If it seems at all hard to remember a time when a Blackhawks team with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane was so totally dominated as they were on Friday night in a 6-0 loss to the Capitals, well there’s a good reason for that.
It’s never happened.
Not since before Kane and Toews joined the Hawks has Chicago been on the wrong end of a shutout loss this lopsided.
#Blackhawks: first shutout loss allowing at least 6 goals since Feb. 4, 2006 (6-0 at Nashville)
— Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) January 14, 2017
Washington scored three goals in the first period, one in the second and two more in the third — all without having a single power play — in a game that seemed over from the opening faceoff. The Capitals were playing a much faster game at a higher level than the Hawks could keep up with.
It doesn’t seem like this is a turnout the Hawks will forget about anytime soon, either. Players were rightfully angry after the game.
I’ve only been on the beat two years but Jonathan Toews was as mad as I’ve seen him after a game, including the playoffs.
— Chris Hine (@ChristopherHine) January 14, 2017
Jonathan Toews was fuming after the game. Very short with his answers. Only a handful of times I’ve seen him that pissed after a loss.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) January 14, 2017
Niklas Hjalmarsson couldn’t remember the last time the #Blackhawks were so thoroughly outplayed. Neither could Jonathan Toews.
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) January 14, 2017
Toews: “You can’t forget those games. You gotta let them sink in. … You’ve got to use it, get pissed off, and use it the right way,”
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) January 14, 2017
The Hawks were outshot 34-24, 0-2 on the power play and won just 28 percent of their faceoffs. Every player on Chicago had a negative plus/minus with the team combining for a -30.
Edmonton defeated the Blackhawks 9-2 in 2011 for the most lopsided defeat in the Toews/Kane era, and a trip down Misery Lane via Hockey-Reference.com shows there have been plenty of big losses in the last decade.
The worse news is that after each of the top five games on that list, the Hawks lost their next match. Chicago now heads into a Sunday night showdown with a Minnesota team that’s only two points behind the Hawks for the lead in the Central.