Bolts Blow Away Blackhawks Behind Third Period Outburst
After a less than ideal loss in Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon, the Blackhawks returned to the United Center on Sunday evening for an early puck drop against the defending champs (twice) from Tampa.
Before the game, Tyler Johnson got his ring from the Bolts. Which is nice. He played well for them for years. They just didn’t have a spot for him up front any longer, so they traded their 13th forward to Chicago (sound familiar?).
We’ve seen it more times than we would like over the past few years: a really good period that doesn’t result in as many goals as it could/should have for the Blackhawks. The first period on Sunday night was a good one for Chicago. They generated good chances, kept the puck away from the net and were able to get on the board first.
Dylan Strome was on the receiving end of another pretty pass from Patrick Kane to give Chicago a one-goal lead in the first period.
Kirby Dach had two great chances in the first. One hit the shaft of Andrei Vasilevskiy’s stick, the other Dach was the victim of a nice poke check from Tampa’s netminder. Alex DeBrincat had a great look as well but couldn’t convert.
So even though the Hawks had the majority of the good chances in the period, both sides put eight shots on net and the Blackhawks took just a one-goal lead to the room after 20 minutes.
Tampa came out with better energy in the second period but the Hawks were able to withstand a few rushes relatively well. Taylor Raddysh tied the game 69 seconds into the second period but the Hawks didn’t go away.
Kane had time and space and made Tampa pay six minutes into the second period, sniping home the Blackhawks’ second goal of the night.
After Kane’s goal… the two-time defending champions showed that they’re one of the best teams in the league and the Blackhawks are far from a playoff team.
Victor Hedman scored at 15:17 into the second period to tie the game at two. Cal Foote then gave Tampa the lead at 16:48 into the second — a lead they wouldn’t worry about surrendering the rest of the way.
Two goals in 91 seconds in the second period felt bad. But the Blackhawks were still within one goal heading to the third.
Any chance the Blackhawks had of coming back evaporated quickly when the Lightning ran away with the game early in the final period. Tampa scored three times in 32 seconds inside the first 2:30 of the third to blow the game wide open. Hedman scored first, followed by Corey Perry and Mikhail Sergachev. And some of the critical saves Vasilevskiy made in the first period suddenly didn’t feel like they matters quite as much as the Hawks were suddenly chasing four.
To their credit, the Blackhawks didn’t just limp out the final 17 minutes of regulation. DeBrincat cut the lead to three with 13 minutes left in regulation; Strome picked up an assist on the Cat’s 32nd of the year.
Three minutes after the DeBrincat goal, he found Kane across the crease with a wide open cage. Great pass, good shot, RIDICULOUS save by Vasilevskiy to keep the lead at three. One of the better saves you’ll see all season and Kane could do nothing but look up for a replay to see how he was robbed.
Andrei Vasilevskiy: ?
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) March 7, 2022
Patrick Kane: "Oh my god" pic.twitter.com/SbcETCGGHu
Chicago got a power play with seven minutes left in regulation but Vasilevskiy kept making big saves. Chicago failed to score on the power play due to Tampa’s goaltender reminding everyone that he’s one of the best on the planet and the clock kept ticking in the wrong direction with the Blackhawks down three.
If the game wasn’t officially over yet, the Blackhawks going short-handed with 2:11 was the final nail in the coffin. And neither side did anything over the final 131 seconds to close out the game.
This game was expected so no biggie. Showed that they kept playing which was good. Someone said it best it was like when the Hawks could just turn the switch on and take over the game. Vasilevskiy was great.
Let’s target bigger guys. Copp and Sanford are FAs. If DeBrusk can be had for Kubalik and Roslovic for Kurashev would be a good start. I know we have to give up more. Give up picks we get but not our own. Or Edmonton’s pick we have.
Another team that of course the Hawks have no business being on the ice with. Nothing has changed from last year. It’s still men against youthful AHL ers . Dach,Hagel,and Entwistle were a combined MINUS 12 with an entire 2 shots on goal and a big 2 Hits,Pathetic. Toews and Kubalik 0,s across the board and impotent. These games against anyone of quality are truly embarrassing. Interim King looked bewildered and shell shocked as the Bolts were stepping on his teams throat. Kudos to Kane,Strome, and Debrincat for at least fighting back. Didn’t mind Seth Jones either.
