IRREGULAR SEASON
PENALTYKILL IS JUST TIP OF THE ICEBERG DURING SLOW START
The Blackhawks have been the NHL’s standardbearer for years now — the benchmark, the model for other teams to emulate. They used their speed to skate circles around opponents, their skill to generate scoring chance after scoring chance, their depth to wear down foes, their savvy and strength to own the puck. They cycled in the offensive zone with such ease that they looked like they were toying with their opponents — the Harlem Globetrotters against the Washington Generals on ice.
But seven middling games into the season, the Hawks bear little resemblance to the powerhouses of the last four years. They’re losing faceoffs. They’re chasing pucks. They’re scrambling just to enter the offensive zone. And they’re trailing early and often.
“Our identity in the past was being fast and having the puck,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “Now we don’t have quite the four- line rotation, or the puck enough, to get that precision we look for, that identity we’re accustomed to having. We’re not playing as fast because we’re defending a lot more than we’re used to.”
Indeed, Hawks games so far have followed a familiar and frustrating script: A slow start marked by sluggish legs and sloppy passing. A poor penalty kill ( or two, or three). Then a mid- game wake- up call, often because they’re desperately and frantically chasing the lead.
The problems on the penalty kill are the most glaring at the moment. The Hawks have given up a whopping 14 power- play goals, matching the highest total through seven games in the last 23 seasons.
But the general malaise goes beyond just the PK. In six of their seven games, the Hawks have been outshot in the first period — often by a wide margin. The Nashville Predators blitzed them 11- 5 and 16- 8 in the first periods of a home- and- home set. The Columbus Blue Jackets outshot them 17- 10, and the Calgary Flames 14- 8. In fact, the Hawks have given up at least 10 shots on goal in a period 11 times through 21 periods, an alarming number for a team that built its Stanley Cup runs not on brilliant offense but on shot suppression.
Is there a reason for the slow starts?
“No good one, that’s for sure,” center Jonathan Toews said. “We’ve got to get that out of our game.”
Winger Patrick Kane noted the Hawks have played three games in four nights in consecutive weeks. And with six rookies on the roster, it’s more important for the older players to bring it, he said.
It would be easy to chalk up the mediocre start to growing pains, to all the rookies getting acclimated. But, as Quenneville said, everyone is accountable. Toews has no goals and two assists in seven games. Defenseman Duncan Keith has been on the ice for nine of the 14 power- play goals against the Hawks and was in the box for another. Center Artem Anisimov has been terrific with a team- high nine points but is a dreadful 35 percent in the faceoff circle, including a 4- for- 19 effort Monday. And just like last season, the Hawks are top- heavy, with most of their offense coming from Kane’s line, with the exception of Richard Panik on the top line.
Of course, some perspective is required here. Thanks mostly to Corey Crawford, who has allowed just three even- strength goals all season, the Hawks are 3- 3- 1 — hardly a disaster. But beyond the scoreboard, there are troubling signs, as the Hawks find themselves doing what so many other teams have done in recent years — trying to figure out how to play like the Chicago Blackhawks play.
“Everyone talks about growing pains or the young guys settling in, all that,” Toews said. “It’s across the board. There’s no separation in our team. There’s no veterans and young guys. I think everyone has to be better.”