Pathetic Blackhawks Effort Ends Kings’ 10-Game Losing Streak
The Blackhawks ventured into Los Angeles on Saturday to face a Kings team that had lost ten straight games.
Just as they did in Anaheim, the Hawks did a great job of making a bad team look good.
Carl Dahlstrom and Drake Cagguila were scratched for Chicago. Dahlstrom because the Blackhawks keep skating Gustav Forsling for some reason; Cagguila is dealing with concussion symptoms still.
To say the first period was a debacle is an understatement. The Hawks took two terrible penalties and allowed goals on both power plays, allowing the Kings to take a 2-0 lead in the game’s opening five minutes.
When Dustin Brown gets a breakaway you’re doing it wrong.
Ilya Kovalchuk extended the Kings’ lead to three at 15 minutes into the first and one would imagine the number of eyeballs watching the game in Chicago dropped dramatically.
But the Hawks hung around. Brendan Perlini scored the ever-important next goal, pulling the Hawks to within two as the first period came to a painful close.
The Hawks actually out-shot the Kings 15-11 in the first period, but forgot to play defense for 15 minutes to start the contest.
The Kings returned the favor by leaving their defensive effort in the dressing room for the second period. Two minutes into the second the Kings went for a terribly timed change and Corey Crawford set up Perlini for a breakaway.
With the assist, Crawford catches John Hayden on the Blackhawks’ leaderboard with four points this year.
Almost five minutes later Connor Murphy tied the game for Chicago.
With an assist on the Murphy goal, Hayden pulled back in front of Crawford on the team scoring sheet.
The game would stay tied for only 71 seconds before Adrian Kempe scored for LA. Late in the third period Tyler Toffoli boarded Murphy. Chicago did nothing with the power play, but as the final seconds of the period ticked off the clock Murphy was ready to fight the entire Kings’ roster. Marcus Kruger wisely stepped in and kept Murphy from starting the third in the box.
After 40 minutes, the Kings held a 4-3 lead. The two teams combined to put 13 shots on net in the second period, seven coming from the Blackhawks. Patrick Kane did not have a point through two full periods.
Brendan Leipsic scored 4:54 into the third period to give the Kings a two-goal lead. LA happily allowed the Blackhawks to spend the following 15 minutes skating up and down the ice, getting one shot on most trips before the Kings were able to clear. As was the case in Anaheim, the Blackhawks showed a stunning lack of urgency against a team they need to beat if they’re supposedly trying to get into the playoffs.
The Blackhawks opened the final four minutes of regulation with a dump in that nobody chased. The Kings cleared the puck and 60 seconds came off the clock without a shot from a Chicago skater. Reminder: the Blackhawks were down two goals at this point.
Even the crowd in LA sounds half asleep. Another 90 seconds came off the clock as the teams took turns clearing the puck to center ice. The emotion from the Blackhawks and Kings felt like a September preseason game more than one team supposedly chasing a playoff spot.
Chicago couldn’t sustain control of the puck long enough to get the goaltender off the ice. With 1:53 left in regulation Brown sniped home his second goal of the game. Crawford never saw the puck as Toffoli and Duncan Keith battled in front of him.
And a team that had lost their previous ten games beat the Blackahwks 6-3.
so did the team get too much sun this week? Nice to see Perlini back in the lineup. He was noticeable all game. Anisimov looked good at times.
You wouldn’t call this a goalie loss, but Crow was not particularly good. Tab needs to put up that picture of the dumpster fire with Forsling’s mug shot next to it. I thought he had “jumped the shark” with that pass a game or two ago that went off Saad’s ass and resulted in an opponent’s goal. Amazingly, I guess you have to be worse to be seated. Foley said he hasn’t had a plus game since December.
They couldn’t really replace Crow with the back to back tomorrow. I wonder if they would have if there was no game on Sunday.
