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It wasn't pretty. At all.
But the Hawks seemingly regained their footing, at least offensively, against their good friends the Winnipeg Jets Thursday night at the MTS Centre.
The game was fairly intense through two periods, with the Hawks jumping out to leads and the Jets catching up. It was in the third period where the Hawks finally took control, potting three goals to Winnipeg's none.
If there's a common denominator in these games of late, including Tuesday's 5-1 loss in Colorado, it's poor defense by the Hawks, getting caught way too far up ice, lazy penalties that don't get killed.
So what underlies all of that?
I'm going to say it could be Stanley Cup fatigue. Or playing too many rookies. Or both. But the Hawks need to get it tightened up in the amazingly competitive Western Conference, and especially now on the Circus Road Trip, which stands at 1-1, and doesn't get any easier tonight.
Chicago Blackhawks (15-4-4) at Vancouver Canucks (12-8-4) 10PM Eastern/9 Central/7 Pacific NHLN-US, CBC, WGN
THE BUZZ
Some of the hate has drained out of this rivalry,but make no mistake, it's still there. The Canucks, coming off a 6-2 crushing of the struggling Columbus Blue Jackets, will be ready and waiting for the Hawks tonight.
The Hawks are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games, Vancouver just 3-4-3. The Blackhawks are 11th in the league on the power play, Vancouver is a surprisingly bad 29th. The Hawks are dreadful killing penalties, standing 29th—the Canucks are the best in the league right now on the PK.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
CHICAGO
Sharp-Toews-Hossa Saad-Pirri-Kane Versteeg-Shaw-Morin Bollig-Kruger-Smith
Keith-Seabrook Oduya-Hjalmarsson Leddy-Rozsival
Crawford
VANCOUVER
Higgins H. Sedin Hansen D. Sedin Santorelli Kesler Kassian Richardson Burrows Sestito Dalpe Weise
Edler Garrison Hamhuis Tanev Stanton Bieksa
Luongo
All for now, back tomorrow with a recap,
JJ