Slow Second Period starting to be an Issue for the Blackhawks

photo from bleacherreport.com

As of last night, Chicago have scored nineteen goals against other teams; nine in the first period, nine in the third period, and one in overtime. Seven games in, they have yet to score a second period goal, and St. Louis took advantage of this to score two second period goals, and put the game out of reach for the Blackhawks.


They started strong, scoring a goal just over a minute in, but it took them until three minutes into the third period to score their second, and it was another case of too little too late, as they were racing to catch up. This was the second game in a row where they'd been outshot by the end of the second, and they finished the game being outshot 31-24.

Antti Raanta played well for the majority of the game. The first goal was avoidable, but the second goal he felt could have been an interference call, and he made some outstanding stops late in the first, after being unchallenged for the first ten minutes or so of the game. Brian Elliott also had a strong game, allowing only two goals on twenty four shots for this third highest sv% this season.

The St. Louis goaltending was a bit of a question mark this year, after trading for Ryan Miller late last season for the playoff run (which they didn't make it past the first round of) and not resigning him, it felt like there was a lot of pressure on backup Elliott to step up and perform well, and early in the season he seems to be doing just that.

After missing the start of the season with a lower body injury, Kris Versteeg has started his season excellently, with two strong games and some good scoring chances that ultimately resulted in his first goal of the season. In true Versteeg fashion, he's being bounced around the lines (last season he played every position on every line except the top line centre) but Versteeg is one of those players that seems, when healthy, to play equally well on the top line as on the fourth.

Daniel Carcillo, after a bad game against Nashville, didn't start this one strong, playing only 5.17 of ice time before a low hip check from TJ Oshie seemed to hyper-extend his knee and he had trouble even walking on it. Word from the team is that he'll be missing at least a week or two, probably more. Carcillo has suffered serious knee injuries on both knees during his last stint with the Blackhawks.

My Three Stars of the Game

3. Kris Versteeg. His first goal of the season was a beauty; he was in the perfect position to just flip it past Elliott's blocker, in the spot he's been constantly for the past few games, and it was bound to pay off eventually.

2. Alex Pietrangelo. Pietrangelo only had two assists last night, but he was on the ice for all three goals, and he had the most ice time of any player on either team (edging out Duncan Keith by five seconds). He's a player that responds well to pressure, and his two penalty minutes were the result of matching minors with Johnny Oduya. He and defensive partner Jay Bouwmeester are a key piece that the Blues want to keep an eye on this season.

1. Dmitrij Jaskin. Jaskin was called up from the Blues' AHL team on Friday, and after a couple of excellent chances, scores the game winning goal in his season debut. It remains to be seen if he'll keep this spot when Paul Stastny returns from IR, but if he keeps playing like he did this game, he'll be in with a chance.

Next game: 26th October vs. Senators.