toews, who was able to hit the wide open net on the back door and tie the game back up.

Despite some hot tempers, including Cats goalie James Reimer throwing multiple blocker shots into the back of the head of Tommy Wingels, neither team was able to get that elusive regulation game winning goal. As a result, the game headed into over time. Once again, the Blackhawks were caught playing down to the competition.

James Reimer gives a few good blocker shots to Wingels after #57 gave the Panthers netminder an extra whack before the whistle. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/WjDhKt53QI

— Cristiano Simonetta (@CMS_74_) December 13, 2017

In the over time period, the Panthers’ Aaron Ekblad had the Blackhawks and their goaltender dead to rights but rang the potential game winning shot off the post. Just moments later, Patrick Kane took a pass from Artem Anisimov, who had stolen the puck in the neutral zone, and went in on a partial breakaway. Kane easily picked Reimer apart and won the game to give the Blackhawks the extra point.

Pluses

• Brandon Saad and Jonathan making appearances on the scoresheet were very welcome sights.
• I have been hard on Patrick Sharp, but this might have been one of his better games. He out raced several Cats players throughout the night. That is about all you’re getting out of me, because he still provides zero offensive help.
• Jordan Oesterle looked pretty good for the second game in a row. He made a really nice back checking play using his speed in the third period that could have turned into the Panthers third goal of the night.

Minuses

• Save for a few decent shots in the first period, the Blackhawks power play was wretched; again. “Everything is going to be okay” they said. Sure, everything certainly looks just fine.
  
• Jan Rutta took a hit in the second period and got up very wobbly. He was escorted off the ice and went right to the locker room for some concussion protocol testing and was not heard from again.
• The Blackhawks gave up several full or partial breakaway chances in this game which is totally unacceptable if you expect to win against actual good teams.
• Lets not all start planning the Stanley Cup parade. The Blackhawks just barely beat three pretty below average-to-bad teams. Just wait until we see how they perform against the Jets, Wild and Stars.

The post Recap: Blackhawks vs Panthers 3-2 OT Win appeared first on The Rink.

Florida Panthers (12-14-4) at Chicago Blackhawks (14-11-5)

8:30 PM Eastern/7:30 Central

RADIO: WGN 720

TV: NBC Sports Chicago/Fox Sports Florida

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Florida:

James Reimer (6-7-3, 3.61 GAA, .894 SV%)

Chicago:

Corey Crawford (13-7-2, 2.21 GAA, .932 SV%)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Florida

Huberdeau-Barkov-Bjugstad

McGinn-Trocheck-Malgin

Brickley-McCann-Vrbata

Haley-Mackenzie-Sceviour

Yandle-Ekblad

Matheson-Pysyk

Weegar-Petrovic

Chicago

Saad-Toews-DeBrincat

Schmaltz-Anisimov-Kane

Sharp-Hinostroza-Hartman

Bouma-Wingels-Hayden

Keith-Oesterle

Forsling-Rutta

Murphy-Seabrook

STATISTICAL COMPARISONS:

Power play:

Florida 17.8% (20^th)

Chicago 15.6% (29^th)

Penalty kill:

Florida 77.3% (25^th)

Chicago 83.5% (5^th)

Corsi For % (5-on-5)

Florida 48.9% (19^th)

Chicago 52.5% (8^th)

Faceoffs:

Florida 51.5% (8^th)

Chicago 48.9% (25^th)

SUMMARY:

For the third straight game, the Blackhawks face a team they should, on paper and in a home game, be capable of beating. But, that’s why they play the games. By their record, and by virtue of having more difference makers in their lineup perhaps than Buffalo or Arizona, the Panthers should present a slightly tougher test to the Hawks.

The scoring floodgates opened a bit for Chicago in the latter stages of Sunday’s win, but it was against a tired Arizona team, playing it’s sixth period of hockey in two days. Put another way, the Hawks are still struggling to score, especially on the power play.

If yesterday’s practice lines are to be trusted, Richard Panik sits tonight and Ryan Hartman plays.

We’ll recap tonight or tomorrow AM.

Follow: @jaeckel

The post Preview: Panthers at Blackhawks appeared first on The Rink.

These are the Blackhawks starting lines:
Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Richard Panik
Nick Schmaltz – Artem Anisimov – Patrick Kane
Patrick Sharp – Ryan Hartman – Alex DeBrincat
Lance Bouma – Tommy Wingels – John Hayden

Duncan Keith – Cody Franson
Connor Murphy – Brent Seabrook
Gustav Forsling – Jan Rutta

During the first period, the Blackhawks looked a lot look the team we all saw in the opening two games of the season, rather than the one we’ve all seen for the last 20 games. They came out blazing and out shot the Panthers an amazing 21-7. To go with those 21 shots, the Hawks also put two goals on the board.

It wasn’t the money players that opened up the lead, though, because it was the 4th line that started the scoring. Tommy Wingels worked hard behind the net while the Florida defense let him fly behind the net with little resistance and attempt a wrap-around. His attempt never made it to Luongo, but amazingly drifted through the slot area just long enough for John “#BigJohnStudd” Hayden to swoop in and snap a high glove side shot past the Florida netminder.

Six minutes after the Hayden goal, the money players joined the action, namely Jonathan Toews and Brandon Saad. Toews initially tried a tight shot from five feet to Luongo’s left, and was stopped. Shockingly, the Panthers all peeled off while Toews picked up the rebound and regrouped in the corner. As he circled, Toews realized he had all day to pick his target with both Saad and Richard Panik causing havoc in the crease. Toews snapped a perfect pass to Saad, who redirected the puck past Luongo for a 2-0 lead. This is how the first period ended.

