No Fooling Tampa, Blackhawks Bounced By Bolts
On Thursday night, the Blackhawks celebrated Jonathan Toews’ 1,000th career regular season by watching the Florida Panthers skating around them. It didn’t get easier on Friday across the state in Tampa against the Lightning, who were welcoming Tyler Johnson back for the first time since being traded for Brent Seabrook’s contract.
This was also the reunion game for Brandon Hagel against his former teammates for the first time (and Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh as well).
The start wasn’t ideal for Chicago. Tampa scored the game’s first two goals — both on the power play. Steven Stamkos started the party at 6:11 and Brayden Point added a PPG four minutes later. Note to self: don’t give the two-time defending champions an advantage.
This was not a repeat of Thursday night’s debacle, however. Chicago actually got off the mat and answered the bell. Calvin de Haan cut the lead in half.
Five minutes later, Alex DeBrincat tied the game with his 39th of the season.
After 20 minutes of hockey, the Blackhawks had allowed 19 shots on net while generating only nine. Kevin Lankinen did all he could to keep his team in the game and the offense gave him two goals back to send the game to the second period tied.
In the first period, Jonathan Toews and Dylan Strome won 10 of 15 faceoffs combined. Strome, Seth Jones and Kirby Dach had the three assists on Chicago’s two goals.
The second period was not nearly as kind to the Blackhawks as it was to Ross Colton.
Colton scored his 13th of the season at 6:12 to give Tampa a 3-2 lead. He then added a short-handed goal six minutes later to extend the Lightning lead back to two.
It looked like DeBrincat was going to get the puck for a potential breakaway in the final seconds of the middle stanza but the clock ran out before he could get a shot on net. And the Blackhawks were looking up at a two-goal deficit with 20 minutes left in regulation.
Lankinen had faced 35 shots in 40 minutes while his offense had only put 20 shots on net on the other end of the rink. He was trying… but wasn’t getting much help.
Mr. Hagel added the final goal of the night for Tampa in the third period. The Hawks tried to hang in but couldn’t match Tampa’s depth. Which, sadly, isn’t surprising.
welcome to the 2022-2023 hawks.record 0-82,#1 pick.now all they need are a new owner,gm,coachs,players,etc,etc,their like a ship aflot in the middle of the ocean while everyone has a scarab with 4x450s.go panthers.
Another predictable type of game against a far superior opponent without a ton of push back. Not much in the way of offense by any of our forwards who also did not do a very good job of picking up their defensive assignments. After starting the game with the all former Tampa line of Johnson-Raddysh-Kacheuk, none of them showed very much the rest of the night. By far the worst uninspired game from our 2 new forwards. A note to Crawford/King which ever of you is responsible for D Men,s ice time. Vlasic is not an infant and is able to take a regular shift and compete at the NHL level. Even the young TV crew was agitated as his lack of ice time. When he did hit the ice,he was solid. Playing Seth over 31 minutes in the 2nd of back to backs is irresponsible and stupid. The new GM should expedite his coaching search and even make a move to put Brian Campbell behind the bench the rest of the year. King is now beyond a joke and is doing damage to what will be left here when he is gone in a couple of weeks. YOTES here for a big tilt Sunday!!!
Those goals that Tampa scored looked easy. They are so fast and strong and smooth and it looks effortless. They are an outstanding team. The hook call on DeBrincat was phantom. He was below the hands and it was an effective stick lift. Cohen was correct about that.
If you look at the 4 Tampa goals with a goalie in the net, there is probably not a goalie in the league that could have stopped any of them. Lankinen may or may not be the future but he was good in this one when he had a chance.
My ideal outcome for this game would have been that the Hawks win 4-3 and Hagel would get a hat trick with a goalie in the net for all 3.
We have very smart posters on this site. Someone PLEASE explain to me what is gained by playing Seth Jones 32 minutes.
Vlasic looked pretty good. We can be hopeful. Raddysh must have been a bit nervous. He didn’t seem that composed with the puck.
The Blackhawks as currently configured will beat this Tampa team about 1 out 10 times. Not even that often if Vasilevskiy is in net. It is a terrible mismatch. Management thinking that bringing in a number one defenseman and goalie would make this team competitive is a truly epic misjudgment.
The boys played hard. It’s all you can ask from the players. You could ask for some common sense on the minutes of playing time distribution from the coach.
Did you guys miss Gus? I did because we can’t blame this loss on him.
