After ending a very inconsistent first half of the season with a 4-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers, the Blackhawks made some fairly significant roster moves Monday afternoon. They sent down both Cody Franson and John Hayden to Rockford, while recalling Tomas Jurco and Erik Gustafsson. But overshadowing the news of the call-ups was the announcement that long-time team leader Brent Seabrook would be a healthy scratch in Tuesday’s game versus the Senators.
Amid all the roster news of the last 24 hours, the Blackhawks headed to Ottawa to face a Senators team who has been very underwhelming this year, sitting at second to last in the Atlantic Division heading into Tuesday night’s game. Anton Forsberg got the start in net.
These were the Blackhawks starting lines:
Brandon Saad – Jonathan Toews – Vincent Hinostroza
Ryan Hartman – Nick Schmaltz – Patrick Kane
Patrick Sharp – David Kampf – Alex DeBrincat
Lance Bouma – Tommy Wingels – Richard Panik
Duncan Keith – Jordan Oesterle
Gustav Forsling – Jan Rutta
Michal Kempny – Connor Murphy
After a slow start by both teams early in the first period, the game quickly transitioned into what we have seen all too often this year. The Blackhawks play for much of the period was a microcosm of their season; despite outshooting their opponent, their one power play was dysfunctional and they failed to generate any real scoring chances.
Luckily for the Hawks, the strong play of Richard Panik continued into this game and resulted in a goal late in the first period. After Michal Kempny’s shot was blocked by Ottawa’s Mark Stone, Panik took an impressive turnaround snap shot through traffic that Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson had no chance of stopping. It was Panik’s sixth goal of the year and his first since October 21st.
The first period ended shortly thereafter with the Hawks dominating in shots on net 17-8, but on the wrong end of scoring chances with Ottawa leading in that department 13-2. Forsberg made strong saves on at least a couple of Senator chances.
The second period was just about the exact opposite of the first. The Blackhawks came out fast, explosive, and playing with a purpose, dominating a large majority of the period leading in shots (14-11) and scoring chances (9-6).
Patrick Sharp opened the scoring in the second period with his third goal in four games. Sharp fired a weak wrister from the top left circle that beat Craig Anderson low to the blocker side, a soft goal to say the least.
Only a few minutes later, the Blackhawks found themselves back on the power play and it was an instant improvement from what was seen in the first period. With puck movement, a natural lane opened for Jordan Oesterle to fire a shot on net that led to a juicy rebound for Nick Schmaltz to put past Anderson at 8:15 in the period. The goal moved Schmaltz’s goal scoring streak to four games, but the scoring didn’t stop there for the Hawks. A little over a minute after the Schmaltz tally, Jordan Oesterle fired another shot from the point creating a second rebound goal, this time for the captain, Jonathan Toews, extending his point streak to five games.
After giving up four goals in the first 30 minutes, Senators coach Guy Boucher elected to pull Illinois native Anderson from the net and replace him with backup netminder Mike Condon. After the change in net, Ottawa seemed to respond and the momentum of the game shifted in favor of the Senators.
Nearly a minute after the goalie change, the Blackhawks found themselves in an all too familiar situation, turning the puck over in their own zone and this time it leads to a goal. After turnovers by both Ryan Hartman and Jan Rutta, Stone put a backhander past Forsberg to bring the score to 4-1 with 9:25 left in the second period.
After a solid penalty kill by the Blackhawks in which the they didn’t allow a single shot on goal, the Senators found the back of the net once again, this time on a very fluky goal by Derrick Brassard. Stone received the puck at the blue line and attempted a saucer pass to Brassard who was cutting to the net. The puck then caromed off the midsection of Brassard, ending up in the back of the net, cutting the Blackhawks lead in half. But, after that goal, the Senators luck had run out for the night.
With less than three minutes left in the period Schmaltz scored his second power play goal and his second rebound goal of the game, this time off a stuff attempt by Sharp.