The second period wasn’t nearly as dominant as the first, but the Blackhawks were still able to go into the intermission up 4-1. Florida finally decided to show up and actually out shot the Hawks 19-10, but Corey Crawford stood tall once again. Crawford held the Blackhawks lead despite giving up a goal just a minute into the middle period.

Panthers forward Jared McCann was, surprisingly, given way too much time to size up Crawford, and snapped a clean wrist shot past the Blackhawks goalie. To say there was was some miscommunication on this play might be putting it a little lightly. Nick Schmaltz, Jan Rutta and Gustav Forsling all left McCann to drift into the Hawks slot and pick his spot. That said, Crawford also had plenty of time and space to take an extra step out and limit McCann’s choices. Little harm was done, though, because the Blackhawks picked right back up where they left off in the the first period.

Six minutes after the McCann goal, the recently hot Patrick Kane put his name on the score sheet. Once again, the Panthers defense thought it was safe to allow a dangerous Blackhawks forward circle in the corner and regroup with little resistance. This time, though, Kane took it upon himself to measure up and surprise Luongo with a high shot over his shoulder for a 3-1 Blackhawks lead.

Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews added another insurance goal, with three minute remaining in the second period. Toews’ goal was basically an end to the Panthers night, even though they still had an entire period to play. This final goal is one of those you would see on “NHL Follies” or something of that ilk. Toews pressured Panthers defenseman Mark Pysyk who turned the puck over below the goal line. The puck popped up into the air about waste high and Toews swatted at it with one hand on his stick. That was enough to direct the puck towards Luongo and eventually into the net. Not exactly a goal that will show up on a Hall of Fame resume, but it counted nonetheless.

The teams actually played a third period but the shots were down, and there wasn’t much action. With the few Panthers flurries, Crawford looked dialed in, once again. When the final horn sounded, the Blackhawks left Sunrise with a 4-1 win, and headed home to play the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.

Pluses

• As I stated earlier, the big money players finally chipped in. Toews had a goal and two assists, Kane had a goal, and Saad had a goal and assist. This is all a good sign, but needs to continue on a more regular basis.
• It was really nice to see #BigJohnStudd get back on the scoresheet. If Ryan Hartman doesn’t start producing more, he’s going to lose his spot to someone like John Hayden; again.
• The Toews, Saad, and Panik line had some seriously inflated possession numbers which were all over 78%. The Duncan Keith and Cody Franson pairing wasn’t far behind, ending up over 63%.
• The Blackhawks basically stayed out of the penalty box, for once, getting only two minor penalties the entire game. Florida was even better, getting only one minor penalty late in the second period.

Minuses

• Giving up 38 shots is not going to win you a lot of games in the NHL. This needs to be fixed or wins like these will all be a faded memory while the Hawks decent into the depths of missing the playoffs. Remember, this is a team the Blackhawks SHOULD beat and were out shot by for two of the three periods. Lets call this what it was, a bum slaying.
• Patrick Sharp played a team low 10:50 and was, again, invisible. Can we end this ridiculous charade already?
• If the Blackhawks want Alex Debrincat to continue to produce, he needs better linemates.  Sharp and Hartman are both struggling mightily and dragging the kid down the toilet.

The post Recap: Blackhawks at Florida 4-1 Win appeared first on The Rink.

The Blackhawks move across the state of Florida tonight to face the Panthers, hoping to maintain a recent trend of improvement—especially on the power play.

Chicago Blackhawks (10-8-3) at Florida Panthers (8-11-2)

7:00 PM Eastern/6:00 PM Central

RADIO: WGN 720

TV: NBC Sports Chicago/FS Florida

PROJECTED GOALIES:

Chicago:

Corey Crawford (9-7-1, 2.23 GAA, .932 save%)

Florida:

Roberto Luongo (5-4-1, 2.59 GAA, .931 save%)

PROJECTED LINES/PAIRINGS:

Chicago

Saad-Toews-Panik

Schmaltz-Anisimov-Kane

Sharp-Hartman-DeBrincat

Bouma-Wingels-Hayden

Keith-Franson

Murphy-Seabrook

Forsling-Rutta

Florida

Huberdeau-Barkov-Dadonov

Haapala-Trocheck-Bjugstad

McGinn-McCann-Sceviour

Haley-Balisy-Brickley

Yandle-Ekblad

Matheson-Pysyk

McCoshen-Weegar

STATISTICAL COMPARISONS:

Power play:

Chicago 16.5% (23rd)

Florida 16.0% (25th)

Penalty kill:

Chicago 84.8% (5th)

Florida 73.2% (31^st)

Corsi For % (5-on-5)

Chicago 51.0% (10th)

Florida 49.1% (20th)

Faceoffs:

Chicago 48.2% (25th)

Florida 51.7% (8th)

SUMMARY:

Lookie there—a team that’s worse on the power play than Chicago.

Unfortunately, although the Hawks have been playing better of late, they are far from assuming anything going into a game with a team like Florida, who have struggled this year. On paper these look like a relatively easy two points to grab. Not only are the Panthers not great with a man advantage, they are the league’s worst penalty killing team, an opportunity for Chicago to take advantage of as their own slightly improved power play slowly creeps up the league rankings.

Still. Nothing is guaranteed with the Hawks thus far this season—they will likely need a focused, horn-to-horn effort to capture a point or two.

We’ll have a recap either late tonight or in the morning. Finally, while you’re here, and if you haven’t already, check out the latest Knowledge Bomb from Bob Rose, Jr. on the two-touch shot.

Follow: @jaeckel

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