Blackhawks (5-0-0) match best start in team history
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- This was supposed to be the weekend for the NHL All-Star Game at Nationwide Arena. Instead, the Chicago Blackhawks flaunted their own constellation of stars. Patrick Kane had yet another multipoint game with two assists, Jonathan Toews scored the game-winner early in the third period, and Corey Crawford had 24 saves to help Chicago match the best start in franchise history with a 3-2 victory Saturday night over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The only other time the Blackhawks began a season 5-0-0 was 1971-72. "That was one of those games where maybe we didn't play our best hockey like we've seen in the last five games, but as a team it doesn't matter who goes out there you've got to find a way to win," Toews said. "And we did that." Crawford, who won for the fourth time this season, was solid all night but particularly when the Blackhawks were a man down. They killed all five penalties. "I feel good, I feel focused," Crawford said. "The puck looks pretty big right now. Also, everyone's making the effort to play defense. It's showing in the first bunch of games -- guys are coming back to help out and that helps us get to offense after that." Badly outplayed at the outset, the Blackhawks played methodical, poised and unhurried hockey all night. Even when down 1-0, it seemed only a matter of time before they collected themselves and took control. "Finding ways to win is important," coach Joel Quenneville said. "You're not going to be great every night or your best every night. Columbus played a hard-working game, working harder than us tonight. But we got key saves from (Crawford) tonight and that helped us." The All-Star Game, of course, was cancelled by the 119-day lockout that reduced the season to 48 games for each team over 99 days. Steve Mason held his own with 21 saves for the Blue Jackets, who lost their third in a row. A goal by Derick Brassard was waved off in the second period when the officials ruled Nick Foligno interfered with Crawford. That decision caused a sellout crowd of 18,381 to boo throughout the game. "You never know how a game's going to end up," Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards said. "(The goal being disallowed) certainly changed the course of the game. At the time, we were down 2-1. It's a huge play. He (referee Dan O'Rourke) makes the call, he saw what he saw. There's nothing we can do once he makes the call." On the power play after Jamal Mayers went to the penalty box for unsportsmanlike conduct, Brassard's slap shot from the point beat Crawford. But O'Rourke immediately waved off the goal. Replays showed Foligno's right skate was in the crease, although there was no apparent contact between him and Crawford. Between periods, Foligno said O'Rourke told him that the goal was disallowed because "I had bumped (Crawford) and didn't give him time to reset." The crowd booed lustily at every opportunity the rest of the night. Quenneville said later that replays showed clearly that it should have been a tying goal. Mark Letestu gave Columbus a 1-0 lead and Artem Anisimov scored late to make it interesting for the Blue Jackets, who have been outscored 12-3 in their losing skid. Toews, off of Kane's second assist of the night, put the Blackhawks up two goals 6:35 into the third after a turnover in the Chicago zone. Letestu's pass was deflected by Marian Hossa with Kane retrieving it. He fired a blind, quick pass to Toews who was all alone behind the defense. Toews faked left, then right, before flipping the puck past Mason for his third of the year and a 3-1 lead. Anisimov backhanded in Brandon Dubinsky's wraparound attempt with 2:19 left in regulation, but the Blue Jackets could not get the equalizer. Kane now has more than one point in four of the five Chicago games and has two goals and seven assists. "You can tell he's good ol' Kaner," Toews said. "He's going to work hard and make plays." The Blue Jackets could only think about the goal that didn't count. "Overall everybody worked hard," Mason said. "It's unfortunate. I'm not sure what the call was on that second goal for us but the guys kept working and we just came up a little short."
Game notes
Chicago won all six meetings against the Blue Jackets last season and is now 20-12-4 all-time at Nationwide Arena. ... The Blackhawks improved to 4-0-0 on the road this season. ... The Blue Jackets were without RW Cam Atkinson, who suffered a lower-body injury in camp. He may be out at least a week. ... Hossa has 35 points (17 goals, 18 assists) in 29 career games against Columbus while Kane has 34 points (12 goals, 22 assists) and Toews 33 (14 goals, 20 assists) in 31 games against the Blue Jackets.
Wings - Hawks is going to be awesome. I'm really looking forward to that came and hope we can smack Wings one in the face and make it 6-0. But really I just hope that nobody saw the robbery last night, we played like shit imo but at the end of the day all that matters are the 2 points.
Wings - Hawks is going to be awesome. I'm really looking forward to that came and hope we can smack Wings one in the face and make it 6-0. But really I just hope that nobody saw the robbery last night, we played like shit imo but at the end of the day all that matters are the 2 points.
yeah the Hawks did play like shit against Columbus but pulled out a win. The physical played Saturday made it hard late against the Wings but Leddy put them away in OT to put us 6-0 for the first time ever.
