5 Chicago Blackhawks Takeaways From Overtime Loss To Dallas Stars

The Chicago Blackhawks came out of the front half of a home-and-home with the Dallas Stars as losers Thursday, meaning there’s plenty to talk about

As hot as the Chicago Blackhawks have been of late, it’s not as though they’ve been winning every game in 7-3 blowout fashion. And thus, we get something like a 4-3 overtime defeat at the hands of Dallas last night.

Here are five takeaways from the game, which serves as the front end of a home-and-home against the Stars.

Youth is served

— Alex DeBrincat continues to impress with his play, scoring again and being a goal post away from potting a second. The Cat was on fire in November with 10 markers for the month. His 11 goals in total is second among all NHL rookies this season. If the 19-year-old keeps this up, coach Joel Quenneville will have little choice but to promote him to the top six.

— Gustav Forsling had another good game on the blue line. His 27 minutes of ice time was more than Duncan Keith logged. I can’t remember the last time I could say that.

On the downside

— Just when it appeared that Blackhawks had turned a corner in their play, they came out stale and never got anything going until the third period. The team’s powerplay was particularly disappointing, scoring just once in seven attempts. They had a meager 10 shots on goal heading into the third frame. The good news was they salvaged a point in the game.

— I have watched a lot of hockey in my day, but the penalty shot awarded to Radek Faksa on the supposed hook by Chicago’s Patrick Kane was one of the worst penalty calls I’ve seen. Faksa scored, adding insult to injury.

— The Toews-Saad-Panik line had another tough night with only two shots on goal between them. Kane had five shots alone. Is it time for a shake-up? Personally, I wouldn’t mind if John Hayden or DeBrincat is moved up to the first line.

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As poorly as Chicago has played at times this season, it is only seven points behind the division-leading St. Louis Blues. The ‘Hawks get another shot at Dallas Stars on Saturday evening. The team should be fired up after the highway robbery that took place last evening. Let’s hope we see a better effort and a different result.