Chicago Blackhawks: Wrapping Up The Circus Trip
Nov 21, 2016; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Chicago Blackhawks defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson (4) and Edmonton Oilers forward Milan Lucic (27) battle along the boards for a loose puck during the second period at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Perry Nelson-USA TODAY Sports
Despite recent struggles, the Chicago Blackhawks managed a 3-3-1 record on the Circus Trip.
The final Circus Trip is finally in the books. The Chicago Blackhawks came out just above .500 on this trip, tipping the scales to the positive side by gaining a point with overtime last night in Los Angeles. They only managed to win one of the last four games, but they gained seven of a possible 14 points, and still lead the Central division with an overall record of 14-6-3 and 31 points. Here’s a recap of last week’s games.
Monday, 11/21, At Edmonton Oilers. Loss, 5-0
Another day, another garbage game. The Chicago Blackhawks forgot to show up for this one. The Edmonton Oilers have a ton of speed, and a guy named Connor McDavid who’s pretty good at hockey. The Hawks found themselves down 3-0 at the end of the second period, just like in Vancouver a few nights earlier. But instead of making another magnificent comeback, they let in two more goals, and failed to score themselves.
Teams are starting to figure out that the way to beat the Chicago Blackhawks is to clog up the neutral zone and the Hawks offensive zone with a very active defense. The Hawks are going to have to figure out how to get past this and find ways to score.
Nov 23, 2016; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks left wing Mikkel Boedker (89) and Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook (7) watches the puck in the second period of the game at SAP Center at San Jose. The San Jose Sharks defeated the Chicago Blackhawks with a score of 2-1. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Wednesday, 11/23, At San Jose Sharks. Loss, 2-1
The big news for this game was the splitting up of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane after 13 games together. Kane and Marian Hossa switched places; so Toews and Hossa were reunited on the first line, and the second line of Artemi Panarin, Artem Anisimov, and Kane found themselves back together again. Coach Q admitted he would have made this switch sooner if it wasn’t for the success Hossa was enjoying with Panarin and Arty.
Also, defenseman Michal Rozsival drew back into the lineup, while Michal Kempny sat. I’m not sure why you would break up the best defensive pairing of late in Brent Seabrook and Kempny. But Q has made it clear that he wants to keep everyone fresh, and Rozy’s only played in five games all season.
Now this ended up being the second loss in a row, and the third of the circus trip, so you can see why everyone was thinking doom and gloom after this one. But the Hawks didn’t actually play all that bad. They let in a power play goal, and a hiccup on their own power play allowed San Jose’s Joel Ward to get a breakaway for a shorty.
But for the most part, they played a solid and consistent game. They managed 34 shots on goal, although unfortunately Panarin was the only one that managed to break through with a goal. Combine that with the fact that Toews sustained an upper body injury and left in the second period, and you just have to chalk this one up to bad luck. You can’t win them all, but you can carry over the positives to the next game.
Feb 13, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Artem Anisimov (15) and Anaheim Ducks center Ryan Kesler (17) fight for the puck during the third period at the United Center. Anaheim won 3-2 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports
Friday, 11/25, At Anaheim Ducks. Win, 3-2
Capitalize on the positives is exactly what the Chicago Blackhawks did against the Ducks. They didn’t let two losses in a row and the injury of their captain get them down. In fact, they probably used this as motivation.
This tweet pretty much sums up how things went in Anaheim.
#Blackhawks won only 18 of 67 faceoffs (26.8 percent) and were outshot by 11, yet steal a victory in Anaheim without Jonathan Toews.
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 25, 2016
Toews is the only center on the Blackhawks that consistently wins faceoffs, so you can see they definitely struggled in that department without him. Not winning on the dot leads to less possession, and therefore fewer shots on goal.
But the Panarin-Arty-Kane combo decided it was their turn to shine (they were promoted to the top line, by the way). They combined for two goals (one being a power play goal), and the youngster Ryan Hartman provided what ended up being the game-winning goal. It was Hartman’s fifth goal of the season, and his third on the Circus Trip. Not only is he scoring goals, but he’s doing a good job of becoming the agitator Andrew Shaw used to be. He’s definitely hot right now. Hopefully this trend will continue.
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Meanwhile, the Ducks were too busy hitting the Hawks to score more goals; they were credited with 35 hits on the night. As Ducks forward Ryan Kesler said in the 2015 playoffs against the Hawks, “No human can withstand those many hits”. Yeah, whatever, Kesler. I hope you enjoyed another loss.
Nov 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Kings center Nick Shore (21) , Chicago Blackhawks center Nick Schmaltz (8) and Blackhawks left wing Richard Panik (14) chase down the puck in the third period of the game at Staples Center. Kings won 2-1 in OT. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Saturday, November 26, at LA Kings. Loss, 2-1 in OT
First things first, I’m not sure if I like the King’s new uniforms. They’ve got way too much grey going on. Combine that with the white of the Hawk’s away uniforms, and I felt like I was watching the game in black and white. That’s of course until you got down to the end and ran into DARLING’S RED PADS!!!
Speaking of which, Scott Darling made a good showing, stopping 27 of 29 shots, and allowing the Hawks to stay in the game as they struggled offensively. Toews was still out of the lineup for this game, so that certainly didn’t help matters. The Hawks only won a measly 36% of their faceoffs, and managed only 19 shots on net. Fortunately, one of those translated into a goal. And I do mean fortunately.
Seriously, how do you defend that?! That’s just pure luck. Ok, and maybe some good positioning. Thank God for Patrick Kane and positioning!
Closing Thoughts.
The Chicago Blackhawks have been perfect on the penalty kill for the last two games, killing off five penalties. Things are definitely looking up in this area since having such horrible PK stats to start out the year.
The power play, on the other hand, leaves a lot to be desired. The Hawks only scored on two of 14 power plays during the entire seven game road trip. Things are getting stagnant. It’s time to go back to the drawing board on the man-advantage.
After being out of the lineup for two games in favor of Rozsival, Kempny drew back in and played another solid game. He should stay. Why doesn’t Gustav Forsling ever get scratched? Coach Q is definitely still trying to work out the best matchups when it comes to the D-corps. Our very own Colin Likas gives us some insight into this situation in his recent post. You can read it here.
Well, the Chicago Blackhawks finally ran out of luck in regards to the Circus Trip. Although you can technically call this trip a success, the Hawks usually shine a lot brighter during this time. The good news is they will play at the United Center for six of their next seven games. Onward and upward!
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