Chicago Blackhawks: 5 Quick Thoughts After 5-1 Victory

By Keith Schultz | Oct 7, 2017

CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 07: The Chicago Blackhawks celebrate after defeating the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-1 at the United Center on October 7, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Bill Smith/NHLI via Getty Images) /

The Chicago Blackhawks finished Game #2 of the season with a 5-1 win on home ice at the United Center. Here are my 5 Quick Thoughts after tonight’s victory.

5. Patrick Kane is on a Mission– Patrick Kane looks very focused to start the season. He now has 2 goals and 4 assists through 2 games, and he looks like he’s trying to set up every goal, and with the Hawks scoring 15 times in 2 games that’s a lot of goals to set up.

The funny thing is everyone was worried about Kane without Artemi Panarin, but it’s basically Artemi who after two games into the season.

4. Corey Crawford is Quietly Playing Great- The story after 2 games has been the Chicago Blackhawks offense, but let’s be honest in both 2nd periods of both games so far the opponents have had the best of the play. The difference has been Crawford. He’s only given up a 5 on 3 goal and a fluky goal with Ryan Hartman basically sliding the puck into the Hawks net.

Crawford always seems to play well at the beginning of the year, and after two games of the season this hasn’t changed this year.

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3. Blackhawks defense looks more aggressive- The biggest question mark heading into the season was the Hawks defense, but when you watch them play they look way more aggressive. They are really focused on holding the puck into the zone, and getting the puck out of the zone if it does get into the zone.

The other thing that is noticeable is that Connor Murphy isn’t afraid to throw his body around which gets everyone hitting.

2. Brandon Saad takes bee lines to the net- There is one thing that is very noticeable early on and that’s the fact that Saad is always going to the net. That was really missing the past couple of years when Saad was playing in Columbus. Saad collected his 4th goal of the year so he’s off to a very hot start which is what all Hawks were expecting when the trade went down.

1. The Hawks speed in forechecking is noticeable. Richard Panik didn’t pick up a point on the Jonathan Toews Goal, but his forecheck set up everything. The Hawks speed, and speed in the offensive zone has been very noticeable. They look much faster and bigger and having a 15-2 goal differential after two games just shows how much their speed is giving teams difficulties!

Next: Blackhawks Giving Fans A Lot To Like Early On

What are your thoughts about the game tonight?

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