After watching four goals in the period, Forsberg seemed to be a bit bored in the Hawks net, so he decided to jump in on the action with about a minute left in the frame. After an Ottawa clearing attempt, Forsberg came well out of his net to catch the Senators on a change. He shot a pass up ice to Patrick Kane who entered the zone and fed Rutta a beautiful pass for a one time goal, his fourth of the year. This was also Kane’s fourth assist of the night, a single game career high for Kane, and an incredible achievement.
The third period was much of the same for the Blackhawks who added two more goals before the misery ended for the Senators on their home ice. The first came off an ugly turnover by Stone in his own zone. The attempted pass was picked up by Vinny Hinostroza who drove to the net and dished the puck to Toews for his second goal of the game. Toews took the pass from Hinostroza and buried it top shelf with a beautiful wrist shot to make it 7-2.
After a multitude of penalties in the third period, including coincidental roughing penalties on Michal Kempny and Ottawa’s Ben Harpur, the Blackhawks found themselves back on the power play.
Again, the power play showed flashes of the 2016-17 power play that was a key to the Blackhawks success a season ago. With great puck movement and scoring opportunities, it was Kane’s turn to find the twine. After Nick Schmaltz hit the post from the slot, Kane grabbed the rebound and fired the puck from the right circle completing a 5 point night.
Kane’s goal capped off an impressive blowout win for the Blackhawks, making them 4-1-1 in their last 6 games and back in a playoff spot.
Pluses
- The most exciting sign of this six game stretch must be the improvement from players the Hawks have been waiting on all season. Patrick Kane had 5 points in a historic night. Nick Schmaltz is playing like he was early in the season, and has scored goals in four consecutive games. Patrick Sharp looks dangerous again, and has 3 goals in his last four games. Richard Panik is hitting again, using his speed on the forecheck, and finally scored a goal, his first since October. Most importantly, Jonathan Toews has a 5 game point streak, had two goals against the Senators, and is really starting to look like the Toews of old ever since he called himself out in the media. If those guys, especially Toews and Kane, can continue to produce at a high level, the Blackhawks have a chance to become a real threat in the second half of the season.
- 4/6 on the power play? I swear that is not the same Blackhawks team that was so atrocious on the power play through the first 41 games of the season. Now, it is only 1 game, but the puck movement and flow of the power play looked totally different against the Senators. But not only did they have puck movement, they had bodies in front of the net to put back rebounds for those hard-nosed goals. Again, it is only one game, but the Hawks finally showed what they are capable of on the man advantage.
- The Blackhawks won 51 percent of their faceoffs, and they did so with one of the best faceoff guys in the league, Jonathan Toews, under 50 percent. When is the last time that happened? Both David Kampf and Tommy Wingels were 55 percent in the dot, another sign that Kampf’s presence in a defensive role has made a difference over the last six games.
- Anton Forsberg put together his second straight solid game. He saved 25 of 27 shots and looked solid in net yet again. He was not tested too often, but kept the Hawks in the first period and was very strong otherwise. His development this season, especially while Crawford is out, is also a big key for this team. Although the Jeff Glass story was fun for a while, the Blackhawks can’t depend on a 32-year-old career AHL player until Crawford returns.
Minuses
- Defensive zone exits were a train-wreck for much of the first period and it has really hurt the Blackhawks throughout the season. It also led to the Senators first goal where Jan Rutta and Ryan Hartman were playing hot potato with the puck. This has been a problem for the Hawks too often this year, and they must clean up this area of their game if they want to make it to the playoffs.
- Alex DeBrincat only played 11 minutes in the game, registered 1 shot on goal, and was really a non-factor the entire night. Obviously his ineffectiveness didn’t have an impact on the game, but you would like to see a pure scorer like DeBrincat contribute in some way in a blowout win.
- Despite the Blackhawks winning their last two games by a combined 12-3, they did so against two bottomfeeder teams in the Senators and the Oilers. Although it is a step in the right direction, it is important to consider who the Hawks have had the success against. Once they start winning games against divisional opponents (starting Wednesday night against Minnesota) then we can really believe what we are seeing will last.
- Lastly, I am sure many Hawks fans have shared their displeasure with Steve Konroyd on the broadcast, but man is that guy brutal. Listening to him is like nails on a chalkboard, and I am excited for the day where he can go back to doing the pregame show out on the United Center concourse.