Lots of passes in teammate’s skates. I wish Sikura had cashed on that chance. The kid really needs one, even though almost everybody on every blog thinks he isn’t ready for the NHL.
Quick made some good saves on Kane and DeBrincat.
Don’t worry, the Hawks will be better in the playoffs…………………………..
Tab, spot on, why is Forsling still playing? Why is he still on the team? Slater no great shakes either. Couple of D men in Rockford deserve a look.
Last 14 games, Hawks have allowed 14 power play goals. Worst PK in the NHL by a landslide. If you can’t kill penalities you are not a good team;. the Hawks are not a good team. This is the #1 item that needs to be corrected by the time the next season starts.
If the Hawks go into another tailspin now (and thats quite possible), Bowman will be nowhere to be found. He has no balls. Admits no mistakes. Ever. Nothing is ever his fault. Flips coins on direction of team.
Earl spot on and re Sikura amen. Let Highmore play w one arm.
Caggs- was really missed on 1st line today… puck hound
One of the worst games the Blackhawks have played this season. Especially considering the circumstances. Sikura got off one good shot, but looked kind of lost out there all in all. I agree with the earlier post about wondering if Crawford would have been pulled if not for another game tomorrow night. He wasn’t real sharp. I didn’t see the final stats but it seemed like LA was winning a whole lot at the dot.
The ticker states the Hawks are 0-9-2 this season when Kane doesn’t record a point. This abysmal record in these games is on Bowman. Exemplifies utter lack of depth. Ask him a question about this, and he’ll change the subject.
Speaking of Bowman, his selection of the new coach he found in Europe and became smitten with remains in question. Keith’s comments after the game honest assessment.
Look a that flow chart (nothing against anything trav says)
Crow 1-1 is better then 6-15/whatever it is.
Doesnt matter, we played good for those two games after not for about 5, right after winning 7 in a row. So were not ups yet/maybe out playing COL and DAL and not getting a tie-;et alone two deserving wins affected something. who knows. What I do know is that were the front runner for the top 6 pick.
OTT- 15]
DET- 10
LA- 9
NWJ- 8
ANA- 8
gap
CHI- 2
EDM- 2
VAN- 2
That 5th knuckler goal would have been stopped by nearly all others. Maybe a few more games before Crawford gets up to speed, but all of his concussions have taken their toll and no one should expect him to return to his old form.
Iceman, I have been critical of Bowman a couple of years ago but am finding myself defending him more recently. He made some bad picks and traded for three rentals. Vermette paid off but the others did not. When you trade for rentals, you give up high picks/prospects (hello Columbus), which leads to a depleted prospect pool. In the past couple of years the Hawks’ pipeline has recovered quickly and its ranking has gone from near the bottom to at least the middle of the pack. Bowman has also made some very good trades the past 2-3 years. Would you rather have the GM of the team we are playing tomorrow night (hint: Blackhawks’ d-man who belongs in the Hall of Fame), who has never won a Cup in his 16 years?
ALL of the complaining … I’ll quote Morrison, “What I do know is that were the front runner for the top 6 pick.” — I choose to take this “Half-FULL”. (C’mon, this can’t really be much of a surprise. It was good that they’ve returned to playing at a level worth watching, but because of the first quarter of the season, they’ve been out of it for quite some time.)
I hope that Kane and d’Cat hit 50, AND they find a way to lose — sorry, but the BIG Picture is a priority now.
Pathetic doesn’t do justice to the display the Hawks put on today. Can anyone really imagine this team in the playoffs.? They certainly are not deserving. I’d rather see hard working competent youngsters than this bunch of hapless defensemen. How can Colliton justify Henry J. Playing in Rockford when he coul be gaining valuable experience in Chicago. We already know Dahlstrom, Koekkoek and Forsling fall far short.
