Theo Fox: Take Two A summary of the Blackhawks shootout win against the Penguins to start the first winning streak of the season.

Plus, notes on Wyatt Kalynuk, Henrik Borgstrom, Brandon Hagel, MacKenzie Entwistle, Brett Connolly, Alec Regula, Kale Howarth, and Taige Harding.

Just curious if King gives a recommendation to give an NHL look at players whom he can appreciate better than others, given the role he himself experienced as a player

Theo many blogs ago described the sort of style the forwards & defensemen exhibit.

One idea could be to bring linmeattes Reichel and Slavin up. This may not occur at all, or either player could be recalled separately. I would like to see them together in a late season game

One example is the skill of Reichel and industruous north/south style Slavin.

But a buoyaut effort also comes into sharper focus when a couple of Icehogs come up and are Shaw like gritty and tough with a modicum of ability....
it is a long ways from last year with a very hurtful centericemen group and bottom line forwards weren't impactful enough.

Recall Shaw, Eager, Burrish, Bouque, Big Buff, Bolland, Fraser (the smallish, tough defensive center). The team as early as next season could begin to replicate that 2010 group.

Energizer Everready battery is their way of playing. Energizing the team you think? More victories, getting closer to a playoff team

We can at least hope for this outcome

This team is nowhere close to 2010. This team is bereft in top end talent, why they have so much trouble scoring 5 x 5.

King says they are playing Colliton’s system. If that is true they are playing it better and it looks a lot more organized.

It will be interesting to see if Kalynuk slots in for Gus and if so how much TOI he gets. I hope Caleb Jones is ready soon. He looked ok in the preseason. Maybe Caleb gets more starts, Kalynuk goes to Rockford and Gus is in the press box (until he can be moved).

We really missed Hagel last night.

Reese Johnson needs to go back to Rockford. Hopefully Tyler Johnson and Borgstrum are ready to play soon.

After he is healthy I would like to see Borgstrum between ADB and Kane. Let Dach play on an energy 3rd line with Tyler Johnson, Gaudette and or Kurashev.

Nice to hear Connolly, Reichel, and Nylander are playing well at the Rock. But no need to bring them up right away. Because of cap issues I don’t see a way that Connolly could be recalled unless there is an injury to a highly paid forward and that forward goes on LTIR.

Good goaltending makes the whole team look better. I hope Fleury and Lankinen can string together a few good starts in a row.

If Fleury and Lankinen had played well from the start the Hawks might have a few more points. But then maybe Colliton would not have been fired. So……

I'm sure Jones is playing so many minutes because King is basically only playing 5 d-men. Kalynuk I'm guessing will be back Friday and Gus will be scratched. Kalynuk will probably play at least twice the 8 minutes Gus did, so it should reduce the time Jones is on the ice.

Weird scheduling quirk now. Hawks off 2 days, play Arizona, off another 4 days, play Seattle, and then off 2 more days before playing Edmonton. That should be 8 practices or so for King to tweak the defensive style to something he likes better. Hopefully they get C Jones, Hagel, and T Johnson back in this stretch too. To Theo's point, there isn't much depth right now, so it's vital to get guys back before they are playing 3 games in 4 nights. Kane is playing way too much right now too.

As for the game last night, 2 good periods, and then the typical problem 3rd period. I think because King only went 5 defensemen and 9 forwards for most of the game that guys were getting worn out. I will take the ugly 2 points though for sure.

King says they are playing Colliton’s system. If that is true they are playing it better and it looks a lot more organized.

It will be interesting to see if Kalynuk slots in for Gus and if so how much TOI he gets. I hope Caleb Jones is ready soon. He looked ok in the preseason. Maybe Caleb gets more starts, Kalynuk goes to Rockford and Gus is in the press box (until he can be moved).

We really missed Hagel last night.

Reese Johnson needs to go back to Rockford. Hopefully Tyler Johnson and Borgstrum are ready to play soon.

After he is healthy I would like to see Borgstrum between ADB and Kane. Let Dach play on an energy 3rd line with Tyler Johnson, Gaudette and or Kurashev.

