The game wasn't as close as the score would indicate. The Blackhawks were pretty much dominated last night by the New Jersey Devils.
I don't know if Artem Anisimov was -4 because he tried to play through an injury, or if the injury was the fortunate end to a horrible night of hockey, where Anisimov did his best matador imitation on at least one New Jersey goal.
Niklas Hjalmarsson was -3, another brutal night for the Hawks' best defender.
If there's a silver lining in this, it's that you can't blame Trevor Daley for this one. He was probably the Hawks' best defenseman in this game.
Corey Crawford was awful for the second straight game.
The issue is this: when you're going into battle every night with a roster rife with rookies and fill-ins, and other players playing out of position (Teuvo Teravainen, aka El Matador Primero), your best players can't afford to show up with anything less than 100% focus and intensity.
That's what happened, and you get a game like last night's.
Another aspect of this issue is that while it's easy on a blog message board to relegate Marian Hossa to a third line role, it could not be more event how much he is missed int he top 6 right now. When you subtract players like Hossa and Duncan Keith from a lineup probably already a bit over-reliant on rookies and learners, you get the makings of a train wreck like the Hawks' last 5 periods of hockey.
Especially if guys being paid a lot to produce and lead don't.
Another small bright spot was the play of Erik Gustafsson. You can see his confidence rising night after night—sometimes causing him to overcommit as he did at least once last night. But this kid has some serious skill and recognition to his game. Scott Darling was good in relief of Crawford. That's about it.
The Hawks get the opportunity to right the ship tomorrow night versus Edmonton at the UC. I'll preview tomorrow.
JJ