J.R. Roslovic Sanford,Copp and Debrusk would be a nice start.
I’m not going to say the Blackhawks should have won. No. My question goes back to HC King. Look at the TOI distribution. Patrick Kane led ALL Blackhawks with 24:03. Even S. Jones, who led all defensemen, had 23:55. That just shouldn’t be. King basically shortened the bench to one line. ONE LINE!!! So, let’s talk about what I did like. I liked that Dach is shooting more. His transition to the RW should be a smooth one. He’s not an NHL Centerman. He just isn’t. Strome is being an offensive force. But, his FO% is going back down. Kane and DeBrincat had a good game…all things considered. The goal posts and Vasilevsky made some ridiculous saves.
Defensively? Not one of the Blackhawks defensemen would be a starter with Tampa Bay. John Wiedeman and Troy Murray were discussing that Cal Foote, the Bolts young defenseman, is rumored to be tradeable. Hey Davidson!!! Get Cal Foote. He’s better than your entire defensive corp. He can play the top line with S. Jones, Mr. Blue Chip, and Murphy can drop to the 2nd. It’s not gonna happen, but I can dream. Of course, Davidson will have to ask the Wirtz Bros. if he can make a trade. This is where the organ-I-zation is at.
I didn’t expect to beat Tampa Bay, but I sure as hell didn’t expect 3 goals in 32 seconds. Ah well. NEXT!!!
Jake Mcabe ?
A good effort just outclassed we are starting to play hard which makes things acceptable to bad it took this long let’s hope this is the start of change of culture no more loafing and dogging it!
Everything changed as soon as DeBrincat took the penalty. You knew it would. What in the world was he arguing about? Some penalties are marginal and on others that aren’t you “marginal”ize yourself arguing about them.
As always, things have to go perfectly for the Hawks to compete against an outstanding team. They didn’t go perfectly with Dach getting the shaft of the stick and Cat missing a wide open cage by hitting the post. This team can’t come back from things like that. If they don’t cash in on almost everything, they are done.
Strome is playing better, but his point production is up because he’s playing with Kane. What to do with Strome is a huge question. I got a kick out of Foley saying something along the lines of “Strome produces when given a chance.” LOL. Strome played himself out of the lineup. That’s where his chance went. When deciding what to do with him, you have to look at how many players can really change “who they are.” If you have a player who does not always show up, can he transform himself permanently to one who does? That’s what the Hawks will have to decide when making a decision on Strome. He’s making the decision hard for them. He is even winning some puck battles that he used to always lose. The face-offs were getting good, but have relapsed. Glad I don’t have to make this decision but can bitch about it if it goes badly.
Everything that Tampa does looks effortless. Those are big, skilled players. Davidson’s job looks brutally difficult right now. This team is a long, long way off.
Wasn’t a terrible loss, agree with the good effort, didn’t quit statements. When Bolts let up and played poorly, the Blackhawks didn’t make them pay and Vasilevsky played an enbelievable game. When the Blackhawks let up and played poorly, Tampa made them pay and MAF couldn’t bail them out. Just don’t have the guns Tampa does right now. Funny the Dach line shut down the best player in the game a couple of days ago with a solid effort. Tonight, a tough night for them. Stillmans errand pass that McCabe couldn’t find anything but air in 2 or 3 swats at it and Foote’s swat out of the air that found the back of the net just the way the bounces were going all night for them.
Did I see this correctly, 3 goals in 32 seconds and King didn’t call a timeout? Colliton at his finest
Tim how would this look:
DCat Strome Kane
DeBrusk Copp Roslovic
Dach Toews Hagel
Entwistle Borgstrom Sanford
Would like to put a big on the first line but they are scoring now.
JR. Put about 15 pounds on Reichel and put him out there with Tom Wilson and Clutterbuck. Fiala from the Wild could be interesting also. I like the rest of what you got there.Wish we could put Lafferty,s speed into Strome. l
Fleury looked bad on a couple of those guys. You tip your hat to his great play this year. But you also have to mention it when he lets in a couple that he definitely should have stopped.
Strome coming on and playing better. His trade stock is rising if a team wants a guy they can slot into a talented line and expect not much defense from. If Davidson is really going the rebuild route, then you have to figure Strome might not be long for the Chicago sweater.