I'm not nearly as concerned about the D as the goal tending. Leddy just keeps getting better and better. Oduya seems to be a great fit. Even Hjalmarson has been finishing his checks which was a big problem last year. Don't know a lot about the new guy so we'll see on him. Both Crawford and Emery gave up some soft goals so let's hope for the best on them.
I have been a leddy fan since he got here. I was not to sure what was going to happen going with the same goalies again,but so far so good. I don't get to see many games on tv up here, but I have been listening to hawk kockey on the radio for years. With the 8.30 start , I can usually get the last 2 periods on the radio.
The Chicago Blackhawks finally lost for the first time of the 2013 season on Wednesday.
It was likely a relief to some.
With Wednesday’s 3-2 road shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild, the Blackhawks can put aside all of the talk that comes with a winning streak, especially one to begin a season.
There’s no more discussion of how long the streak will last and when their first loss will come. It has arrived, and it’s time to move on.
The 2013 team did put itself into the record books by becoming the first in franchise history to win six consecutive games to start a season. But the Blackhawks can now focus on what’s truly important: trying to get into that same record book for winning another Stanley Cup.
While the wins added up over the past week and a half, they were secondary to what the Blackhawks were really showing the NHL. With each penalty killed off, successful power play, Corey Crawford save, Marian Hossa goal, Patrick Kane assist and so on down the line, the Blackhawks were proving to the league they might just have what it takes to be a Stanley Cup contender again.
What the Blackhawks must do now is find ways over the remaining 41 regular-season games to be consistent in those areas. Winning steaks will come and go in the NHL, but consistent play is what prevails -- at least in the regular season.
Even in Wednesday’s loss, the Blackhawks were nearly on par with how they’ve played most of the season and were just a goal away from pulling off another victory. Despite the shootout loss, they still took a point out of Minnesota and upped their total to a NHL-best 13 points.
“That’s a great start,” Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. “The best thing about that is we’re doing a great job of putting the last game behind us and getting ready for the next one. That’s what we got to keep doing: Keep it one game at a time.”
The Blackhawks’ penalty kill has to be the most impressive aspect to their season’s start. Last season, the penalty kill was near the bottom of the league. Now it’s the reason why the Blackhawks have had a chance to win every game so far. A lot of players deserve credit for that early success, but Michael Frolik and Marcus Kruger have noticeably stepped up.
The penalty kill units were clicking again on Wednesday. The Blackhawks killed off all four Wild power plays, including one during which Kruger, Johnny Oduya and Niklas Hjalmarsson were on the ice for 1:23 to battle off a five-on-three chance. They also killed off in the final three minutes of the third period.
All together, the Blackhawks have given up just one power-play goal on 27 opportunities this season.
“If we happen to be going to the box every once in a while, we have a lot of confidence if the game is on the line we can get the job done,” Toews said of the penalty kill.
The Blackhawks’ power play has also turned itself around this season. It was shut out on two power-play chances Wednesday, but the Blackhawks are still among the league leaders with seven power-play goals.
Crawford’s play also stood out again on Wednesday. He allowed the first goal only after the Wild took three consecutive shots on him, and the second one was off a redirected shot. He was sharp otherwise and made one highlight-worthy save during the 5-on-3 penalty kill, during which he threw his body at a shot and the puck deflected off his shoulder.
If anything, the Blackhawks would like to score more often. They were held to two goals the past two games and haven’t scored more than three goals since their second game of the season.
The Blackhawks’ attention will quickly turn to facing the Vancouver Canucks on Friday. With five more road games ahead of them, the Blackhawks are aware their great start can be equalized with a rocky two weeks away from home.
“We’re on a long road trip now,” Toews said. “Can’t look too far ahead. We especially can’t get satisfied if we win a game or two.
“We’ve put ourselves in a good spot at the top of the standings after seven games. We got to make it even tougher for team to catch us, I guess.”
The 24-year-old LeBlanc has four goals and eight assists in 34 games with the Rockford IceHogs of the American Hockey League this season.
The IceHogs also acquired Mathieu Beaudoin from the Hershey Bears in exchange for future considerations. Beaudoin has three goals and seven assists in 32 games with Hershey.
Hawks played like crap Saturday night got out shot 47-19. Calgary takes the lead with :32 left and then this big Hoss scores with 2.1 seconds to tie it.
Hawks played like crap Saturday night got out shot 47-19. Calgary takes the lead with :32 left and then this big Hoss scores with 2.1 seconds to tie it.
Indeed, I think we can credit Emery for that victory. Great game for Emery to show up when the rest of the Hawks didn't I wonder why he doesn't play like that in every game our goaltending problems would be sovled. Pretty lucky to walk away with 3 points after the last two games.
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