Agree with Dickie Dunn, as long as they are close losses. We got some help from teams near our record who won on Sat: EDM, DAL, MIN, and PHX. FLA got a point. Need to hope these teams plus VAN and NYR win games down the home stretch,
Dickie, wasnt complaining/others were maybe. Just stating the fact that I do know were the front rummer for that top 6 pick. The % for getting a top 6 pick must be way higher then making playoffs. 4% to 96%.
If we do not play as good the last 20 as we did for the middle 30 games. after first 25/roster adjustments, thats ok. We played hard these 25-30 games and are prob a little worn. We just simply do not have a full roster and need a full roster to compete for a 45-25 kind of record. We did very good to go 6-2-1/0-3/7-0, thats 14-5-3 in the middle part of sch. with just a few trades, some out and some in adjustments.
Good yr for build on for 20 season, where we have more good players coming.
Toews effort to skate back on Kings 4th goal… Pathetic!!!
19 is having a solid bounce back year stat wise… But more evidence that 19 is Not same Beast he once was!!!
Original. what could help us for that is we play in, by far, the hardest division. Which means that the bottom 10 teams play in all of the other divisions. Means that those teams around us record wise should get free wins against each other, while were playing a top 5/10/15 teams every division game. So even if we win how many of those, these other teams will win games to.
Wall – respectfully take your criticism of Toews, turn it sideways, and stick it somewhere. You only chirp in when you’ve got a worthless piece of evidence to support whatever it is about him you don’t like. NOBODY skated yesterday. But you didn’t come here to roast 88 for coasting after a dump in w/ 4 minutes left. You didn’t come here to blast Keith for turning the puck over. You came here to complain about Toews because you don’t like him.
Not ganging on Wall. Tazer had the bounce back yr last yr. This yr hes putting up numbers as high as he has on his highest yrs.
I think when he changed his food routine and workout routine it made him like that, took a couple yrs to kick in. Not saying he didnt have 2 off yrs, he did. I think that was part of idea of adjustments and the whole league getting faster because every player coming in was fast/compared to before.
Doing this, it made him ‘smaller’ for the beast stuff. Made him bigger for faster stuff, which allows him to continue to play at that level/production wise, just in sort of a different style of way.
Now hes back to completely normal. Tazer and Kaner still looking good now, to still be good in 2 yrs when were deep again. I believe, they might not, that these guys will be good for that 2-7 yr range (2021-2028) from now when were a top team again.
Tab- I like Toews… 19’s game versus Ducks 2015 Game 7– was spectacular.
He carried and willed the Hawks to win Game 7 WCF- that game alone-amazing….
Ever since then- he has been on a pretty steady decline… from top 5 Forward in NHL… to way less than that today…
and I cannot blame a player for ever taking as much money- as some GM will pay him… not 19’s fault… just stating my opinion- that his game and value- is in a big decline versus his salary… and Tough for Hawks/SB to over come!
19 is still worth and earning way more than Seabrook – for example- based $$$ and actual value to team
wts- I am not a fan of paying for past performances and handing out NMCs to so many players
Thought 19 was at the end of his shift but could be wrong. I see that play a bit differently though. Where was the 2nd dman? Most other forwards wouldn’t have been in the screen shot so shooting down 19 for putting in the effort seems a bit misguided. Name me 5 other forwards not wearing 37 for Boston or 11 for LA that even come close to making that play?
What seems to me to be probable is the losses last weekend to Colorado and Dallas really took the starch out of the team. They went from briefly holding the 2nd wild card spot when they beat Detroit on the 20th until Colorado jumped over then after beating Winnipeg about an hour later. Then they lost to Colorado and Dallas and although that didn’t mathematically eliminate them, it had to be a punch to the gut and in their hearts they knew they blew their shot. Believe what you want about professional athletes supposed to play hard all the time but the human side being affected by disappointment shouldn’t be ignored.
Maybe they regroup and make another run (probably not tonight though) – I hope so because whether they make the playoffs or not I don’t want to watch them play with this dispirited lethargy.