I hope we don’t have too many back-to-back games next season. As a fan, it really does take more than 24 hours to get beyond each game. On the other hand, maybe playing all the season’s games in 3 months would be less painful.
Could be time to watch the taped version of each game the rest of this year on fast forward so I don’t have to listen to crap while also shortening the experience and subsequent trauma. Colby is giving me nightmares.
silent spot
i watch almost every game being the glutton for punishment that i am. i haven’t watched a game in real time in several years. most games i am able to watch in no more than 90 minutes. thank god for the record and fast forward buttons.
Ya know funny thing is, as good as the lightning are, the individual parts beyond the obvious; Stamkos, Kuch, Point, Vas and Hedman are just OK. They are very well coached and play a tight system. Listen to the amateur announcers discuss Hagel’s play on the Cat goal. He was lost, gee that’s a shock since he came from our nomad system. Prediction, Hagel decreases his shooting percentage but becomes a better all around player cause the Lightning actually have an NHL coach. Raddyish and Kooutchuk, regress under our clown outfit. Book it!
Hawks 29 – that’s the only way to watch these Hawks
TW – 100% agree on Vlasic – play him a regular shift and maybe you’ll get a better effort than you did from Stillman or McCabe
TJ is maybe not back in game shape – I hope so because he looks totally out of his league at the moment
King is beyond gone – I think KD is smart enough to know that
Tampa is so well coached – I hope KD is taking notes and maybe resumes
Lank was good I’m happy to say
It is plain embarrassing watching the Hawks try to get out of their zone against Tampa – collectively they can’t make a good play out of the zone – they end up
dumping it out in desperation and then Tampa comes right back
I enjoyed watching Seth tonight – consistently showing that it is possible to make plays in the D zone if you have puck skills can skate and have a hockey IQ
So that’s one – we need at least two other D with that skill set and then you can fill in with the likes of a Murphy or Caleb
I’m assuming RJ is playing because he’s not considered a likely part of the future otherwise they would have left him in RKF
It seems Slavin is more likely to have the 4C role next year
This team desperately needs Kane and Toews to do the right thing. If they love the Backhawks, they will agree to be traded this offseason, Hawks hold back half their salary and gather prospects and players, young and with upside. After they become free agents they can return to the Hawks to finish their careers at a very reduced (Hawk friendly) CAP hit. Their numbers will be retired and hang from the rafters. Probably statues to join Mikita and Hull.
No surprise Tampa is a better team, better coached etc. Playing last noght against Florida with Bolts off and rested since Tuesday just made it that much harder. As pointed out some D who move the puck up the ice, plus some forward lines that can play with the puck against top teams. Last 2 games should pretty much shows why a 12, 17, 88 isn’t a legitimate line against cup contenders. No 5 on 5 goals and collectively a minus 10.
Agree time to play Vlassic more minutes, can see easing him in a game or 2 but just wasting him at this point. As i said before hopefully KD gets Zettler from Bolts after season to be head coach. When Tampa was going all in for first cup, they went out and brought him back from Sharks to be assistant coach that season. Says alot for him there alone to me.
The totality of last night’s domination combined with Interim Coach King,s realistic comments that his team does not have the players to compete with teams like the Bolts hopefully seal the fate of this entire roster. Stillman, Dehaan, McCabe, are definitely gone. At forward Kubalik,Kurashev,Strome, Dach,Toews,should all be moved. Kane and Debrincat should not be on the same line. They need size and speed to get them the puck and open the ice for each of them. Lankinen has to go. He is constantly off his angles,cannot control the puck as he is a human puck pez dispenser. Yes,I know he has nothing resembling defensive responsibility in front of him but come on Hawks fans,we know he is not an NHL goalie. And finally,absolutely no one from this coaching or scouting staff can be here.
“They need size and speed”. Spot on. The Hawks simply cannot play at Tampa or Florida’s pace. And truly it’s the way league is not only trending but has become.
The Great Stanley Cup Hawks team under Quenneville focused on puck possession and it was a thing of beauty. Sometimes like watching the Harlem Globetrotters.
But this new era is all about speed and pushing the pace. And the Hawks simply do not have horses.
good thing hockey has a neutral zone , from the game i watched we did very little in the other two zones. how is this team able to play with no purpose, or maybe that is the new goal, lose the rest of the way and hope for one of those top two picks on draft day
Yes,last night was hitting the very bottom and may go down as the truly most embarrassing game in recent history. I have never seen those types of possession and chance numbers in a very long time. Craig, right on the money. Size and speed is today’s NHL and this team has close to none of it on their roster or even in their organization. A very down and depressing time to be a Chicago Blackhawks fan.
