Blackhawks Second Intermission Report: Game One Against Tampa Bay

The second period was not the turn around the Chicago Blackhawks needed after falling behind 3-0 in Tampa Bay.

The good news for the Chicago Blackhawks is they only gave up one goal during the second period; the bad news is they now find themselves down 4-0 after two periods. Somethings for the Chicago Blackhawks seem to never change.

The ‘Hawks continue to show how much special teams can impact a game. Chicago failed on both of their power play opportunities thus far. They failed to keep the puck out of their net when down shorthanded as well. Tampa Bay was successful on two of their three power plays.

The ‘Hawks find themselves getting outshot dramatically after two periods. Tampa Bay is outshooting the Blackhawks 26-16, and during the rare opportunity that the ‘Hawks do get a shot on goal, they are treated with Andre Vasilevskiy, who is playing amazing thus far in this game.

Luckily for the team, there is a bright side of things… they did manage to win the faceoff to start the second period! That has to be something right? (It is going to be a long year.)

Here are a few notes after two for the Blackhawks:

Everyone is showing room for improvement. Adam Boqvist and Ian Mitchell have both made some costly mistakes that led to opportunities for the Lightning. Mistakes turn into goals when playing the Bolts, so they need to be better with the puck in the third.

The goalie situation is frustrating for sure, but there is not much the Blackhawks can do at this time. The Blackhawks do not have a better goalie sitting in their locker room right now or back home in Chicago. Subban won the battle for the ‘Hawks net during training camp, and while Delia will get an opportunity next game, changing to Delia right now would not be a good move for the future of the team.

One positive note for the team: David Kampf has eight faceoff wins thus far this game, out of the ten he has taken. He is leading the team thus far in that category. Considering Toews and Dach are out, finding a centerman that can be reliable in the faceoff dot will be huge.

Let us know in the comments how you are feeling after two periods of hockey! While the Blackhawks might not be leading or playing great, having hockey back is a strength in itself.