If the Blackhawks have a formula for victory over the next 4-6 weeks when Duncan Keith is out, you saw it last night: lots of minutes for their top players, getting pucks out of their end as quickly and cleanly as possible, effort all over the ice.
It wasn't the prettiest win for the Hawks but it was good enough and fairly dominant. There was a breakdown here and there, like the one that led to Florida's first goal.
I'm not sure which Panthers team showed up last night, but the one that did was unable to mount much pressure on Hawk goaltender Corey Crawford, who had an easy night for the most part—aside from absolutely robbing Jaromir Jagr with a brilliant glove save.
Specific positives were 22+, mistake-free minutes for Trevor van Riemsdyk, which is huge in the absence of Keith. Huge.
A huge night for first star Brent Seabrook (1G/2A) in 26 minutes, by far the most of any Hawk. The Kane/Anisimov/Panarin line was outstanding again. Although Anisimov was (again) destroyed in the face-off dot, going 36%.
Rookie Vince Hinostroza was even worse at 30%. But, it's early and Hinostroza may yet be able to elevate his effort to match NHL competition.
But it was a solid outing overall—and definitely needed going into Saturday and Monday contest against the Lightning and Ducks respectively.
i'll have a Lightning preview tomorrow and any news as it happens.