An order has to be sent down to the bench on ice time. No one should be playing more than 25 minutes a game and no one should be playing less than 10 minutes a game.
Off topic
Just an observation on size or toughness. Last night Ana went into Phx and guess what happened. Let’s remember Deslauriers and Manson no longer in Ana. Zegras got crosschecked (thou deservedly) and Terry got bloodied for standing up.
Jones plays 32, Vlasic gets 7
Cat gets 22, Kane gets 23, Strome gets 21
Jones -4, Cat -3, Kane -2, Strome -2, Vlasic 0
But at least Vlasic played….finally
Hands up of all those that thought at the beginning of the year that this was
a PO team. Hopefully KD is the guy that can turn it around, but he was hired by
the same guy who reupped Stan before the season began and would still be here
if not for Beach. I certainly have my doubts about KD just because King and Crawford
are both still here, that’s inexcusable if you ask me.
ian
i take plenty of shit for criticizing 12-17-88. 88 especially. he obviously has been a great points producer for the hawks and one of the best of all time in the nhl. but seen through the eyes of one whose favorite athlete in life is stever larmer i cannot stand his absolute unwillingness to play defense. as i have said before no one expects him to engage in board battles and dig pucks out of corners. that isn’t the player he is. but very few players in my sixty five years of watching the hawks see the ice as well as he does and understand passing lanes as well as he does. all i ever wanted from him was a consistent effort to hustle back to the defensive zone, place himself in a passing lane, and get his stick on the ice. and that effort from him is random at best.
it was very interesting being a season ticket holder for thirty five years. season ticket holders get to watch all of the ice, not just what the cameras focus on. and most of what tv viewers of the hawks see is kane’s briliance on offense. they rarely see him loafing on defense, which is how he primarily plays defense. he was very fortunate to be playing with brilliant teams where others covered for his ass and often times had to play four v five defense because he was not hustling to catch up with the play.
putting 88 with 17, who has his same attitude towards defense, and 12, who puts forth better defensive effort, but just isn’t very good at it is a recipe for disaster against a cup contending team.
if i am davidson 12-17-88 will all be gone. likely de brincat will be looking of close to double digit millions per year, which is way out of line for someone who is only a goal scorer. i would not trust strome to keep up his recent upgraded effort of the last two months if he is signed to a significant extended contract, kane is more valuable to a rebuild for what he can bring back in trade than what he can add to a team that will be floundering for the next three to five years.
if i am davidson 12 & 88 are both on the market and strome would be welcomed back on a short term team friendly contract or he can walk. it would be great to enter the 2023 draft with some substantial draft capital returning from trading 12 and 88.
That is why KD said a rebuild not reload, roster has to be revamped. We have to accept the players we’re watching now as I said before, 95% or better won’t be here when team is good again. Goaltender right now doesn’t have to be a 1st ballot hofer, just give them a chance to compete, that will be ironed out when we find out what Soderblom and Comesso, maybe others to come bring to the table. Jones could be around but good chance who we are seeing on blueline right now will be gone. Save for Vlassic until he can show what he has, along with guys like Mitchell, Galvas, Regula plus unsigned guys like Del Mastro, Kaiser and Allen too will carry the load there.
Who outside of maybe Debrincat can you pencil in for sure as a forward. Dach and Reichel still have to prove themselves, Raddysh has played well but he still has to prove he isn’t just another big, skilled forward whose skating and lack of an edge to his game don’t keep him from reaching top 6 potential. Its a long road ahead.
HAWKS29 agree everybody has to considered available at this point, there is a long road to go before the results of a rebuild start paying dividends.
I watched for about 5 minutes last night, but that’s all I could take. My assessment of our current status is as follows:
We have one high quality forward: DeCat (I’m excluding Kane due to age)
We have one high quality defender: Jones
We have one high quality prospect: Reichel
I did the math on that and it comes to a total of three (3) high end players/prospects in the entire org. Some teams have that on one line. There is no “horseman”. There is no “accelerated” rebuild. There is nothing there but an empty pipeline and some cheesy, embarrassing marketing trying to sell it. Like many posters I’ve stayed loyal for a long time, but I’m really pressed to find a reason to watch let alone spend any money on this.
