5 Quick Chicago Blackhawks Thoughts On Overtime Loss To Maple Leafs

The Chicago Blackhawks were desperate for two points tonight, and when the game ended they were only able to pick up one point. Here is 5 quick thoughts on the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 loss in overtime to the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

5. The Hawks Have To Start Finishing Plays

The difference between the Chicago Blackhawks of years past and this years version of the team is that they really are struggling to finish off plays.  This really could be a story of having a lot of youth on the team that they can get themselves into a scoring spot but just can’t finish with the puck in the back of the net.  They had 17 shots in the first period, but only one of them went behind Frederik Andersen.

4. Anthony Duclair Needs To Shoot The Puck

Well the Top line of Anthony Duclair–Jonathan Toews–Alex DeBrincat was really dangerous especially in the first period.  It’s amazing what a different player DeBrincat is when he plays with talented linemates instead of playing on a checking bottom 6 spot.

Duclair has some serious jets, and twice he was in but tried to make the extra pass.  Please take the shot because the Captain is good with rebounds.  Sure, tap in goals are nice, but put pucks on goal and good things will happen.

3. Duncan Keith isn’t Duncan Keith Anymore

Keith has been a great defenseman for a long time, and his number 2 will be in the rafters one day, but his best days are long behind him.  He struggles to get any shot on net and they are usually blocked, and on the Maple Leafs second goal of the night he was way out of position and Kadri got a tap in goal.

One of the reasons the Hawks were dominant for a decade is because they had Keith and Niklas Hjalmarsson locking down the blue line. Well Hjalmarsson is gone, and it’s apparent Keith is settling into a decent but not great defenseman part of his career.  Maybe Keith should get a night off instead of everyone else.

2. Wait, 2 Powerplay Goals??

During the NBCSN broadcast, even Doc Emerick was mocking the fact that the Hawks scored twice with the man advantage.  There wasn’t some secret play they were doing, but they moved the puck way more briskly and when you get the defense moving lanes open and Brent Seabrook and Nick Schmaltz were able to cash in tonight.  Of course the night the Hawks find their powerplay they can’t score 5 on 5. It was very encouraging to see movement and goals with the Hawks powerplay units tonight.

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1. No Icing Changed The Momentum

Late in the first period, and obvious icing wasn’t called and Brent Seabrook really thought the play was dead.  The Leafs kept the puck and ended up scoring  Here’s a few thoughts about the play.  It really did change the momentum of the period.  The Hawks really had dominated the period and play of the game and the crowd was into it.  After the goal the crowd was never a factor.

Secondly, Seabrook has to play until he hears a whistle.  There is no excuse for that play in that situation.  Lastly, the Hawks had two more periods to rectify the situation and didn’t so you can’t blame the refs.

Bonus Thought

The results haven’t been there the last two nights, but the Hawks played two good games, and maybe if they can sustain this play and get out of town the wins will start adding up!

Next: Trade Deadline Thoughts

What are your thoughts on tonight’s game?