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Tragic Comedy

October 17, 2021, 4:56 AM ET [335 Comments]
Theo Fox
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT

Are the Blackhawks really ready to work?

Doesn't seem like it by the way the other teams get on the scoreboard quickly to start games. On Friday night, the Devils needed a mere 17 seconds to light the lamp. Last night the Penguins did better by shaving off a few ticks off the clock to take a 1-0 lead in just 15 seconds.

As mentioned in yesterday's blog, it gets comical after a while to see the air come out of the tires immediately on the Blackhawks bus. The Devils and Penguins did so on the opening shift of their games. Also, the Penguins and Avalanche scored almost at will in the 1st period.

Even when putting aside when the goals against are scored, the disheartening trend is how poorly the Hawks defend as a team. There's little defensive structure or awareness to go along with a questionable -- or at least grossly inconsistent -- compete level. For instance:

* Firstly, the Hawks sometimes have all forwards and usually one defenseman caught deep in their offensive zone with not enough numbers to get back expediently on the backcheck after turnovers. It's easy to deduce that odd-man rushes the other way are the byproduct.

* Secondly, the Hawks are frequently guilty of puck watching and neither picking up any of the trailers nor covering anyone in particular. What ends up happening is the team fixates on the puck carrier which creates wide open passing and shooting lanes for the opposition.

* Thirdly, the Hawks repeatedly lose their coverage and let the opponent break free to get into spots to create scoring chances or screen the goalie. A factor that leads to this poor coverage is failing to gain inside positioning at all points in the defensive zone.

* And lastly, the Hawks forgetting the basic fundamentals of defending a 2-on-1 which are the defender takes the passing lane and lets the goalie take the shooter. Seth Jones and Riley Stillman both made a full commitment to the shooter on the 1st and 3rd Pittsburgh goals.

So unless the Hawks are expecting to put up a touchdown each game and win barn burners, the terrible team defense needs to find solutions in short order or else what was hoping to be an all-in season to go as deep as possible in the playoffs will have an early tragic ending.

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Blackhawks: Game Summary

Starting Lineup

Kubalik - Toews - Kurashev
DeBrincat - Dach - Kane
Hagel - Borgstrom - Johnson
Khaira - Entwistle - Gaudette

McCabe - Murphy
de Haan - S Jones
Stillman - Gustafsson

Fleury
Lankinen

Scratches:
Carpenter, Strome, Mitchell

Scoring Recap

1st Goal (0-1): Blueger (McGinn, Marino)
2nd Goal (0-2): O'Connor (Simon, Dumoulin)
3rd Goal (0-3): McGinn (O'Connor)
4th Goal (0-4): Heinen (Guentzel, Carter)
5th Goal (1-4): Kane (Jones, DeBrincat) PP
6th Goal (1-5): Zucker (Kapanen, Rodrigues)
7th Goal (2-5): Dach (Hagel, Kane)

SOG For/Against: 20/26
PP: 1-for-3
PK: 2-for-2
Faceoffs Won: 54%


Thoughts & Notes

* This is the third straight game with at least one PP goal and being perfect on the PK.

* The Hawks clearly left Marc-Andre Fleury out to dry in his homecoming game as he was able to stop only 6 of 10 shots.

* Kevin Lankinen came in relief a little more than halfway into the 1st period with 15 saves on 16 shots the rest of the way.

* In his first 3 games back after missing all of last season, Jonathan Toews is without a point and a -4 (-3 last night).

* Surprisingly, after Jujhar Khaira with 6 hits, Dominik Kubalik was tied with MacKenzie Entwistle with 5 hits each.

Highlights

Goal by Patrick Kane

Goal by Kirby Dach

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IceHogs: Game Summary

Starting Lineup

Nylander - Reichel - Hardman
Morrison - Slavin - Teply
Osipov - Barratt - Mitchell
Pour - Johnson - Connolly

Krys - Stanton
Phillips - Beaudin
Galvas - Krutil

Soderblom
Subban

Scoring Recap

1st Goal (0-1): Smith (Poturalski, Keane) PP
2nd Goal (0-2): Suzuki (Jacobs) SH
3rd Goal (1-2): Barratt (Mitchell)
4th Goal (2-2): Reichel (Slavin, Phillips)
5th Goal (3-2): Connolly (Morrison, Galvas)
6th Goal (4-2): Nylander (Hardman)
7th Goal (4-3): Gelinas (Bokk, Leivo) PP
8th Goal (5-3): Nylander (Reichel, Hardman) EN

SOG For/Against: 22/43
PP: 0-for-3
PK: 6-for-8

Thoughts & Notes

* Arvid Soderblom made himself look big in net and hugged the posts tightly all game helping him make 40 saves on 43 shots.

* Alex Nylander (2-0), Mike Hardman (0-2), and Lukas Reichel (1-1) had 2 points apiece.

* Chad Krys left the game late in the 1st period after injuring his right leg after getting accidentally bowled over by a sliding Wolves player.

* In the opening period, the Hogs mustered only 3 shots while giving up 16 to the Wolves.

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Lukas Reichel

Reichel had a dominant opening weekend in the AHL to kick off his pro career in North America. He has excellent reaction time, quick reflexes, sublime eye-hand coordination, and multiple gears to generate countless offensive chances out of almost nothing.

Like Brandon Hagel, Reichel is just so good at hunting down pucks and coming away with them from crowded areas. Aided by his fearlessness and relentlessness, Reichel is constantly the first to pucks no matter the zone and tilts the ice right away in favor of his team.

One thing that's impressive about Reichel is how he hustles on the backcheck and neutralizes developing plays. Blackhawks fans often wonder will there ever be another Marian Hossa. It's too early to annoint him now but Reichel could be a possible heir to that throne.

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See you on the boards!

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