Hawks29 I agree completely with you. I have been saying for a long time that Kane is a huge defensive liability. For all the points he has he is a -15 or 16. Almost never hustles back, back checks and never has. The great defense of the past covered for him consistently. Ever see Mikita, Larmer, or Hossa loaf like he does. Other point right now is don’t blame Lanks or Delia for the losses. They are playing fairly well with no team D in front of them.
JR Roman, Yes,I watched that game,I know,I need help,and the Young Ducks definitely were taught a lesson on what happens when large angry men are traded away. Zegras is a great talent but he is going to catch some beatings without protection. The Coyote broadcast crew were of the opinion that the young flamboyant forwards deserved a little beating . Terry should stay out of the fights and just grab and hold on for dear life.
Now we are tearing into Kane? Jezus, the guy has been the same since he came into the league. I know, him and his 1200 career points are garbage. You wanna blame someone? Blame the horses ass that acquired several of the same pieces as Kane without the incredible offensive talent. Looking at you Strome, Nylander, Perlini, Borgstrom and on and on. Short memories some on this board have.
Is Rockford going to make the playoffs? I’d drop every player there possible. It’s almost as if they know the cupboard is dry.
Borgstrom I’m sorry, but if they can at this point risk the waiver wire and let him develop in Rockford. If he’s claimed then there is at least cap space to maybe sign whomever or at least have more money for later or eating a cap hit with a draft pick or something. Head coach is whatever the assistants often run the show.
Move Gustavsson to wing. Seriously do it.
Murphy is sorely missed. McCabe should not be this bad, I know he had surgery but a lot of these mistakes are mental. I’m confident he’ll rebound next year. Hoping at least
No one expected the Blackhawks to win either of these games. Two of the top teams in the league.
Players on Nhl roster at tdl can’t be sent down after the tdl. Players on Blackhawks current Nhl roster can’t just be sent to Rfd. for rest of season. Apparently the tdl roster moves to make sure R. Johnson, Vlassic and Delia on Rfd. playoff roster, who because of that are eligible to be sent down, didn’t count against the 4 callups allowed after the tdl. One for sure will be Reichel according to management.
AZ W
Sea W
Dal L
LA L
SJ W
Nsh L
Cal L
AZ. L
LA. L
SJ. L
Phl W
VGK L
Buf OTL
67 points out of the top 3 picks probably landing 7th for Columbus.
JR, I have 2 more losses added to your total. No way they beat the Sharks and they will definitely mail in the last game of the season at Buffalo. I see maybe 2 more wins the rest of the season. Bender- Didn’t expect them to win. Did expect them to compete at an NHL level. They are a sad and sinking ship that is being manhandled and embarrassed.
hawk one
no one ever accused kane of being garbage. but as long as you want to point to kane’s 1200 points, which are actually 1167, don’t leave out his +46 statistic, which indicates the hawks give up almost as many points at even strength with kane as they score at even strength with him. admittedly the +/- statistic is not a be all end all, but take a look at the stats other legendary hawks accumulated wearing the hawks sweater:
larmer
891 games played
923 points
+181
mikita
1396 games played
1467 points
a stunning +329
toews
1001 games played
844 points
+184
roenick
524 games played
596 points
+117 (71 better than kane in 531 less games)
hossa
534 games played
415 points
+133
and throw in a few defenseman
keith +151, seabrook, +111, and that scoring machine hjalmarsson +106
if you want to look at the plus statistic as a percentage of points scored while playing for the blackhawks hossa is 24.9%, mikita 23.6%, roenick 22.3%, larmer 19.6%, and kane 4.2%. can you figure out which of these guys is the only one who refused to play defense?
no one in their right mind would deny kane’s offensive brilliance, but he has not nearly been the dynamic force he could have been if he played the game the right way.
paul t
my brother from another mother.
to preface this remark. i have never known a blackhawk player. i don’t know anyone who knows someone with access to the players, locker room, or management. strictly meanderings in my uninformed mind.
i do not question toews as a captain, but wonder how much of his leadership was verbal in the locker room and how much follow his example on the ice. with nothing to base my opinion on i lean towards quite a bit of captain support in the locker room from seabrook, keith, and hossa and perhaps others.
feeling that toews was more of an on the ice captain than verbal leader in the locker room. if someone reading this knows the opposite to be true i would appreciate hearing it and being corrected.
i also wonder what the scenario would have been if kane had played when sutter or graham were captains. i can’t help but envision the scenario of kane with his back up against the lockers and sutter or graham with their fists closed around the front of his sweater after the winning goal being scored against the hawks while kane was leisurely skating back on defense leaving his man unmarked to score the winning goal. again just a musing on my part.
