Blackhawks Finish Strong On Circus Trip

photo from bleacherreport.com

With this win over LA, the Blackhawks collect ten of a possible twelve points on their six game Circus trip, the only loss a frustrating one to the Canucks on the second half of a back to back.


I was worried that the Anaheim game on Friday (another 4-1 win) would have exhausted them like the win against Edmonton did, and they'd have to fight hard for the win every step of the way. Instead, they kept the Kings trapped in their own zone and held them to only twenty shots, almost ten less than their season average. In return, the Kings' defence managed to hold the Blackhawks to twenty five shots, eleven less than their average, but Corey Crawford was certainly the better goaltender in this game, allowing only one goal on those twenty shots for a .950 save percentage, putting him fourth in the league for GAA, and fifth for save percentage. He's also shown some excellent conditioning, starting in fourteen straight games since his return from injury, and winning nine of them.

The Blackhawks were once again playing with essentially five defencemen, David Rundblad playing only seven minutes, and the top four all playing over twenty two. Niklas Hjalmarsson played over twenty five minutes for the second time this season, playing more minutes than Duncan Keith, who can and does regularly play twenty five to twenty seven minutes a game. Hjalmarsson's season average ice time is currently at a career high of 21.88 minutes.

At the risk of sounding like a stuck record, the Richards line is continuing to ignite, combining for four points on the night, including two goals for Richards. That's ten points in two games for those three players, and eleven points for Kris Versteeg in his last seven games. Patrick Kane was held pointless for only the second game since this line has started playing regular minutes together, but is still the points leader on the Blackhawks with twenty three in twenty four games.

The Blackhawks discipline was a little lacking in this game, especially from Daniel Carcillo. I've slowly been more and more impressed with his play since his return from injury, and he scored his third goal of the season last night, tied for second in bottom six Blackhawks forwards with Bryan Bickell and Marcus Kruger. However, he took a fighting major late in the game, and last game had to be held back after leaving the bench to go after Kyle Palmieri for hitting Johnny Oduya; an automatic ten game suspension. He currently has a penalty differential of +4, and if that can continue, and he can engage in less fights, then he can still be a useful fourth liner. He's putting up good possession numbers with Bickell and Andrew Shaw, and hopefully that can continue too.

My Three Stars of the Game 

3. Corey Crawford. He didn't face a lot of shots, but he did make some excellent saves, and though we're only just over quarter of the way through the season, he's putting up better numbers than he did the season he won the William Jennings trophy for few goals allowed against with Ray Emery, and won the Stanley Cup. If he can keep up those numbers (Chicago's PDO is currently sitting just above 100 even, so it's certainly possible), he could lead the Blackhawks to their third Stanley Cup final in six years.

2. Kris Versteeg. Versteeg is going from strength to strength to strength, consistently outplaying the opposition. Having two Conn Smythe winners as linemates certainly isn't hurting, but he's using his speed and skill to strip the other team of the puck and creating a scoring chance, and he's currently leading the Blackhawks in plus/minus.

1. Brad Richards. A couple of recaps ago I talked about how he was starting to find his groove in the team, and this game has only solidified that, giving him a pair of goals including the game winner, his first as a Blackhawk. 

Next game: December 3rd, vs. Blues