Nice to hear Connolly, Reichel, and Nylander are playing well at the Rock. But no need to bring them up right away. Because of cap issues I don’t see a way that Connolly could be recalled unless there is an injury to a highly paid forward and that forward goes on LTIR.
- Ztra

Funny, took me about a period and half to figure out what seemed weird about the game, and then it hit me, no one like Hagel on the ice.

The young man has come along way in a year or two. Need a couple more of those "finds"

An OT win, and a gimmick win…better than losing I guess, but it’d still be nice if they could stop blowing leads and win one in regulation.

Today @ 9:05 AM ET
An OT win, and a gimmick win…better than losing I guess, but it’d still be nice if they could stop blowing leads and win one in regulation.

Ogi

Well Ogi, if Hardman scores on his breakaway (missed on 2), as opposed to being stopped, and the counter rush ended up as a goal as Fleury was trying to imitate Turk Broda, Hawks would of been leading 3-1 and we wouldn't be talking about blowing a lead. That is why I said the Hawks were outgoalied. It doesn't matter how many saves you make, it is when you make them. Our goalies do not come up with the big stops when they need to, to either keep the Hawks close, or to shut down games. And that is why Crow was so underappreciated. Yes he played behind a great top 4 defenseman, but he came up big when it counted.

Today @ 9:05 AM ET
An OT win, and a gimmick win…better than losing I guess, but it’d still be nice if they could stop blowing leads and win one in regulation.

Ogi

Well Ogi, if Hardman scores on his breakaway (missed on 2), as opposed to being stopped, and the counter rush ended up as a goal as Fleury was trying to imitate Turk Broda, Hawks would of been leading 3-1 and we wouldn't be talking about blowing a lead. That is why I said the Hawks were outgoalied. It doesn't matter how many saves you make, it is when you make them. Our goalies do not come up with the big stops when they need to, to either keep the Hawks close, or to shut down games. And that is why Crow was so underappreciated. Yes he played behind a great top 4 defenseman, but he came up big when it counted.
- LAHawk

Or if Dinky doesn’t draw iron with a wide open cage on the first PP….

An OT win, and a gimmick win…better than losing I guess, but it’d still be nice if they could stop blowing leads and win one in regulation.
- Ogilthorpe2

we have issues scoring goals all year and Carpenter is on the power play? wtf

Today @ 9:05 AM ET
An OT win, and a gimmick win…better than losing I guess, but it’d still be nice if they could stop blowing leads and win one in regulation.

Ogi

Well Ogi, if Hardman scores on his breakaway (missed on 2), as opposed to being stopped, and the counter rush ended up as a goal as Fleury was trying to imitate Turk Broda, Hawks would of been leading 3-1 and we wouldn't be talking about blowing a lead. That is why I said the Hawks were outgoalied. It doesn't matter how many saves you make, it is when you make them. Our goalies do not come up with the big stops when they need to, to either keep the Hawks close, or to shut down games. And that is why Crow was so underappreciated. Yes he played behind a great top 4 defenseman, but he came up big when it counted.
- LAHawk

Pittsburgh had almost 80 shots, 40 plus of which were on goal. Gave up way more high danger scoring chances. They played their typical sieve like defense and won BECAUSE of their goalie.

we have issues scoring goals all year and Carpenter is on the power play? wtf
- SaskHawkFan

The PP is not the problem, its 5 x 5 scoring that is the problem

Good goaltending makes the whole team look better. I hope Fleury and Lankinen can string together a few good starts in a row.

If Fleury and Lankinen had played well from the start the Hawks might have a few more points. But then maybe Colliton would not have been fired. So……
- Ztra

Funny how good goal tending equals defenders on the right side of the puck. Both goals against both defenders were on the wrong side.

The PP is not the problem, its 5 x 5 scoring that is the problem
- LAHawk

I think it's more like the 5 on 5 defense was brutal, so the 5 on 5 offense couldn't get anything going, 2 games in the 5 on 5 defense already looks better and 5 on 5 offensive chances look so so so much better now.

Funny how good goal tending equals defenders on the right side of the puck. Both goals against both defenders were on the wrong side.
- BetweenTheDots

Did you see the 5-on-5 scoring chance numbers yesterday. Fourteen high danger chances against. They did not play good defense last night.

