The Chicago Blackhawks were Bullied by the Lightning

With the Lightning taking shots at the Blackhawks’ stars, this team needs someone to step up physically.

The Chicago Blackhawks are on a downward spiral, from average goaltending now to the lack of “policemen” on the team. The stars were picked on all game, Subban couldn’t save a puck when Andrei Vasilevskiy saved what should have been at least four goals against in one period. The Blackhawks tried to comeback with their offense but yet again the back end didn’t help them one bit.

This Blackhawks team is also getting bullied, and the lack of response from the rest of the roster is honestly astonishing. Patrick Kane was cross-checked and Alex Debrincat was bullied by Yanni Gourde, then Adam Boqvist was elbowed. This team was beaten up, on the scoreboard and on the ice, and whimpered back to the locker room after a 4-1 loss. No messages were sent, and you can bet that the Lightning will continue their ways on April 27.

This Blackhawks team needs some policemen, as Nikita Zadorov was supposed to be, but was nowhere to be seen. There was no response to Gourde’s antics, and that was the thing that bothered me the most about the game. This Blackhawks team has been getting bullied by the Lightning since the Connor Murphy hit, and they need to add size and physicality to their roster for their last game against them on April 27 to answer the Lightning’s antics.

Yes, I’m aware that this team is built small and skilled, but when your stars get picked on to the extent that this team has, I expect the front office to add one or two large, physical players soon.

But, hey, when you tick off the Lightning on and off the ice, I would have expected the ‘Hawks to know that this was going to happen. They seemed to have, adding Reese Johnson to the line-up, but even still, no one responded. Steve Konroyd also voiced his displeasure in the Blackhawks’ lack of response to the Lightning but, other than Zadorov, none of the bottom six are really big enough to stand up to the Lightning.

With the “taking advantage of cap space” move coming in from recent sources, Stan Bowman should focus on getting bigger guys to protect the stars on the team. The play against Patrick Kane and Alex Debrincat can’t happen again, and adding some enforcers from Bowman’s trade deadline “plan” should be looked into.

To conclude, when two guys are carrying your team, they shouldn’t be bullied with no repercussions. I don’t want to see Jonathan Toews doing this type of work when he shouldn’t be. Toews is a willing combatant when the time is right, but no time should be “right” for him. The Blackhawks need their guys to stand up for each other or add a couple of guys at the trade deadline or in the offseason who will.