So ironic (and stupid) to hear the drunks yelling “Detroit Sucks”. Detroit is also in the hunt for a playoff spot, after turning things around from last year and being a 0.500 hockey club or better.
If the Blackhawks played every game like they played tonight (sans the three goals caused by McCabe’s bad turnover and a couple of bad goals by Fleury) they would be in the playoff hunt as well. But they are not. And won’t be. Because they are not consistent.
I see people talking about specific trades the Blackhawks should make to acquire talent. If Davidson is truly rebuilding …. and his words were that he wasn’t going to give a timeline of 3 years, or 5 years, to be a playoff team, then isn’t going after FA’s kind of out of the question here? Isn’t it a more drastic version of last season’s “we’re going to play the young guys”? Of course they didn’t like some of the young guys and decided they weren’t up to snuff (Pious Suter, like him or not) and let them go.
If Davidson is truly rebuilding Kane is not long for Chicago, nor are talented guys to come in via acquisition or free agent signing. Who is gonna want to come to a place that’s being blown up?
That’s an interesting question for both the on ice and off ice strategy. Are they gonna be able to sell tickets to a rebuilding club with a record worse than what we’ve seen this year, for the next couple? Grumpy old Rocky is gonna want his money. He’s gonna want seats filled. But that’s going to be hard to do with declining season ticket sales and a poor performing team. It is a real dilemma.
p.s. Corey Perry is still, and always will be, a douche.
Please forgive all of the grammatical errors and wrong words in my above post. I typed that like some kind of lesser ape. Sorry.
They a 2 or 3 goal first to have a chance and Bas was amazing – Kirby got totally schooled by Vas with the pole check
Good teams know they just have to wait for the Hawks to break down – they almost always do – just too many players who make too many mistakes – eventually a good team capitalizes
I’m beginning to think Strome stays and one of Dach or Reichel next year plays wing – probably Reichel
Another good from Seth – he constantly cleans up the D zone when others can’t plus he contributes offensively – I shudder thinking of the Hawks D without him
I’m starting the MAF to TOR rumours – they need a goalie
I have watched several Winnipeg Jets games in the last couple of years…Copp is no good.
Do you guys really think that Roslovic is better than Dylan Strome….I dont.
Strome didn’t play himself out of the lineup bad coaching decided to healthy scratch Strome.
Sad to say this…Strome is one of Chicago’s best forwards.
Let’s pick up Sanford???…. Do the Hawks not already have about ten fourth line forwards?
Fiala is a good hockey player.
Trade Kane to the Rangers and take some of the Rangers top prospects in return.
See who is interested in Toews and trade him before he has absolutely no trade value.
Moritz Seider at twenty years old is every bit as good as $$$$ Jones.
The $$$$ Jones pickup was a total blunder by Stan Blowman and the Jones contract term and doller amount will turn into Brent Seabrooks terrible last contract going forward.
The three top ten picks that Blowman traded away in the $$$$ Jones trade will push any kind of a rebuild back at least five years.
Hawks beat Tampa for the Cup in 2015. Since then Tampa has won 2 Cups and the Hawks have slipped into the abyss. And we didn’t need one of their front office people to rebuild our team as a GM? Right!
@Regula…that is our version of Cal Foote! Why wasn’t Regula in the lineup? He should not be in Rockford any longer. I just cannot watch Murphy, McCabe, and DeHaan any longer. Those three just suck! Seth is overpaid, but he is our best defensemen at the moment, Caleb and Stillman are getting better every game. But, let’s keep Mitchell and Regula in the lineup.
@Toews…does the captain not see that he is finished? Zero’s across the board! Where is the pride? Just retire already!
@Kane and @MAF…agree to a trade to a contender and let the org. recoup some talent and picks. They have been paid handsomely, and deservedly so, but it’s time for both parties to move on!
@Kubalik and @Kurashev…it’s just not working here! Perhaps, they can rediscover their game elsewhere, but they are done in Chicago…just get picks.
@Strome…now that his trade value is high, we must trade him!
@Dach…RW on the 3rd line!
Now, that is what I call a rebuild!
T.I.
