Chicago Blackhawks: Wrapping Up The Circus Trip

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.

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.

More from Blackhawk Up

• Blackhawks: Three Noticeable Improvements in Comeback Win vs Blues
• Blackhawks: Key Takeaways from 3-2 win over the Blues
• Blackhawks: Grading Connor Murphy and a position comparison
• Blackhawks: Shuffling the lines to try and spark offense at 5 on 5
• These Lineup Changes could Solve the Blackhawks’ Scoring Problem

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.