The Chicago Blackhawks season is 3 games old which is a very small sample size, but we will take a look at some numbers that stand out at us after the first week of the season.
It seems like we were counting down the days for months until the Chicago Blackhawks season would kick off, and finally on Wednesday night the season was upon us. Now it’s Sunday afternoon and we are already 3 games into the season, so let’s take a quick look at some of the numbers that jump out off the page.
45.3%
This has to be the most disturbing stat so far this season with the Chicago Blackhawks getting out shot in all three games. On opening night the Hawks were outshot by the St. Louis Blues 34-19 and it felt like it was a whole lot worse. The second game was a little better with the Hawks only trailing on the shot chart 27-23, and last night the Hawks were outshot 37-26 even though the Hawks ended up winning the first game of the season 5-3.
Since Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane arrived a decade ago the Hawks always put way more shots on goal than their opponents, and it was always a rare night when they were out shot by another team. So this looks like it could be a very long season if they aren’t winning the puck possession and shots on goal battle nightly.
499
Marian Hossa looked so close to be scoring his 500th career goal last night when Richard Panik knocked in the 4th goal of the game. You can tell that Hossa is pressing a bit to get this big milestone goal and get it behind him.
It’s not like the team is pressing, but it sure would be nice to get Hossa scoring goals again whether it’s #500 or #505, the Hawks need their veterans to score and score a plenty so let’s get past this number.
That’s the grand total of points that Artemi Panarin has in the first three games this season. This I blame just as much on Joel Quenneville as I do on Panarin. Coach Q has already started juggling lines basically due to the lack of scoring from his veterans, and as promised he’s moved Panarin around.
The 2nd line was lethal last year, and it should be the one line Coach Q doesn’t mess with while Panarin struggles early on this season.
5
Your leading scorer through 3 games is Richard Panik which I’m perfectly fine with. The Hawks needed someone besides the second line and Jonathan Toews to score, and Panik has been in front of the net knocking in the change.
Will Panik be able to continue this all season long who knows, but through one week of the season all Chicago Blackhawks fans should be happy with Panik’s production!
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