Not picking on Wall —— but in his last comment like so many others do, there is a complaint about “all the NMCs” that Bowman “hands out.”
As of a week or so before the trade deadline, there were approximately 175 players with some form of trade protection (NMC, NTC, modified-NTC). Both Tampa and Montreal had 10 players with some level of movement protection, The Hawks had 9, Sharks had 8, six teams had 7 players and 10 teams had 6 players with trade protection. Bowman neither invented, nor “hands out” the most. Yes, the Seabrook situation is aggravating and will be for some time to come. But don’t fall into the false line about trade protection — Bowman has enough other mistakes to answer for.
Mo- Reality check is… no matter how a player “trains/eats”… Father time never stops… and moreover- everyone has their own internal “expiration date”…
Examples- Greg Maddux and Nolan Ryan… Marian Hossa- at age 38… never saw the guy run out of gas– Like Toews did on that play… chasing a player from behind.
Toews- with al His Tom Brady dedication to food/workout- is aging- way faster than I want… NOT his fault/blame… just like it is not his fault or Blame on taking $10Mill
neither is it Seabs/ fault/blame…
Management- tried to do the “right thing” and paid them… just- everything has an expiration date… and Looks like both Seabs/Toews are “aging’ faster than- I want.
Once again- 19’s numbers are up… Can NOT argue… but he is not the same top 5 forward/NHL- he once was… he is No Longer the guy – who can will His team to a win in Game 7- imo…
still a very solid 2-way center for sure
Management – made a calculated decision/risk… and looks like they are losing-
both 19 and 7 – are past their primes- as “difference” makers in NHL today
broken record here, but I’m real curious what percentage of games won this year (or better yet since the new coach) based on the powerplay. I’d bet over 90% of the games won since the new coach came in there was at least one powerplay scored by the Blackhawks. They completely rely on the powerplay. I often wondered if the stagnant powerplay for the Blackhawks under Q was somewhat by design; keep in mind I thought that when Q was coach, not hindsight. Now don’t get me wrong a hot powerplay can take a team far; heck a hot powerplay in the playoffs can definitely win a series, but you just can’t rely on it.
Can JC please play Seabrook and Keith with bottom pair minutes already; the other guys need the experience-call up Davidson and see if he should be resigned~y’all gonna tell me you want Forsling in over Davidson?(note I’m not writing off Forsling); Keith and Seabs have been there done that; they get more of a workout off the ice anyway I would assume~or they should.
However it is fun to see goals scored; it makes fans in the stands happy, if I were the involved in the strategy for a team that is a lost cause I would encourage them to play offense before defense as well~~at least for home games~~defense focus on the road offense focus at home; a high scoring game is more exciting; Bettman talks about it all the time(yes instead they have added video review which slows the game and makes it boring~~~maybe just have it in the playoffs). I’ve heard other ideas to increase scoring; full penalty served for example~I would ague this should only apply to injurious type penalties (not too many men or failed replay challenge)
Now I’m on a tangent…..maybe this has been going on for a long time and I’m more recently only taking notice…..teams are really good at NOT icing the puck; they bank it off the board and it usually comes to a stop or is caught up in the other teams offsensive zone usually around the the circles. The Capitals got a cup doing this most of the playoffs in 2018. Everytime it was in thier zone they would just bank it hard off the boards (either short or far side) such that it would bounce back and forth and out of the zone rather than down the ice. This will not make the highlight reel but they did it frequently. Lots of teams do it now and it’s a good strategy no doubt, but maybe something to reduce this….not really a clean way to stop teams from doing that, and I’m not sure anyone would want to, anyway whatever.
Nice to see Kane chase a couple points based trophies although it looks as they he will fall short of both the Art Ross and the Rocket Richard trophies. Nice try though; I hope he catches Kucherov and Ovechkin; and I hope he does it with a high scoring pace the remainder of the year and not Ovie and Kucherov falling off.
