It was an interesting night for the Chicago Blackhawks to say the least. Just a few hours after revealing the sweaters that they will wear for the Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium against the Boston Bruins, (video below) the Blackhawks were tasked with taking on the Carolina Hurricanes to begin the Jeremy Colliton era in Chicago.
Back in Black#WinterClassic https://t.co/Bg2IkLFc0y
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) November 8, 2018
Trying to fill the void behind the bench left by Joel Quenneville is nearly an impossible task for Colliton. If he is going to make a difference for the club, he would have to be himself and do what made him successful in his previous two coaching jobs. Problem is, he didn’t previously have the less-than-desirable quality of roster he has now with the Blackhawks.
Before most could finish their first beverages of the night at the United Center, Chicago trailed the Hurricanes 3-0. While they finally woke up about half-way through the game, the comeback was too little too late and the Hurricanes were able to hold on for the 4-3 win.
The Jeremy Colliton Era Begins With A Whimper
The Blackhawks defense has been a focal-point so far this season, causing headaches and heartaches for many as they watch a once dynamic blue-line duo of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook age and decay (by NHL standards), and live with defensemen playing roles that they otherwise would not be forced into if they were playing on a more skilled roster.
Blackhawks lineup:
DeBrincat-Toews-Kahun
Schmaltz-Anisimov-Kane
Saad-Kampf-Fortin
Kunitz-Kruger-Martinsen
Keith-Jokiharju
Gustafsson-Seabrook
Davidson-Rutta
Crawford
Erik Gustafsson, seemingly forgetting which team he was playing for early in the first period, made a number of poor decisions with the puck that led to high-danger scoring chances early for the Hurricanes. Eventually it would be Andrei Svechnikov getting the game’s opening goal on a rebound chance, his fourth of the season.
At the mid-way point of the first period, with Carolina on the powerplay, it would be Jaccob Slavin with another rebound goal for the Hurricanes to make it a 2-0 game on his second goal of the year. The poor play in their own zone continued in the first period for the Blackhawks as they gave up the 3-0 goal with just over four minutes remaining in the opening period. A turnover led to Phil Di Giuseppe netting his first goal of the year and it looked to be a long night for the Blackhawks.
The second period would begin much like the first for Chicago, sloppy and seemingly disinterested. Missed assignments in their own zone led to another high-danger chance for the Hurricanes and this time it was Calvin de Haan, sneaking in from the blue-line, to bury his first goal of the year to give Carolina a 4-0 lead early in the second period. Corey Crawford smashed his stick in half after the 4-0 goal and who could blame him after being continuously left out to dry by the guys in front of him?
Blackhawks Comeback Falls Short
When it seemed like all might be lost on the opening night of the Colliton regime, the Blackhawks caught a break in transition in the second period. After Brent Seabrook broke up a 3-on-1 chance for the Hurricanes, Patrick Kane and Artem Anisimov charged on a 2-on-1 the other way. Kane tried to set-up Anisimov but the pass was broken up by former Blackhawks Stanley Cup Champion Teuvo Teravainen. Hurricanes starter and former Blackhawks Stanley Cup Champion Scott Darling made the initial save on the loose puck, but Kane followed up by lifting the stick of former Blackhawks Stanley Cup Champion Trevor van Riemsdyk and was able to bang home the loose rebound chance to stop the bleeding at 4-1 with his 12th goal of the year. How about that?
Chicago began to turn up the pressure on the Hurricanes after getting on the board, leading to Brandon Saad putting the puck on net and David Kampf coming away with a deflection goal to cut the Carolina lead in half at 4-2. Kampf’s second goal of the year and Chicago had life again.
FINAL: Hurricanes 4, #Blackhawks 3.
Shot attempts: 71-50 CHI
Shots on goal: 38-34 CHI
5-on-5 scoring chances: 37-24 CHI
5-on-5 high danger chances: 15-9 CHI pic.twitter.com/HHd6qfFRJn— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 9, 2018
The Blackhawks were able to cut the Hurricanes’ lead down to 4-3 early in the third period on Nick Schmaltz‘s second goal of the year. With Chicago putting more and more pressure on Carolina and Crawford shutting the door, it seemed like the epic comeback was in the cards on this night. But, ultimately it was not meant to be as time ran out on the Blackhawks and they came away the 4-3 losers of the night.
Stats For Your Consideration
A couple of things stood out from the score-sheet in the first game under Jeremy Colliton for the Blackhawks:
- Erik Gustafsson led all Chicago defensemen in ice-time with 24:15 minutes played
- Artem Anisimov and Brent Seabrook led the team in shots on goal with five each
- Chicago was 23-for-45 on faceoffs with Jonathan Toews going 16-for-24 on his own
- Toews took 24 faceoffs, while David Kampf was second on the team with seven (2-for-5)
- Patrick Kane led the team in ice-time with 27:43 minutes played
- Kane’s second-highest time played in his career in the regular season (1st – 28:48)
- The Blackhawks were able to out-shoot the NHL’s leader in shots-per-game, 38-34
Hard Times Ahead
The regulation loss sees Chicago’s record fall to 6-7-3, extending winless streak to six games, going 0-5-1 over that stretch. With 15 points in the standings, the Blackhawks sit in sixth-place in the NHL Central Division, two points ahead of the St. Louis Blues with three fewer games played. The Blackhawks are back in action on Saturday afternoon as they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers for a Noon CT puck drop.
After that, the Blackhawks are on the road against these same Hurricanes in Carolina, then have a three-game home-stand against the St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings, and Minnesota Wild.
While the Kings and Blues currently sit behind the Blackhawks in the Western Conference standings, there are no “easy games” ahead for Chicago. The coaching change made away from Joel Quenneville and forward with Jeremy Colliton will bring changes and hopefully positive ones. But, it is the roster construction, not coaching techniques and strategies, that is holding this Blackhawks team back. The players have to execute on the ice for the team to have success. It’s a simple statement, but it’s true. Jeremy Colliton, nor Joel Quenneville, are the ones turning over pucks in the defensive zone that lead to high-danger scoring chances against Corey Crawford and Cam Ward. If those mistakes on the ice do not change, shortly the Blackhawks will become the “easy game” on the schedule of the NHL.