10 observations: Offense dries up as Hawks lose to Wild originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Blackhawks fell to the Minnesota Wild 4-1 at Xcel Energy Center on Friday and dropped their sixth straight game.
Here are 10 observations from the loss:
1. The Blackhawks gave up the first goal for the 24th time in 29 games this season, but I thought they were the better team in the first period. They just couldn’t capitalize on any of their 12 scoring chances.
2. The Wild took over the game in the second period, where they led 12-1 in scoring chances and didn’t give up a single high-danger chance, per Natural Stat Trick. The power-play goal in the final minute to put them up 3-0 felt like the dagger.
3. Score effects definitely came into play in the third period, but the Blackhawks made things interesting. At one point, they were outshooting Minnesota 8-0 and Jonathan Toews scored a power-play goal to trim the deficit to 3-1 but it was too little, too late.
4. With Tyler Johnson out because of ankle soreness, the Blackhawks put Seth Jones back on the first power play unit and ditched the five-forward look. But the power play, as a whole, really struggled up until the fourth one when they scored seven seconds into it. They gave up more scoring chances than they generated on their three opportunities, which tells the story.
5. Petr Mrazek was on his A game. I counted three really good saves on Matt Boldy, another one on Steel in the first period that came on a breakaway, a highlight-reel stop on Zuccarello in the second and a great save on Matt Dumba in the third. He’d probably like to have the second goal back, but he was far from the reason the Blackhawks lost.
6. When Minnesota’s top line of Kirill Kaprizov, Sam Steel and Mats Zuccarello was on the ice at even strength, the Wild led in shot attempts (22-5), shots on goal (9-3), scoring chances (13-3) and high-danger chances (6-2). The three of them also teamed up for three goals, and Zuccarello scored all of them. They were dynamite.
7. Patrick Kane led all skaters with 23:55 of ice time, which is a new season-high. His previous high was 22:57, which came on Oct. 30 against Minnesota in a 4-3 shootout loss.
8. The Blackhawks dominated at the dot. They won 34 of 56 faceoffs for a win percentage of 60.7, and Toews led the way with 16 wins and five losses for a win percentage of 76.2.
9. The Blackhawks have picked up only three out of a possible 30 points over their last 15 games. Tough times.
10. Remember when Ryan Hartman injured his shoulder in a fight with Jarred Tinordi on Oct. 30 at the United Center? He hasn’t played since, missing the last 21 games because of it. He reportedly could return for Minnesota on Sunday, but that must have been a pretty serious injury if it knocked him out for a month and a half.
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