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3 takeaways from Blackhawks’ weekend split vs. Blues, Wild

The Blackhawks split a weekend set with a crushing 4-3 road loss to the Blues on Saturday in St. Louis and a 5-3 win against the Wild on Sunday in Chicago.

You blew it

The Blackhawks built multi-goal leads against the Blues and Wild, but allowed both Central Division foes to rally back. In St. Louis, the Blackhawks were up 3-0 a mere 4:16 into the third period before the Blues scored four goals to win. Against the Wild, Chicago was up 2-0 in the first period then Minnesota scored one goal in the first and another 1:59 into the second to tie it 2-2. Each team scored another goal in the second before Chicago potted two in the third for the win.

This weekend marked the third and fourth multi-goal leads the Blackhawks have blown in their last seven games.

Kane, Saad snap 6-game goal droughts

Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad have been arguably the Blackhawks best skaters this season, but they both entered the weekend with a six-game goal drought. Kane scored four goals across two games, including his sixth career regular-season hat trick, and Saad had three goals.

There are a few outliners, but for the most part goals have come in small bunches for Saad this season: three in three games (Oct. 10-14), three in four (Nov. 5-10) and three in three (Nov. 26-30).

Blocking shots

The Blackhawks defensemen were active blocking shots this weekend with 35 (15 against the Blues and 20 against the Wild). Olli Maatta and Connor Murphy had a nice effort as they had six and nine blocked, respectively. Murphy had a game-high six in St. Louis, while Maatta had four against the Wild. Brent Seabrook had three in the second game.

Talking Points