Not much to add here but if they do happen to trade Fleury, it will get worse in a hurry. Got to second on why King didn’t call a timeout during the avalanche of goals unless he was stunned too. 14 days until the TDL. Has anybody heard exactly what type of team KD wants to have in Chicago?? Haven’t heard that question posted to him unless I’ve missed it and I have to admit lately I haven’t been paying much attention to the Hawks, out of sight out of mind syndrome. I was looking forward to summer actually until I looked out the window this morning and seen all this snow.
Right there with you Tommy Ivan they just can’t face it blow it up glory days are past tense every thing you said is true when you run a team you can’t be buddy’s with the players that was Stan’s mistake sometimes you have to make unpopular choices don’t go with tunnel vision expand you horizons this team also is undersized just look at the other teams players then ours midgets against men
Can we all agree dach should not be at centre, lost defensive zone faceoffs regularity again and at least one goal resulted, this is a constant theme, toews is winning them but we insist on dach being outmatched in the dot, for as nice as king is during interviews this cannot be his team for 2022/23
Alot of decisions for off season on what to do with some veteran contracts. If going rebuild route, agree the proper way is to move on from 19 and 88 as tough a move as it might be and use them to get it forward prospects/ picks. Re-sign Strome to play with Cat and maybe Hagel for now if he survives the tdl, for one good veteran line. Give Dach and Reichel proper time to see what they have in them, playing with some acquired prospects next couple of years, plus drafting and developing at same time. T. Johnson, Kubalik, McCabe are some that could be gone next season.
Defense has some good prospects developing, like some that are not in Rfd. yet for the mobility, size/grit, IQ and puck handling skills they possess and what their ceiling becomes as well. Need to keep drafting and adding high end prospects when they can too. Even going into rebuild, saying MAF may return, kind of surprising if true and playoffs not the focus. May say they have lost confidence in Lankinen as a starter and want Soderblom to develop more in Rfd. as he is waivers exempt for another year. Commesso may very well be the end game but he is likely 3 yrs away at least. We can speculate all we want i guess, some real vision from Gm on what he is thinking would be good to hear.
Chichi, actually if Dach being bad right now, is what it takes for him learning the art to be good on fos in a couple of years, I don’t have a problem with it at all.
I see the comments about blowing it up and getting rid of everyone, but you have to keep good players (or else you are Arizona). Keep Kane, DCat, Hagel and Toews if he wants to keep playing in a reduced role on a reduced contract. Strome – I guess? But, get rid of all the veteran “tweeners” and replace them with the kids. Last season was more fun to watch because of that.
Wake me up if we trade someone of value or someone with an inflated contract -and no value…
Capt. seriously
Or when the season is over and draft/ trades are starting.
I recall Foley and Caley talking about how great Tampa has done at picking players and I thought about the interview with their assistant GM and thought we could have had that guy and were they thinking the same thing
Clueless player: I’m sure we all were thinking the same thing. We could have had that guy. But you’d have to pay him a little more than they paid the guy they got now
Ian: This team isn’t going anywhere in 3 years so I’d pray Commesso would be ready by then and use Lank as the bridge. By then hopefully we’d have a real Top 6 and the D-men are ready. With some size and toughness preferably.
Hammer – You asked the question that has not been answered – “What type of team does KD want? What style of play does he believe in? The beat reporters have called him “bold” yet I have no idea what that is based on. Hope he is awesome but I don’t know any more about his philosophy than I did prior to the change.
Ian: I’ve heard “bold” and “smart”. But nobody knows what he’s looking for. I was hoping that Gabriel would have been some sort of sign that he wanted some toughness in the lineup, but I guess that maybe fizzled out. Hopefully we’ll have an idea soon. I think thou as long as people keep throwing their $$ at this team that things will remain the same.
Hammer 3 years just gets you some talent throughout the lineup. Thats where i’d like to see these off ice moves become more meaningful. Leaving Reichel in Rfd. for a few months doesn’t all of sudden mean they are a development machine like Red Wings. Also like the Wings, down near the bottom for a few years trying for the lotto pick that never happened. They still had the scouting dept. that still found a future no. 1 dman in the previous mentioned Seider and a couple of pretty good forwards who likely are part of a future top 6 for them. They need to be ready for that part of a rebuild too. Also is KD the guy who can convince the owners to spend money when time is right, to keep the new core together and recognize, then be able to acquire the needed parts like Hossa, Sharp and Campbell to put them over the top in the next 3 years or so after that. We will find out then does this just promote from within and cost cut derail the whole process.
