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Tough Night; No Time For Panic |
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I wonder how much gnashing of teeth would be going on in Blackhawk Nation today over last night's shootout loss to the Lightning, had the Hawks just buried a chance or two in the overtime gimmick known as . . . the shootout?
Point is, the Hawks had at least a few shootout losses during the historic "streak" last year and very few observers, even me, freaked about it.
Clearly the Hawks have a few kinks yet to work out: faceoffs, not converting chances against a hot goalie, etc. but those were at times issues last year—and we know how that turned out.
Now, statistically, the penalty kill is dreadful this year, especially compared to last year. But last night, on Tampa Bay's lone power play, Newfoundland's own Teddy Purcell had a deflected puck land on his blade in perfect position, and he did what 99.9% of NHL'ers would do—buried it to tie a game at 2, where the Hawks should have been on cruise control to victory.
"It" happens.
I'm not here to make excuses, and those who read here regularly know I can be awfully, umm, negative about the Hawks falling back into bad habits. But the truth is, it's too early to panic, especially not when in terms of wins and losses, the Hawks are pretty much on the same trajectory they were around this time last season.
Marcus Kruger had a rough night last night, but I doubt you will see that repeated.
The Hawks as a team should have converted another chance or two on the 39 shots they had on Lightning netminder Ben Bishop. Don't get me wrong, Bishop was good, but the Hawks can be better in my opinion.
A truer test perhaps awaits Wednesday night in St. Louis, where the Hawks will face a Blues team sure to be loaded for bear. I doubt the Hawks will show up with anything less than their A game, but that is why the games are played.
In the meantime, I'll be back as any news develops.
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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