Hawks lose de Haan, then lose hard
LAS VEGAS — Down to just three true NHL defensemen, the Blackhawks survived for almost half a game Tuesday.
Then their decimated roster could hold up no more.
The Golden Knights broke a scoreless tie seven minutes into the second period, scored two more goals before the intermission and added two more in the third period en route to a 5-1 victory against the Hawks, who have now lost eight of their last 11.
Connor Murphy, Brent Seabrook and Erik Gustafsson became virtually the entire Hawks defense after Calvin de Haan left late in the first period with an injured right shoulder. The other two defensemen on the roster, Adam Boqvist and Dennis Gilbert, are both NHL rookies who were in the AHL until last week.
That led to some absurd ice time totals and situational uses. Boqvist and Gustafsson played significant time on the penalty kill when Gilbert was in the box, a situation that eventually resulted in the Knights’ first goal. Gustafsson played 25:44 and Murphy 22:38, and even Boqvist, who missed a few shifts early on with a bloody nose, topped 17 minutes.
De Haan was heading back to Chicago for evaluation.
“It’s not good,” Hawks coach
Jeremy Colliton said.
De Haan’s shoulders have long been an injury concern, so the Hawks could be in deep trouble. The veteran spent the entire offseason rehabbing his right shoulder after end-of-year surgery last spring.
If he’s out long-term, he’ll join Duncan Keith and Olli Maatta on the injured list, meaning three of the Hawks’ top four defensemen at the start of the season would be out of service. De Haan had been a workhorse in recent games, and his absence was instantly noticeable.
“It’s just the next man in has got to step up,” Murphy said. “As a team, you’re going to have a lot of ups and downs throughout the year, and stuff like that is going to happen . . . . You feel for a guy who battles so hard and does so much to help our team.”
Boqvist and Gilbert seem slated for extended NHL stints in these dire circumstances, and European import Philip Holm — who impressed in the preseason and has been productive in the AHL — could be the next man up. Minorleague veteran Ian McCoshen, who was recalled for the game in Colorado two weeks but did not play, is another option.
The Hawks have only one
regulation win since Nov. 17 and have now lost by four or more goals in three of their last six games.
Illness still affecting Maatta
Maatta has practiced and skated every day lately but still missed his fourth straight game as he battles a mysterious and debilitating illness.
“You’re trying to get better day by day, and every day you want to play, and obviously it’s not easy when you can’t do that,” he said. “It’s mentally pretty drowning, too.”
Maatta and Colliton were both atypically vague about the illness. They’ve used the term “flu-like symptoms,” but that’s used pretty universally in hockey for all illnesses.
“It took a lot out of him, so we got him out on the ice now, and we just want him feeling confident that he’s ready to play,” Colliton said.