10 observations: Hawks lose to Preds, drop 4th straight originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Blackhawks fell to Nashville Predators 3-1 at the United Center on Saturday for their fourth straight loss.
Here are 10 observations from the loss:
1. The Blackhawks subtracted five players from their NHL roster last week, and the lineup looked much different in the first game after Friday’s trade deadline. Take a look:
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First line: Lukas Reichel — Philipp Kurashev — Andreas Athansiou
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Second line: Tyler Johnson — Cole Guttman — Taylor Raddysh
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Third line: MacKenzie Entwistle — Jason Dickinson — Anders Bjork
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Fourth line: Boris Katchouk — Jujhar Khaira — Joey Anderson
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First pairing: Caleb Jones — Seth Jones
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Second pairing: Jarred Tinordi — Connor Murphy
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Third pairing: Andreas Englund — Nikita Zaitsev
2. I don’t think the first five minutes could’ve gone better for the Blackhawks, who scored 37 seconds into the game when Athanasiou connected with Seth Jones. They were suffocating the Predators to start. Unfortunately for them, the Blackhawks didn’t have much to show for it. It was 1-1 through one period.
3. Like the first period, the Blackhawks controlled the second. In fact, the Predators didn’t record their first shot in the middle frame until the 10:28 mark. But of course, the Predators went into the intermission with a 2-1 lead. The lone goal was scored by Tyson Barrie, whose shot from the point went off Kurashev’s stick and in for his first with the Predators.
4. Lukas Reichel definitely looks like a different player. He’s skating with confidence. And I really like him on the wing. I still don’t understand though why he’s not on the first power-play unit.
5. Kurashev’s ice time in the last three games, respectively: 20:12, 21:05 and 19:05. That ranks No. 1 among Blackhawks forwards over that stretch. He’s basically taking the ice time that Patrick Kane would have gotten. His ice time average prior to that was 17:27.
6. This was a pretty physical contest, which included two boarding penalties in the first period by Chicago — one from Dickinson and another from Englund. The Blackhawks had 10 hits in the first period and finished with 27 total. Englund led all skaters with nine.
7. Chicago’s best line of the night was Guttman, Johnson and Raddysh. The three of them generated a lot and didn’t give up much. I’ve been really impressed with Guttman, who, by the way, was not made eligible for the AHL playoffs. It looks like the Blackhawks are going to keep him with the big club for the rest of the season. He’s deserved it.
8. Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson joked on Friday that it feels like training camp with all the new faces on the roster. It felt that way to me, too. The coaching staff had to go over systems again at practice so everyone can get on the same page. It’ll probably take time for this new group to get used to each other.
9. Fun fact: Do you know who the fourth-longest tenured Blackhawk is now? The answer is Entwistle, who skated in just his 107th game. Even he was surprised to hear that: “I didn’t know that. It’s a little different. I think I only have 100-something games played. It’s definitely a little bit weird. But at the same time, we still have some veteran guys: Tazer, Murph, Jonesy, guys that have been around the league a long time. There’s still tons of guys that know what it takes every single day, night in and night out. So for young guys like us, it’s great to learn from. But to answer your question, it is definitely a little bit weird for sure.”
10. David Poile is stepping down as Nashville’s GM in the summer after holding the position for 26 years. Barry Trotz will take over, and Poile will move into an advisory role. I really like the moves Poile made ahead of the trade deadline to set Trotz up for the future. He, most notably, acquired five draft picks for Tanner Jeannot. Now that’s how you replenish the pipeline.
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