Hawk One – that 2nd D man you refer to on the 4th LA goal was Gus – that goal was really on him – he was in the corner of the O zone
I’m not against aggressive D play but pick your spots – it’s 3-3 you’ve just tied it don’t go crazy trying to score the next shift which is basically what Gus was trying to do – that was the break breaker
Gus’s over aggressiveness resulted in the 2 0n 1 and Toews at that point was totally gassed (he wasn’t lazy) – no way he’d let Kempe by him if he wasn’t
Maybe that speaks to how long a shift he took idk
Seabrook was their best D man yesterday and that’s saying something
In the summer Stan needs to acquire either by free agent signing or by trade a D man (preferably left handed) to play top 4 minutes…
Jake Gardiner? Tyler Myers? there is going to be other possibilities as well…but somebody –
Recliner, I think we sucked at the dump chase style because we didnt eve play that way. We had dynasty rosters and still would suck at dump chase. So for ten yrs we played the style system we did. We need a couple yrs practice at dump chase fast foreck style to get ok at it. Our guys never played that way, so we would suck at it, even on dynasty roster yrs.
I agree we need to be able to play that style now/going forward though. Like new system, defense strategy we need time-like 2 yrs to get used to and good at it. Mostly the right kind of players that work well in it, and just simply good players/like 9 top 9 FW kind of thing.
So we can play that way, like you said WAS did that one yr, and get good at it. I think thats the direction were going towards. Play faster, have faster guys-overall team, style. Then we ll see some serious shit. Going to be fun and we ll be back to being good at D and PK again.
Wall, understand what your saying and agree with most. I look at the top players like this for prime yrs.
depending on players age verys
20-great right off the bat/prime yrs right away, being generational players
22/23/24/25-start of prime of prime yrs
22-30 area- prime of prime yrs
30 to 35- more ‘regular’ prime yrs
35 to 40- still really good, not prime in any way though
So ye Tazer might have had his prime of prime yrs end those two off yrs 16 and 17, besides and in addition to the thing that he had to go though (injurys, time to get back to 100%, not have 20-19-81 as a line anymore, not as deep of overall roster, not having good checking line centers do that stuff-the whole yr, you guys know the stuff).
So those are reality facts that he had to play through, and he did. Changeing food and workout routines to be able to complete with the younger and faster-acroos the board league and produce the same stats as he did on his highest yrs-stats wise.
So yea he wont ever be beast ‘style’ mode anymore, he cant. not in prime of prime yrs anymore, and sacrificed size for speed body wise to complete ‘fairly’ with all these young fast-makes them good kind of players the whole league has now. I do not think he is father time until he 35-40 area. Hes just not prime of prime anymore hes still prime though/until 35 area.
Those food and workout routine adjustments are playing off now. having a high of stats as he had on highest yrs for stats. Sure no more beast mode, but hes faster now then before and needs to be to compete as a 1st line center. Not all 1st line centers are good at D and are beast mode type players. He doesnt have to be whole career. He did when he could/that style, and when league wasnt as fast overall as it is now/last few yrs. Hence the lighter weight and faster Tazer.
One things for sure, even with the 2011 and 2012 Tazer, Kaner, Dunks, you name it. It didnt matter without a full roster. So now these guys arnt prime of prime anymore. Can still win Another Cup. Have to have a deep roster.
To the guy who said add a top 4 defensemen no matter what. Yes yes. We need to add. Sure we have contracts to do for players but we cant save just to do that. We need to add add add add and then make it work salary cap wise.
Top 6 skill
OTT- 15
DET- 10
LA- 9
NWJ- 8
ANA- 7
gap
VAN- 3
CHI- 2
EDM- 2
NYR- 0
COL- 2
FLR- 2
BUF- 3
Ian, if ok can you start posting season totals g/ass/pts/gp for the prospects.
