3 Things Chicago Blackhawks Can Take Away From Loss To Kings

Jan 28, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook (7) gets a 2 minute penalty for a hand pass (the whistle should have already been blown) in the second period of the game against the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

As you all may have seen if you stayed up late or read the news this morning, the Chicago Blackhawks suffered a tough loss to the LA Kings last night. The Blackhawks (and refs I might add) managed to squander 3 separate leads for the Blackhawks throughout the game and the Kings finished them off in the final 3:37 of play during the 3rd period. Things looked pretty good for the Blackhawks throughout the entire game and in the 3^rd period the Blackhawks looked as if they were going to pull the win out after Andrew Shaw broke the second tie of the game 2:25 into the period. Despite the loss there were still some positives to take away from the Blackhawks play that I would like to touch base on.

The first thing I noticed is that recently the Blackhawks have gotten off to the better starts in the final part of January. At the beginning of January the Blackhawks were finding themselves in holes early and frequently to start the game and then had to battle their way back just to play catchup with the other teams. This was not the case last night though after Patrick Kane found the puck on his stick after a deflected slap shot by David Rundblad and easily flipped it into the back of a wide open net. You could tell this set the tone early for the Blackhawks as they continued to control the puck possession moving forward for the majority of the 1^st period. Now they just have to work on eliminating giving up the final goal in the 3^rd period to solidify more wins.

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The second positive that can be taken away from this game and the Chicago Blackhawks play is their recent scoring on the power play. The Chicago Blackhawks have now extended their streak of at least one power play goal to 4 games. The key moving forward will be capitalizing even more on their opportunities however. Though they did make one power play goal versus the Kings, they also squandered 3 other opportunities which could have changed the outcome of the game.

The last takeaway from the game is that Patrick Kane continues to impress and has been racking up the points as of late. In the past we have seen him get hot then maybe fizzle off some but he has continued to keep his play at a high level throughout the entire year. His name should be in the talks as a MVP candidate since he is currently the only player in the NHL who has at least 20 goals and 30 assists. He has a game winner in OT to win the cup, countless game winning goals, and amazing shootout statistics. This guy is elite along with Jonathan Toews and the Blackhawks are lucky to have locked the two of them up for 8 more years!

Don’t get too panicked after this loss Blackhawks fans. The key moving forward is to rebound off of a loss and learn from the mistakes that were made in the game (maybe the refs will too.) All you can do is move to the next one and win that game versus the Western Conference leading Anaheim Ducks! Time to go duck hunting, LET’S GO HAWKS!

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