Blackhawks: Can Jeremy Colliton Rally The Troops For Game 3?

Jeremy Colliton’s biggest test as the Chicago Blackhawks’ head coach will be tomorrow night against the Oilers. Can Colliton rally the troops for Game 3?

If the Chicago Blackhawks want to win this series against the Edmonton Oilers, Jeremy Colliton will have to step up, along with the rest of the team. Colliton has some tough decisions to make for Game 3, along with this being his first time coaching in the NHL playoffs. The nerves must be huge for Colliton.

Colliton has taken over for Joel Quenneville, a coach who won three Stanley Cups and knows how to deal with pressure. These situations are where Blackhawks fans miss Quenneville. The situations after losing a tough game and needing to bounce back in a big way, those are the situations Quenneville did best in.

What Colliton has on his side are the veteran players who have been in this situation. Players like Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and others have waited since 2017 to touch playoff ice again. There’s no chance they’ll take these next two games for granted, as they’re not promised to ever return. Where Colliton will struggle is getting these younger guys to play hard for Game 3.

There will need to be some line changes and a switch in who defends McDavid. Younger players like Dominik Kubalik, Alex DeBrincat, and Dylan Strome will need to bounce back from their rough Game 2s and help the team more in Game 3.

DeBrincat has struggled this season and it’s hurt the Blackhawks. He is coming off of a 40-goal season in 2018-19, to struggle a ton and be quiet during the 2019-20 season.

Strome played poorly defensively yesterday. Kubalik not scoring on a few key chances he had hurt the team.

The defense was poor last night too. There is a lot of things this team needs to work on. These are moments where Joel Quenneville would get the team ready for, does Jeremy Colliton have that same drive? Can he get the best out of his players? Can they tighten up the defense and help out Corey Crawford? Can they shut down Connor McDavid? We’ll find out tomorrow.

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I like Colliton and think he has a real good shot tomorrow. If he wins Game 3, the confidence for him and the team will be through the roof. I believe it’s a must-win.