Chicago Blackhawks’ Lines Juggled At Rare Mid-Series Practice

The Chicago Blackhawks don’t often practice during Stanley Cup Playoffs series, but after last night’s 1-0 loss to the Nashville Predators, coach Joel Quenneville must’ve felt a meeting was necessary

You’d be hard-pressed to say the Chicago Blackhawks are concerned about facing a 1-0 deficit in their first-round playoff matchup against the Nashville Predators. It’s not that I’m in close with the team — it’s just how the Blackhawks have rolled under coach Joel Quenneville and this current core.

Still, the Blackhawks were likely disappointed with their 1-0 setback against the Predators, especially opening at the United Center. That showed today when they met up for a rare morning skate mid-series.

Naturally, if the Blackhawks do something that Chicago Sun-Times writer Mark Lazerus deems “extremely rare,” then there has to be something to take away from it. And there was something to take from this morning skate.

The Blackhawks tried out some new forward lines:

Chicago Blackhawks

John Hayden/Ryan Hartman–Jonathan Toews–Richard Panik

Artemi Panarin–Artem Anisimov–Patrick Kane

Nick Schmaltz–Marcus Kruger–Marian Hossa (Tomas Jurco standing in)

Dennis Rasmussen–Tanner Kero–Jordin Tootoo

On the first and third lines

So Coach Q isn’t going to the nuclear option of pairing Toews with Kane just yet. It would be extremely early for that, as just 60 minutes of scoreless hockey to start a series is nothing to panic over.

However, the other three lines look different at today, so let’s take a closer look at those.

Q was obviously not happy with Schmaltz’s play last night. He was one of just three Blackhawks to post a negative Corsi-for in 5-on-5 play, turning it a nasty 30.77 share. Having him on a line with possession drivers in Kruger and Hossa (the latter took a maintenance day today), could make for a really solid unit.

Now, Hartman bumping up to the top-line left wing role certainly wouldn’t be unprecedented. As long as he can stay out of the penalty box, Hartman can use a passable passing game and a willingness to drive to the net to help create some offense.

However, replacing Schmaltz on the top line with someone who has lesser passing abilities doesn’t make a ton of sense. Hartman can do a little east-west passing, but is more north-south. Schmaltz can give you the whole deal — he just struggled to produce it yesterday.

It may have been too quick for Q to pull Schmaltz from the top line. Now the top and third lines seem to have basically the same general structure. That’s not necessarily a good thing — unless both are now able to produce more scoring chances.

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I think Hartman is more likely to stick at top-line left wing than Hayden, who was another of the three Blackhawks to carry a negative Corsi-for yesterday (33.33). Hayden will either slot back into the fourth line or sit out Game 2.

On the fourth line

Meanwhile, Rasmussen is drawing back into the lineup … maybe? It’s either going to be him or Hayden in the lineup, I guess. Vinnie Hinostroza can’t get a shake right now, and Andrew Desjardins missed another practice due to injury.

Rasmussen is the definition of a guy for the Blackhawks. He doesn’t have the power or board tenacity of Hayden, nor does he have the speed of Hinostroza. He has a little more playoff experience (last season’s series against St. Louis), but not enough to matter that much.

Meanwhile, Tootoo’s spot in the lineup seems entirely unaffected. I was willing to give him a game to start the postseason. Tootoo has been serviceable enough of late, and he had one of his better games of the regular season against Nashville. But he was the third Blackhawk underwater in Corsi last night (45.45), and he brought next to nothing to the table in his whopping 5:29 of ice time.

Get Hinostroza out there. He could make something out of nothing in the blink of an eye with his speed. What’s the reason to have Tootoo out there at this point? He has playoff experience, yes, but it’s not any kind of experience that’s directly benefiting the game’s outcome. You’re just stunting your fourth line, even if it’s only out there in select situations.

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Of course, this could all be Q just trying to see what he has versus actually deciding on something for Game 2. Regardless, he’ll need to find a way to push his team toward more than zero goals.