Stop me if you’ve heard this one before; the Chicago Blackhawks will square off against a currently undefeated team that’s fast, defensively sound, is getting lights out goaltending, skates one of the best snipers in the NHL, and has major Stanley Cup aspirations this season.
That’s the task ahead of the Blackhawks when they host the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night at the United Center.
And just in case you wanted some more bad news; coach Luke Richardson not only ruled Taylor Hall out for this game against the Bruins, but also said he’ll miss the next few games before being evaluated on a week-to-week basis.
As a result of Hall’s injury, the lines were mixed up at Monday’s practice and boy are they, um, something:
Due to the fact these two teams played each other just 13 calendar days ago and Dave already wrote an excellent preview that should tell you all you need to know about the Bruins, I’m going to go a different direction and talk about a major concern I have with this Blackhawks team early in the season.
Last week Mark Lazerus wrote an article about Connor Bedard’s perceived scoring struggles (which feels ridiculous to even say) and one thing seemed to jump out to, well, everybody:
Only eight of Bedard’s 33 unblocked shot attempts have been from within 10 feet of the net. According to data culled from Evolving Hockey, Bedard’s average shot distance is 28.2 feet. For comparison’s sake, the average shot distance for Toronto’s Auston Matthews — who has a similarly spectacular shot and who scored six goals in his first two games — is just 14.7 feet.
So part of the concern is that Bedard isn’t getting shots within 10 feet of the net. Now, check out the heat maps for the Hawk’s last four games:
Other than Bedard walking John Klingberg and a broken play goal for MacKenzie Entwistle in the Toronto game, the Blackhawks aren’t generating any scoring chances close to the net. Meanwhile, look at the heat maps for their opponents and you practically need to put on sunglasses. Colorado looks bad but Vegas almost burns a hole through your screen.
As a team, the Hawks are being outshot overall by a 162-117 margin, and their 41.94 shots-for percentage is fourth-worst in the league. Their high-danger percentage is also fourth-worst, as they’re being out chanced 55-36, which translates to 39.56 percent. For comparison’s sake, last year’s team, WHICH WAS BUILT TO LOSE, had a high-danger percentage of 41.25 percent.
Through six games the Chicago Blackhawks as they’re currently constructed don’t appear able to generate shots, high-danger chances, or scoring chances within 10 feet of the net. Whether it’s system or personnel issues is irrelevant, it’s a fatal flaw that needs to be addressed immediately. And certainly not helping matters is the fact they just lost perhaps their only other legitimate top six winger to a shoulder injury.
I don’t know what they can do to get help for Connor Bedard right now (Shane Pinto? Connor Garland?) but I do know it has to be something more than just putting Tyler Johnson and Nick Foligno on his line and hoping that Taylor Hall feels better soon. A “fuck it, I’m going deep” option of Lukas Reichel and Andreas Athanasiou would at least feel like doing something.
Meanwhile, guess which teams leads the entire NHL with a 1.40 goals-against average? Brutal schedule, indeed.
How to watch
When: 7:30 p.m. CT
Where: United Center, Chicago
TV: ESPN
Webstream: ESPN+/Hulu
Radio: WGN 720