The Arizona Coyotes entered the United Center last night with the worst record in the Western Conference, a tired club playing the second of back to back road games against good teams.
And it showed in the result, a solid 4-0 shutout (Scott Darling's first of the season) for their hosts, the Chicago Blackhawks.
The aforementioned is not to diminish what was the Hawks' best game in several outings. The opponent and the win allowed Joel Quenneville and the coaching staff to try some new wrinkles and recapture the team's confidence a bit—in advance of a much tougher test Friday night versus the New York Rangers.
Last night's win underscores the importance of scoring depth and corresponding blue line depth. The Hawks have struggled for a handful of game sin the absence of Jonathan Toews, to generate offense from any source beyond but the Anisimov-Kane-Panarin line.
The Coyotes, conversely, really struggle defensively. So you saw more balanced scoring last night from Chicago—including two goals from the rejuvenated Marian Hossa, playing on a newly cobbled line with Marcus Kruger and Ryan Hartman.
Hossa led all hawk forwards in ice time with nearly 20 minutes—demonstrating that in Toews' absence, he and Kruger (who approached 18 minutes) will be relied upon more heavily in most situations. It worked las tonight versus the Coyotes. it remains to be seen how much the Hawks can get out of their depleted lineup versus a team like the Rangers.
And it's not as though Toews' return, though it will certainly help, will magically solve what has been a problem stretching back to last season.
Another bit of mixed news from last night was an injury sustained by Brent Seabrook—he'll be evaluated today. Added to Toews' issue (which at present does not seem to be improving), Corey Crawford's 2-3 week absence (although he has begun off-ice rehabs), losing Seabrook would be a very big challenge for a team that in spite of its record, is really trying to find some consistency.
Bright note? Trevor van Riemsdyk had arguably his best game of the season last night, and the Hawks will need to rely more on their improved blue line depth should Seabrook be out for any stretch of time.
I'll preview the Rangers tomorrow or Friday.
JJ
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