BEATEN EARLY & OFTEN

Bad starts in every period doom Hawks, exasperate Colliton

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Coming off a blowout loss to the Golden Knights, Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton was looking forward to learning a little bit more about his team Thursday night against the Jets.

“You’re always looking for a response,” he said.

But after a 6-5 loss at Bell MTS Place, an irked Colliton clearly didn’t like what he saw. The Hawks allowed two goals in the first 3:52 of the game, two goals in the first 1:46 of the second period and a power-play goal in the first 1:18 of the third.

“We need to get out of our own way,” Colliton said. “When we get out of our own way, we’ll be all right. Until then, we’re going to struggle.”

The Hawks (9-12-5) dropped to 3-6-2 since Colliton replaced Joel Quenneville as coach. And even though it’s only 11 games, Colliton’s patience is wearing thin, and his frustration was evident as his team continued to fall behind early and struggle defensively. The Hawks have allowed 26 goals in their last five games.

“Well, we scored five on the road against one of the best teams out there,” Colliton said when asked about his frustration. “We need to win that.”

The poor starts continue to mystify the Hawks.

“Can’t explain it,” defenseman Duncan Keith said. “Teams come out ready. We just have to be better. There’s nothing more to be said than that. Be better.”

Colliton already is miffed at his team’s inconsistency.

“I thought the defensive-zone coverage was much better,” he said. “And then we had trouble off the

JOHN WOODS/AP Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who had a hat trick, beats Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford in the first period Thursday night at Bell MTS Place.