Blackhawks: Three reasons the team lost against the Avalanche

The Chicago Blackhawks fell short in game one against the Colorado Avalanche. Yesterday night during my game reaction I tried to focus on some positives. Today I want to talk about what the team lost.

This was not the best opening game of the season for the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks lost the game four to two. The game was more competitive than it was supposed to be after the Hawks fell behind three to zero early in the game. That brings me to the first reason the team lost yesterday.

1. Bad Start To The Game

Most games the Blackhawks battle back to try and win is often too little too late. That already seemed like the case when Dominik Kubalik scored in the first period. Chicago found themselves down and out early thanks to just a bad start to this one.

Moving forward starting on time has to be a key for this team. Everyone could be better, and yes Colorado is a good team, but they were not that great to totally dominate the Hawks. This was not the best Chicago can be. I think they have a lot more to prove on the ice and I cannot wait to see what they do in their next game on Friday.

2. Failure To Finish On Chances

Darcy Kuemper was a wall in net for the Avalanche. I think that is going to be something fans around the league see all season as Kuemper definitely is one of the best goalies in the league. Even in Arizona he was great, on a good team he is going to be elite.

Chicago had few chances but the chances they did have they failed to capitalize on them. The power play late in the game paired with pulling the goalie yielded no goals, and the Hawks transition game was rough as they struggled to get anything going off of the rush.

3. Growing Pains?

Chicago had a lot of new players last night. From Seth Jones to Marc-Andre Fleury this was the first time this roster truly played together in an NHL game. This might take a few games to build momentum and that is alright. If they are going to have bad starts and bad nights against any team I would hope it is a team like Colorado and not a winnable game against the St. Louis Blues.

Staff Predictions for the Chicago Blackhawks 2021-22 season

Chicago is back in action on Friday against the New Jersey Devils in what is definitely a must win game for the team after the performance in Colorado. Falling behind in the standings is not something this team needs during the first month of the season. While it might take some time to get acquainted with each other and play good hockey, it can’t come at the cost of points in the standings.