@hawks29
Plus/minus is fools gold. Francis, Dionne, Sakic, Oates, Hawerchuk, Hull are a few of those HOF that have similar +\- to Kane. I bet they are garbage too?
Point is, he ain’t, Toews, Larmer, Hossa et al. And they ain’t him. That’s not who he has ever been at 180 pounds soaking wet. To think that’s the game he is going play is foolish.
If the Hawks were smart they’d surround him with more defensive reliable players not add more offensive threats only to his line. He has played with the likes of middling centers for most of his career and good wingers for short stretches or leftovers largely. Yet, he is on track to potentially one day be the points leaders for the Blackhawks and the best US hockey player ever. But that’s ok, point out how he can’t play defense and rid him from the roster, please.
And again I will quote Miroslav with the statement of the season: “sigh”.
Can’t imagine it being phrased any better Miroslav.
There was a time when Kane actually was being applauded for his improved defense, and how it had helped him develop into a more complete player. And that was when players openly talked quite often about the example Marian Hossa set with his two way play. His influence had an impact on how Kane and others approached defensive hockey.
I have a good friend who is a big time Vegas GK’s fan. I’m giving him my season tix for the April 27th home game against Vegas. But I bought a ticket for myself in the same section that I sit, for half the price at what I normally pay, down two rows lower. I did that because I’m wondering if it might just be the last time that Toews and Kane suit up at home in a Blackhawks sweater. I’m being serious and I’m not necessarily hoping for it. But if KD is true to his word, those two might not be back.
And I don’t think it’s realistic to think that if they are gone, that they will ever be back. A still rebuilding team looking to build depth over the next 3 – 5 years are not going to sign players like that back. I don’t think the money (reduced in Toews case certainly, but not reduced so much in Kane’s case) would work. If they leave and are resigned, it’s as the token “finish your career as a Blackhawk” type of signing.
KD et al have some big issues to tackle. He’s already been unafraid to be controversial. I expect him to continue to be aggressive.
Thank somebody that someone has deep pockets for what’s coming ! You finish the season in 22 nd or something around there ! So the first round pick is going to the Hogs or Hounds ! Maybe a winger that will make the club in 2026 ! Everyone has to do the arithmetic! There are alot of guys that want out and that’s what happens ! It’s a long ,long build into the second season and it takes a lot of work ! It magically doesn’t happen as you have to do your homework and you got to get lucky as to who wants to stay in the Windy City to enjoy that lifestyle in those western burbs and letting the better half to go shopping on OAK street and enjoy those clubs on Hubbard ! Best , POPS 4
Somehow the lowly last place Montreal Canadians were able to compete with and beat the invincible Bolts tonight at Tampa. Maybe the Charmin Hawks softened them up
Ian, well said about 88
I read and reread some of the comments . Well said about Larmer ! #28 should hang high in the rafters at the U,C. , being Canadian I know there are some of those players that are exceptional including Toews Seas and Keith and of course Larms !
I’ve personally seen them play at 15 different arenas in the NHL but really nothing compares to the U.C. Especially over the last decade , I saw Larms play at the Stadium in the 80’s and it was just as fantastic ! Hats off to Chicago , POPS 4
MAF IS ON FIRE .
Hope we can bring him back next year to teach Lank and other goalies
It’s still early but I think that maybe ,,,maybe Hawks made a good trade for Hagel ( my heart is still bleeding from that trade but I accept it ) getting 2 first rd pick plus 2 young players was probably the best deal .I don’t think Hagel will be happy with the team iff they play him like they do now . Raddysh is so far a surprise for me and hopefully he can become part of the rebuild .
Iff MAF continue the way he plays now …Hawks will have a first rd pick .number 27-29 but still can give a second round pick and go up at 21-22 iff they want to move up to pick a Phillip Daneault style of player..
Hawks stink and will continue to smell up arenas for many, many years unfortunately.
Gus in, Vlassic out; Entwistle in, Kurashev out. Lankinen starts, Toews 1000th game recognition tonight, Kane plays 1100th game in Nashville 2 weekends time.