Following a 3–2 loss in Carolina, the Chicago Blackhawks concluded their three-game road trip with a Saturday matinee against the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena. Heading into this game, the Hawks are a surprising 3–1–1 in their last five matchups against the Panthers, including a 3–1 win at home back on Nov. 21. The Hawks started Petr Mrazek in net against Florida’s Sergei Bobrovsky.
First period
The Blackhawks needed just seven seconds to take the lead when Landon Slaggert scored his second of the season. Off the opening draw, Ryan Donato found Slaggert, who got behind the Panthers and faked to the backhand and tucked it underneath Bobrovsky for the goal and a 1–0 lead for the visitors. The goal would also set a franchise record for the fastest to start a game.
The early Hawks goal woke up the Panthers, who dominated most of the period, which led to the equalizer by Jonah Gadjovich at the 5:28 mark. A goal-mouth scramble led to Gadjovich poking in a loose puck for his second of the season. The Hawks challenged for goalie interference but replay upheld the goal.
The Panthers continued to roll when Sam Reinhart scored his 30th of the season to give Florida a 2–1 lead. Aleksander Barkov fed Reinhart in front and he created some space and scored on a wrist shot at 10:19. Florida would take the one-goal lead into the dressing room but they dominated the frame. The Panthers had a 22–3 edge in shots on goal and a season-high 47 shot attempts.
Second period
The Panthers scored the only goal of the period when Matthew Tkachuk deflected a shot past Mrazek at 16:29 to extend the Florida lead to 3–1 after two. The Panthers remained firmly in control despite outshooting the Hawks 14–13 in the period for a total of 36–17 after 40 minutes. Florida also has a commanding 70–28 lead in shot attempts.
Third period
Florida took a 4–1 lead just 10 seconds into the third when Evan Rodrigues scored his 12th of the season. Anton Lundell forced a turnover by Alex Vlasic behind the Hawks’ net and fed Rodrigues in front.
The Panthers continued to pour it on as they added a power-play goal by Carter Verhaeghe. Barkov entered the zone cleanly up the middle of the ice and fed it to Reinhart on his right wing, who went cross ice to Verhaeghe for his 12th of the season at 9:37 to make it 5–1 and that would be the final.
Analysis
Following the record-setting goal by Slaggert, the Hawks were dominated in Sunrise by the champions. Mrazek saw a ton of rubber and the Hawks did little offensively (or defensively except chase the Panthers). At this stage, one has to wonder if TJ Brodie’s days as a Blackhawk are numbered as he continues to be a liability on the blue line. If you are going to get beat up, you might as well do it with developing players while they learn on the job. The Hawks return home Wednesday night for a nationally televised game on TNT against the Edmonton Oilers. Puck drop is at 8:30 p.m. CST with the radio call on 720 WGN.