@Ian…..first off why assume that KD will do the “rebuild” correctly?
Also if they soured on Lanks, is it another case of a guy not getting a shot
who may or may not continue to develop. I see that Borgstrom is also on the
trading block, another guy that was never given a fair shot who looks like he’s
got something to give but was never given a proper shot
I don’t believe the Hawks have a clue as to how to evaluate talent at this
point in time nor do they know what they want in a player.
dollar bill you hit the nail on the head there clueless kyle got the job because of aldrich and he was the cheapest option and can be controlled by wirtz so in my opinion they really do not care Davidsons job is to get rid of staff and bring in cheaper options why there keeping fluery is a mystery guess they have had such bad pr oh well have not gone to a hawk game in years and do not plan to All rocky had to do was give stan a budget and have the final say on free agent signings tells me rocky does not know that end of the business now hes going to pay the piper some one must have talked to the announcers as well cohens keeping his mouth shut putting his spin on every play Caley going to pass up that dude case closed
@Neil….Colby likes to hear himself and Danny Woke sadly gave him that megaphone
Unfortunately the tax breaks the Wirtz’s get the Hawks will keep them from ever selling.
Here is a very interesting stat for all those who swear by analytics including KD should he
read this wonderful site.
Patrick Kane is +43 for his 1082 game career
Devon Toews is +45 this year alone
Dollar bill good observation Larry Robinson was a plus 900 Orr was 792 it going to be a long road back wish Davidson the best think he’s in over his head sure hope I’m wrong and willing to give him some time hope he proves me wrong!!!
Totally agree that any ice time given to DeHaan,McCabe,and Murphy are wastes of valuable developmental time for Mitchell,Regula,Kalynuk,Phillips,etc. They should all be in the lineup as soon as feasibly possible. Stop screwing with Slavin,Hardman,and anyone else in Rockford with a heartbeat and let us see no more of Connelly,Kubalik,Borgstrom,and unfortunately Lafferty. I love his skating and speed but he has to have the worst hands and hockey sense that I have ever seen. DeHaan,Kubalik,and Carpenter should be moved at the dead line.
The hire from within to save money should work for a few more years. Have Crawford be coach for 2 or 3 years. If Cooper doesn’t re up with TB offer him the gig then. If Crawford works out you keep him there. At least you have an NHL head coach.
@ dollar bill
i have known of kane’s pathetic +/- stat for several years. my season tickets for 30+ years covered the first ten years of his career. you really don’t have an understanding of how truly awful his defensive effort is watching on tv. in person it slaps you in the face. find it stunning that kane has played with three sure fire hall of famers in keith, hossa, and toews not to mention many other guys who played a fierce 200 foot game and yet he was allowed to play his lazy, no effort defensive game his whole career. i just don’t get how he faces his teammates after giving up yet another back door goal by a player he should be defending.
I like Jack Roslovic. Always have. Wished we could have got him before Columbus. The rumours about Winnipeg moving him were out there I think before that trade. I think he`s originally from the Chicago area as well but could be wrong here.
Jim Ross, Columbus area is where Roslovics hometown is. Yes he was an rfa holdout and rumours of the Jets wanting to move were going around. Agree he could’ve been a very good acquisition at the time, not really something long term to help a rebuild right now though.
@HAWKS29…..I’ve often thought that keeping Kane instead of Buff/Ladd was a big mistake, though it’s hard to argue if the Hawks would’ve won the 3 Cups had this happened. You can see his half ass approach to playing D while watching on TV and it even becomes more apparent once the game is out of hand.
Why did he get 23 minutes of ice time against Tampa when the game was lost early in the 3rd.
At Tim W. ….Ye, KD needs to get rid of some dead weight and start bringing up the kiddies. Show the fans what kind of identity you want your team to have
Thanks Ian. Looking forward to the trade deadline this year. Hopefully we can get a few picks back to help us going forward.
