The Chicago Blackhawks took the lead in a game for the first time since Nov. 18, but it still wasn’t enough Thursday night in a 4-3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. That was after a deflating loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night. Chicago has only won three of its last 20 games.
Let’s check some trends:
Three up
Vintage Jonathan Toews
The Captain was all over the ice against the Golden Knights, scoring a goal and coming close to multiple others while playing like it was 2009 all over again. It wasn’t enough to get the Blackhawks a victory, but it does offer hope that Toews can maintain this level of play while the remaining portions of the Chicago roster are sorted out.
Connor Murphy’s health
Nothing is going right for the Blackhawks on the ice, but they may finally have some good news off it: Connor Murphy might be in the lineup soon, after being cleared for contact earlier this week. Chicago’s defense is in desperate need of reinforcements. Although Murphy probably won’t cure everything that’s currently ailing this team, he can’t make things worse, right?
Chicago’s draft positioning
It’s hard to claim this as a positive after the Blackhawks hot start to the season, but here we are. Only two teams are below Chicago in the standings right now. The St. Louis Blues trail by one point but have played four fewer games than the Blackhawks, while the Los Angeles Kings have 21 points (two behind Chicago) in 29 games (Chicago has played 30). By the end of the upcoming the Blackhawks, may be the odds-on favorite for the No. 1 overall pick next summer.
Three down
First-period goals against
There’s no need to elaborate. This tweet explains it all:
Blackhawks fell behind 1-0…
at WSH 0:54
at TBL 0:29
at FLA 5:48
vs. VGK 2:10
at WPG 1:43
at NSH 2:11
vs. CGY 10:07
at ANA 5:41
at VGK 1:28— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) December 7, 2018
Goal posts
There were two more shots off the post Thursday against Vegas after the Blackhawks hit the post four times against the Ducks on Wednesday. None of those shots managed to bounce off the post and into the net, of course, because why would that happen?
Just about everything
There isn’t much else to say about this team that wasn’t mentioned in our recap of Thursday night’s soul-crushing loss. And most things surrounding this team will continue to trend southward until this team snaps out of this funk. The law of averages suggests they’re due to start winning some games soon, right?
Right?