Exciting Shootout Loss Gives Blackhawks Points in Seven Straight

photo from officeboots.net

In the first period of last night's game, the Blackhawks outshot the Red Wings 17-6. They were completely dominant, and they had an excellent power play with over a minute and fifty of continuous offensive pressure. They did everything but score a goal in that first period, and it ended up costing them in the long run.

Blackhawks Sweep the Series with a Second Shootout Win Against Pittsburgh

photo from chicitysports.com

For the third time in four games, the Blackhawks have played beyond regulation. In two of those three games, they've gone to a shootout. This is the first time in this homestand that the Blackhawks have won in overtime, sweeping the series against the Penguins with a 2-1 shootout win.

Saad-Toews-Hossa Give Blackhawks Season Sweep of the Devils

photo from csnchicago.com

After back to back overtime losses, the Blackhawks should probably have come out stronger than this. Two sluggish first periods that looked a lot like the game against Vancouver gave the Devils a 1-0 lead into the third period, where the Blackhawks came to life, scoring three unanswered goals including the empty netter to secure their first home win since before the All Star Break.

Sloppy Hawks Almost Pull Off The Comeback

photo from reuters.com

It was amazing that the Blackhawks made it out of the first period of last night's game without conceding a goal, but an equally sloppy second period left them with a two goal deficit to make up. Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane both had multipoint night, and Hossa even scored in the last minute of regulation to force over time, but Daniel Sedin and the Canucks handed the Blackhawks their second overtime loss in a row just over a minute in.

Strong Performance from Mike Smith Downs Blackhawks in Shootout

photo from letsgohawks.com

Marian Hossa scored twice, and Patrick Kane roofed a filthy backhander in the shootout, but that wasn't quite enough to beat the Coyotes, who came into the UC playing a much stronger game than the last time these two teams met, a 6-1 bloodbath in favour of the home team.

Hossa Breaks His Slump, Scores Two to Beat the Blues

photo from huffingtonpost.com

Eight time thirty goal scorer Marian Hossa has been struggling to put the puck in the net. His season shooting percentage is about half of his career shooting percentage, and previous to last night's game, he had only ten goals in fifty two games. That didn't stop him from scoring two goals back to back, including a game winner and the empty netter, giving the Blackhawks their first back to back wins since before the All Star Break.

The top line for the Blackhawks has been struggling. Prior to last night's game, they had only two points in their last four games (a goal each from Brandon Saad and Jonathan Toews) but they came out with two goals and two assists in last night's game. If they can start producing like that regularly, then the Blackhawks won't have to lean as heavily on the second line (and especially on Patrick Kane, who got an assist on the 2-1 goal last night to keep his spot on the top of the league leader board.

The third and fourth lines I thought were also strong last night, goals from Marcus Kruger and Bryan Bickell giving the Blackhawks two separate leads against a strong St Louis team, with twelve wins in their last fourteen games. It was Kruger's first point since December 20th, and Bickell's first goal in nine games. With Quenneville able to roll four lines for the whole game (and six defencemen, too, David Rundblad playing almost triple the ice time he got during the Jets game, after a turnover led to a Winnipeg goal), the Blackhawks kept things tight, dominating the Blues in the third period with a 12-3 shot advantage, after being outshot 12-9 and 12-7 in the first two periods.

Corey Crawford has continued to be excellent, with a .926 save percentage and two goals allowed on twenty seven shots. The second goal was unfortunate; he tried to make a sprawling save on David Backes while TJ Oshie was lying on top of him, and the first goal against was a Vladimir Tarasenko breakaway. Can you really fault any goalie for not stopping one of those? He's been one of the strongest players over the last week or so, coming out with about a 9.20 save percentage and a 4-2-0 record for this roadtrip. In the shutout against the Wild, he had a .930 save percentage. Really, the only subpar game they've had from him this roadtrip was against the Kings, with two late goals being the difference maker in a one goal loss.

