Stanley Cup Playoffs: Blackhawks-Blues, Game 1 By The Numbers

Game 1 of the Chicago Blackhawks and the St. Louis Blues first round playoff series is in the books.  Unfortunately for Blackhawks fans, the bad guys won this one by a measly score of 1-0 in overtime.  But the Blackhawks did a lot of things right.  Overall, they claim to be happy with their game in spite of the outcome.   I always like to better understand each contest by taking a look at the statistics and numbers from the game.  Here are some numbers that stood out to me from Game 1.

70-This is the number of hits St. Louis Blue’s coach Ken Hitchcock thinks his team needs to have per game in order to win this series.  They were given credit for 41 hits in Game 1.  Coach Q’s response to this?  “I hope he tries to get 70.  That means we have the puck the whole game.”

56-Here we have the faceoff percentage for Artem Anisimov.  He took 18 draws, winning 10 and losing 8.  For someone that has been having trouble on the dot for most of the season, this is a good sign.  As a point of reference, Jonathan Toews took 18 draws as well, winning 8 and losing 10, for 44%.

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35-This is the number of shots on goal for the Blackhawks in Game 1.  Too bad none of them went in.  But it does bode well if they can continue to generate this kind of offense.  Conversely, the Blues only had 18 shots on goal.  Perhaps it’s just me, but I’d say they should concentrate on more shots instead of more hits.

30:35-This was the amount of minutes defenseman Brent Seabrook was on the ice last night.  That’s a lot of ice time!  Niklas Hjalmarsson and Trevor van Riemsdyk were both close behind him with a little over 28 minutes a piece.  I’m sure all three players will be happy to see Duncan Keith return for Game 2.

8-This is the team high number of hits for Andrew Ladd in Game 1.  He was a game-time decision, as he was in Chicago earlier in the day.  His wife was in labor with their third child.  Considering he almost didn’t play, he brought a lot of energy and physicality that the Hawks definitely needed.  By the way, Ladd’s wife gave birth to a boy today, named Walker Gordon.  Both mother and baby are doing well!

7:27-Here we have Brandon Mashinter’s time on the ice.  The second lowest number was Andrew Desjardins, who played 12:05 minutes.  I’m betting we’ll see either Dale Weise or Richard Panik in for Game 2.

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7-This was the team high shots on goal, which was credited to Jonathan Toews.  You can’t say Captain Serious isn’t trying.  Keep those shots coming!

1-Ah, 1 is the amount of goals the Blues needed in order to beat the Hawks.  David Backes was credited with the goal, but it actually went off TVR’s skate and snuck in past Crawford.  Andrew Shaw might love shin pads, but poor Trevor probably hates skates right now.

Next: Hawks Just Need A Few Tweaks

Well there you have it.  The goal is to split games on the road, so if the Chicago Blackhawks can pull out a win on Friday things will be all even again.  They can then look forward to two games at the United Center.  Another thing I’ve noticed from following the Hawks is that Coach Quenneville seems to love to use words that start with a “P”.  When describing what it takes to win, he used the words perseverance, passion, and patience.  Let’s hope these things and more “puck possession” can be the themes for the “W” on Friday!

LET’S GO HAWKS!!!