@TimW – I could not agree more – “…unfortunately Lafferty. I love his skating and speed but he has to have the worst hands and hockey sense that I have ever seen….”. Just terrible hockey acumen! The only thing he has going for him is that he is not a “Nylander”!
The three veteran defensemen have worn out their usefulness. It is time for Mitchell, Regula, and Phillips to move into full-time roles with Kalynuk and Galvas as their under-studies.
I could never understand why Stan gave McCabe that deal in the off-season, especially since he was coming off a major injury. A sane GM would have given McCabe a 1 year prove it deal. I’m just wondering if every average player in the NHL have pictures of Stan?
Stan has F’kd this team with his moves in the past off-season for years to come. He’s a true “Nylander”!
Spilled milk. Objective is to find the quicker picker upper.
Davidson is not going to build a future team by taking on FA’s. He will start building up draft capital and build the team through younger players. Look around the league and you see young players on other teams lighting up the score sheet. The problem with the hawks is they do not have an elite player waiting to come up (Reichel is still unproven and needs to mature). The jury is still out on Dach due to the injuries he has suffered but at the moment, he does not look like some of the elite players taken in the same draft. Trading for Jones was asinine when you look at this roster. Bowman was trying to save his skin by trading for him and left Davidson in a pretty big hole by not having a first round pick next year. Hopefully davidson can hit on a DeBrincat type draft choice in later rounds. This team will look like the teams of the mid-2000’s until they can start loading up with young talent. Just my two cents.
If we still have Gabriel on April 25th can we suit him up?
Asking for a feline friend.
@JR – What you meant to say was – “…way too many Nylander’s on the ice!”.
to Dave’s point: everything Bowman did last summer was asinine. The Jones deal actually made the most sense; getting a No. 1 defenseman and signing him long-term gives you at least one piece to build around. And, as I’ve said a million times, I wasn’t on the Boqvist Bandwagon so moving him was far from a deal breaker for me.
But the rest of the payroll around him that was added last summer was a clear attempt to make a run that backfired miserably.
The good news is Davidson has some pieces that will at least intrigue teams between now and the deadline. The rock & a hard place is actually making deals that will help the on-ice product in the coming years. And I’m not talking about a quick remix that makes them a playoff team in 22-23. The Blackhawks need forward depth in the organization and they need draft capital. Having three picks in the third round gives Davidson some ammo to try to maneuver in this year’s draft or add for the following season when the Hawks have their first and two in the second round in what is supposed to be a better draft class.
Now we wait for Davidson to start making moves. We’ll get a good idea of what he’s about between now and the deadline passing.
Playoff teams need the veteran DMen. If we can flip the M&M boys out for picks while retaining half is good by me. deHaan’s $$ pays $ Jones. Get picks and or under 25yrs old prospects for McCabe. Mitchell takes his place at 925K you get 1.075m cap room. Same for Murphy and Galvas takes his spot with 1.275m cap room.
We take our lumps while our young DMen get much needed NHL experience. With our record and ’23 picks in return we replenish and set a foundation of the rebuild.
Roman good plan all in here
Tommy,JR,and all, Not only Roslovic but we could have had Bennett also . I knew all along he only needed regular ice time to show what he is. This is a gathering place for soft players the last 6 years or so. Lets see if that trends in another direction with different people in the talent evaluation department. I am sure everyone has seen the Fleury and Hagel to Toronto for 2 draft picks and 2 high up prospects with the Hawks eating half of the Fleury salary. I would tell them to get a 3rd team involved to absorb the salary.
Nice posts Roman and Tim .W , bring on the young D and ..hell ya we are a soft team to play against .
Lets talk the Goalie position for a blip please , perhaps M.A.F should be given a deal to keep him for next year , the man is great in the room ,confidence builder for the kids and god knows we don`t have any one in the system close to being our next number 1 let alone number 2 .
It sounds like M.A.F wants to stay in Chicago until the end of the season ,,let`s try to get another year out of him , we need some stability and confidence in goal . The man has that and more !
MAF should go trade him this team is bad blow it up lanks wasn’t given a fair shot and a wasted year for him as well now we don’t know if he can play why are the players hustling fear of getting traded they couldn’t sandbag like here no other teams would put of with playing hard one game then taking off three hawks are a chicken shit organization from top to bottom owners are totally clueless let’s see if Kyle got a set