I have to say maybe it comes a little later for some, but there was a moment where the puck was sitting there 10 to 15 feet inside the offensive zone of Pitt and i saw Murphy take a step toward the puck then decide no i should play defense first, i was genuinely impressed

Another thing i see him doing is when he's in the neutral zone he will skate towards his own goal then turn around to defend,

So maybe he needed 400 games under his belt to figure these things out, but I'm glad he is. Sorry 500 games

I think it's more like the 5 on 5 defense was brutal, so the 5 on 5 offense couldn't get anything going, 2 games in the 5 on 5 defense already looks better and 5 on 5 offensive chances look so so so much better now.
- BetweenTheDots

This encapsulates what you don't understand about hockey. The defense and offense are the same five players. There is no 5-on-5 offense and 5-on-5 defense; there's just 5-on-5, with the same five players responsible for both.

Today @ 9:05 AM ET
An OT win, and a gimmick win…better than losing I guess, but it’d still be nice if they could stop blowing leads and win one in regulation.

Ogi

Well Ogi, if Hardman scores on his breakaway (missed on 2), as opposed to being stopped, and the counter rush ended up as a goal as Fleury was trying to imitate Turk Broda, Hawks would of been leading 3-1 and we wouldn't be talking about blowing a lead. That is why I said the Hawks were outgoalied. It doesn't matter how many saves you make, it is when you make them. Our goalies do not come up with the big stops when they need to, to either keep the Hawks close, or to shut down games. And that is why Crow was so underappreciated. Yes he played behind a great top 4 defenseman, but he came up big when it counted.
- LAHawk

Good point LA. I believe the difference between winning and losing is usually a couple of key plays. In the first part of this season the Hawks were not even close. Now at least we can identify key plays and turning points. So progress. But a long long long way to go. If Borgstrum, C Jones. Tyler Johnson, Hagel and Entwistle get back it should be looking a little better.

Pittsburgh had almost 80 shots, 40 plus of which were on goal. Gave up way more high danger scoring chances. They played their typical sieve like defense and won BECAUSE of their goalie.
- mohel

Which is one thing we did not do at the start of the year.

I think it's more like the 5 on 5 defense was brutal, so the 5 on 5 offense couldn't get anything going, 2 games in the 5 on 5 defense already looks better and 5 on 5 offensive chances look so so so much better now.
- BetweenTheDots

How could there even be 5 on 5 defense? You told me forwards aren’t important to the defensive system?

Which is one thing we did not do at the start of the year.
- -Doh-

Yep. You pointed that out a few days ago, and you were right. Yesterday was no different than most the rest of the season; the goalie needs to save 95% of the shots to even keep them in the game. Pittsburgh had almost double the shot attempts and 5-on-5 scoring chances, and more than double high danger scoring chances.

The Hawks don't go grab possession of the puck, and they don't keep possession when they do get it.

Yep. You pointed that out a few days ago, and you were right. Yesterday was no different than most the rest of the season; the goalie needs to save 95% of the shots to even keep them in the game. Pittsburgh had almost double the shot attempts and 5-on-5 scoring chances, and more than double high danger scoring chances.

The Hawks don't go grab possession of the puck, and they don't keep possession when they do get it.
- mohel

To my severely untrained (and bloodshot) eye, it appears that there is very little instinct as to where to go with the puck. A lot of the time, the defensemen look completely confused as to where to go with the puck if they have possession exiting the D-zone (I'm sure there are multiple reasons for this).

When watching the forwards, even with odds, there is way too much thinking about whether to pass the puck or take the shot. Dach was the most glaring example of this, but everyone does it. Toews slowed down and deferred in front of the net, and Kane was uncovered in the slot and tried to pass off to ADB which got snuffed out.

Maybe it's a trust or confidence thing, but they need to be much more assertive in the O-zone.

Pittsburgh had almost 80 shots, 40 plus of which were on goal. Gave up way more high danger scoring chances. They played their typical sieve like defense and won BECAUSE of their goalie.
- mohel

Which is nice, but not a recipe for long term success. The game against NSH was good D. This one was not.

OK, we won a game yesterday. If we win today, it's called "two in a row". And if we win again tomorrow, it's called a "winning streak"... It has happened before!