My Three Stars of the Game

3. Brandon Saad. Saad keeps quietly racking up points, with two assists last night and the game winner the game before. He's on pace for over fifty points, and he's been the driving force on that top line for several games now.

2. Bryan Bickell. Bickell's performance is a bit up and down this season, but with consistent linemates in Teuvo Teravainen and Andrew Shaw, he's been playing better, and this gives him twenty three points on the season, a rate of about 0.43 points per game, just over a point every three games. That's a pretty good pace for a third line guy.

1. Marian Hossa. Marian Hossa has been unlucky this season. That's all he is. He regularly leads the team in shots and scoring chances (for which he's currently seventh in the league). His two goals last night were his seventy eighth career multi goal game, and his ninth multi point game of the season. Hopefully they're a sign of more to come, and his lopsided shooting percentage to even out.

Next game: February 9th, vs. Coyotes

Kane Scores, Breaks Shutout Drought

photo from chicagotribune.com

I didn't write a recap for the Minnesota game on Tuesday. In all honesty, I didn't feel they deserved the attention, after the worst team effort of the season. Last night, they played like they deserved it. Led by Patrick Kane, the Blackhawks finally earnt a win against Winnipeg; it just took them until overtime to do it.

Kane scored the last goal that the Blackhawks scored, against Anaheim, in the third period. It seemed appropriate that he also scored the shutout drought breaking goal too, a breakaway in the second period, ending the drought at about 145 minutes of gameplay. He also assisted on the OT winner from Brandon Saad, giving him fifty eight points on the season and tying him for first place in the league. His longest streak without at least a point this season is two games, and of the 151 goals the Blackhawks have scored this season, Kane has a point on over a third of them. People are making noises about the Hart trophy, and while it's hard to make that argument when Kane is surrounded by players like Duncan Keith and Jonathan Toews, it's not completely unfounded. Kane is carrying the Blackhawks through this period where they can't seem to score many goals, or string together more than two wins in a row.

Brandon Saad ended a six game goalless streak last night. With his game winner, he became the last skater on the top line to score against the Jets this season, and he's second on the Blackhawks in game winning goals with four, only one behind Kane's five. He's currently fourth on the Blackhawks in scoring, with thirty three points on the season. He's on pace for fifty one, which would surpass his previous career high of forty seven, set last season, and is set to score twenty goals for the first time in his career.

The defence for Chicago was better last night than they've been in a few games, allowing only twenty one shots in sixty three minutes of play. However, after a turnover from David Rundblad led to a goal, he was benched for essentially the rest of the game, and they played with five defencemen from that point on. Johnny Oduya and Michal Rozsival had strong games for the first time in several games, on the ice for both goals and Rozsival picking up an assist on the game winner.

Corey Crawford was strong in this game too. He's been strong the whole roadtrip, really, but a couple of bad bounces and more than a couple of bad periods from the guys in front of him have caused the team to struggle. None of the losses this trip are on him, and if he hadn't made a couple of key saves (most notably on Dustin Byfuglien, the Jets' best player), the Blackhawks would have had bigger than a one goal deficit to overcome.

My Three Stars of the Game

3. Brandon Saad. Saad's been one of the few players that's been stepping up for the Blackhawks during their offensive struggle. Though he was held without even a shot on goal in the game against the Wild, he led the team in shots on goal against Anaheim with seven, and had four in the loss to San Jose. After going without a point in four games, he broke the streak in spectacular fashion with his OT game winner from Kane.

2. Dustin Byfuglien. Byfuglien has been a game changer for the Jets this whole season, and he was solid again last night. It's only his second game back at forward after spending the bulk of the last month or so on the blue line because of all the injuries Winnipeg had to their top four defencemen, and it looks like he can be the best player on the ice no matter where he's playing.

1. Patrick Kane. Once again, Kane is at the top of everyone's list for best player on the Blackhawks. After going two games without a point, he broke the streak and then assisted on the gamewinner to join Jakub Voracek at the top of the league in points.

Next game: February 8th, vs. Blues