False Positive (chicago)

Especially for a team that isn't going anywhere fast in terms of the standings, there's still a primal desire by many players and for the average fan to watch exciting hockey which in this case was a lopsided game in your team's favor. These games are rare so they're a treat to watch.

If the Hawks were cranking out games like this on the regular, they could potentially have been in the playoff hunt. Yet, this type of play is neither realistic nor sustainable. Also, the Hawks didn't exactly turn the corner with performing in their own end and with holding leads.

There are still many areas for substantial improvement for the Hawks. One of those areas is team defense and general play without the puck. A second area is the capacity to take it to the contenders and not just fatten up on the bottom third of the teams in the league.

And a third area is secondary scoring. Sure, Kane, Strome, and Alex DeBrincat had 14 collective points. But, shut them down and the game could have been a lot closer than the final score indicated. Can the Hawks get consistent scoring from the other lines and even from the blueline?

Scoring by all 4 lines would make it that much tougher for the opposition to key in on just one line and cruise down easy street the rest of the way. Another glaring statistic is the fact that the Hawks defensemen have zero PP goals to their credit. Last season they had only 3.

In the end 8-3 scores aren't common and games like that should be enjoyed for what they are. If you paid for a ticket to watch live, you got your money's worth. When zooming out at the gestalt, though, the Hawks have a lot to work on. One hopes this game lights a spark in some way or other.

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Blackhawks Game Summary

Tuesday Boxscore

DeBrincat - Strome - Kane Hagel - Toews - Dach Kubalik - Kurashev - T Johnson Borgstrom - Carpenter - Lafferty

de Haan - S Jones McCabe - Murphy C Jones - Regula

Fleury Lankinen

Scratches: Entwistle, Gustafsson, Stillman

1st Goal (1-0): Strome (Kane, DeBrincat) 2nd Goal (2-0): DeBrincat (Kane, Strome) 3rd Goal (3-0): Kane (DeBrincat, McCabe) 4th Goal (4-0): Carpenter (Kane, C Jones) 5th Goal (5-0): Toews (Hagel) SH 6th Goal (6-0): Hagel (McCabe, Murphy) 7th Goal (6-1): Silfverberg (Steel, Mahura) 8th Goal (6-2): Zegras (Steel, Lindholm) PP 9th Goal (6-3): Henrique (Fowler, Comtois) 10th Goal (7-3): Strome (Kane, S Jones) 11th Goal (8-3): Strome (Kane, DeBrincat)

SOG For/Against: 32/32 PP: 0-for-2 PK: 3-for-4 Faceoffs Won: 56%

Highlights

Management Update

As previously mentioned, it was rumored that Maciver was often viewed as the smartest mind at the table when it came to player personnel conversations during his first stint with the Hawks. However, when it came to decision making, Maciver was silenced for whatever reason.

It's safe to assume that won't be the case this time around and that should be a good thing for the rebuild and beyond.

Free Agent Rumors

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International Women's Day

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See you on the boards!

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