Blackhawks Shut Out Second Straight Home Game

photo from cbc.ca

Last night, the Blackhawks did a lot of things right. They mostly stayed out of the box, they generated a lot of shots, passing was good and on target, but they still lost 1-0 to the Jets, leading to their second straight 1-0 loss at home.


Corey Crawford allowed a goal (the only goal of the game) twenty seconds into the first period, ex-Hawk Michael Frolik flipping a rebound over his blocker side as he tried to make a sprawling save. After that, neither goalie allowed a shot, although I saw very, very few shots that either goalie should have allowed. It's should be surprising that it was such a low scoring game, especially after the last couple of games for Chicago had six goals in two games versus Toronto and Ottawa, but the Blackhawks offence seems to be struggling at home far more than they are on the road (the Blackhawks haven't won a home game since last Sunday, or had a regulation win) and this is costing them. This is the third game of the last four in which they've had to pull the goalie at the end to try to force overtime and they've failed to do so. Even if they lose in overtime, that's one of a possible two points, and it wouldn't leave them fifth in the Central division.

The Blackhawks went into that game 27th in the NHL in shooting percentage at 6.9%. They lead the league in shots on goal, so I feel confident in saying that this number is completely unsustainable for a team like the Blackhawks, who have players like Patrick Sharp, who leads the league in shots at 53, but only has three goals. This gives him a shooting percentage of about 5.7%, and when league average is about 10-12%, this is very quickly looking like another unsustainable number. Sharp had a good game last night, with seven shots on goal including a breakaway that beat the Winnipeg goalie but rang off the post; he was probably the best Chicago player on the ice.

They also seem to be getting better at discipline, only taking two minor penalties and killing off both, but they also had their thirty seventh and thirty eighth unsuccessful power play in twelve games, bringing them to nine for forty seven on the season.

The Chicago defencemen didn't have a great game in general, particularly Keith, Seabrook and Oduya, who all had bad turnovers and struggles with clearing the puck. Keith and Seabrook have been separated for the last few games because of the struggles at D, but it seems like they play worse apart than they do together, so I wonder how long Quennville will keep them broken up.

My Three Stars of the Game

3. Patrick Sharp. He's had a bit of a slow start to the season (despite being the points leader on the Blackhawks) but he looked really good this game, generating a lot of scoring chances and playing well no matter which line he's on. I wouldn't be surprised to see him finally breaking out in the next three or four games.

2. Michael Frolik. It's rare that the game winning goal happens less than a minute into the first period, bit Frolik's first of the season did exactly that. He almost doubled the lead at several points during the game, and was probably the best skater for Winnipeg.

1.  Michael Hutchinson. Hutchinson made thirty three saves last night for his first career NHL shutout in his seventh NHL game. I don't know if he was the better goalie on the ice, but he got the W, and that's what matters, in the end.

Next game, November 4th vs. Canadiens