Next to the players goal pts for the night.
that day goals/assists/points/season totals goals/assists/points
Who knows but we play good teams in 5 of next 6 games, the one shit team, the 9 of 10 to game 82 agasint good teams. So after not going 9-2 in these 11 games were the sch. was easier, its going to be hard to win enough and go 12-5 to get to +5 and others to stay at 5 or below to make playoffs.
So again if playoff chance is 4% getting a top 6 pick is 96%. Based on the sch. playing 14 of last 17 games against good teams/teams that been playing good , right after we played our asses off to go 14-5-3 to get tied with MIN and COL for 7 and 8 seed. Could be best thing for the Blackhawks reload is another top 5 pick quality player.
Morrison
yeah gotcha; not suggesting the Blackhawks play that style; just pointing out it the pucks is getting just short of icing quite a bit; I’m sure someone out there is suggesting moving “icing” back to the circles or heck even the blue line (didn’t we have this already-two line pass). It is an effective strategy for clearing the zone; kinda like when a team needs a line chnage; get the center ice line and dump it. same idea.
Would be nice if someone lays a body on Evander Kane tonight. Top six pick would be ideal; another rumor I’d like to start is the Blackhawks trading this year’s first round pick for some legitimate help (not to be lost to Seattle) or trading up in the draft. The core has done it all but I would like to see them go for it again in the next couple years here. I really don’t think Seabrook’s contract is that handicapping at this second (it can be in a couple years though). I think it is more the issue of WHO they can sign that will help. The free agency list this summer is much better than last year……….who? and maybe more importantly….how much? I’d like to see them bring back Kruger; maybe given him a long term contract at a low cost. I’d like to point out Anisimov has looked pretty good the past few games. I really think this guy just is hurt a lot, but I’m not the team doctor so what do I know?
A lot of overpayment for ufas, but we need to add a couple by ufa and a couple by trade. We need more then one or two players. Cant completely reload through draft, as not every guy is NHL player, takes 2-3 yrs to be playing, not many are elite-really good- top 6 or top 4 D from draft (even though you get more that way then ufa/trade wise).
So I think we need to do both. Its not like we ve sucked for yrs and can load it that way because we do not have a core or even a once in a lifetime Cup core. We have a fucking dynasty core and that only comes around once a century. So lets use that and add add add add what we need to go along with the good drafts we got.
Last and this yr are are only top 10 (these are top 5 guys) picks in 10 yrs. We need these two and because they come along with a 32-36ish pick, which isint far from the 26-30 pick we did every yr. Thats 4 picks essentially instead of two, with the two extra picks being top 5 quality. Massive huge difference.
Deep roster. Its coming soon enough. Add ufas, have to.
For rules, no istant replay larger nets, penalty still even if score with goalie pulled, iceing lines, you name it. None of that should be touched. The dang refs and instant replay officials and league need to get it right, make the right calls. Have instant replay on every goal, challenges should be fore head shots stuff, dog penalty-takes two second to see it over glass. Heck the tv guys have review and can see before the refs get to cent ice round table area.
Just give the refs help and that is, up, the instant replays not try to let the cheating teams get away with more. Call the dang penaltys, they always let hooks holds and interference go in playoffs, BS, call it.
People want more scoring, call not every but most peanaltys these bigger and physical teams do instead of let them get away with more, just because they do more. Get the fuck out of here. Call that shit.
The teams that cheat more should have more penaltys every game and the teams that play more clean should have less, every game. Like 10 to 4 in penaltys if thats what happened.
Not bitching about the refs, they do need to do the right thing and call it. Not change the rules to give even more help to the teams that cheat more often. Thats fucking backwards. Punish them.
Wall – every time the Hawks lose you bitch about Toews & the NMCs.
If anyone is still looking at this string:
Wall – WTF! Toews is having one of his best years:
GP: 66; Pts: 67 TOI: 21 min (heavy minutes)
+3 (team is -30)
FO: 56.2% – ranks 10th
In addition, his great passing and forechecking doesn’t show up in the scoring column.