Blackhawks need to "score dirty" against the Florida Panthers

The Chicago Blackhawks are set to face the Florida Panthers in a matinee showdown on Oct. 25.

Amid their two game losing streak, their offense has been struggling as they have only scored one goal by Connor Bedard.

Against the Panthers, that is going to be a key for them. But how do they do it?

The Blackhawks need to score on their chances

After the Blackhawks lost 4-1 to the Montreal Canadiens, head coach Jeff Blashill mentioned whether the team is close to playing the way they want them to play:

"We're close for sure. We're not far off from playing the way we want to play at all. They're short-handed tonight. We're short-handed with a big piece out. So both teams were kind of missing some big pieces. I think we've been very close to the way we want to play. It'll be a broken record till we fix it. We have to continue in our maturity and not shoot ourselves in the foot. I thought in the third specifically, we passed up shots. So, at some point, when you're not scoring, you got to score dirty."

That is the thing with the Blackhawks is that they are getting chances. Against the Canadiens, they went 0-for-5 on the power play, and they also generated other chances on five-on-five that didn't go their way.

It's a frustrating reality, but one they can also use as a building block because no team can score if they aren't generating chances.

And the chances are there.

I spoke with Ryan Donato at practice on Oct. 24 and asked him where he feels the team is close to playing the way they want to, "I think there's chances we're getting. Like we have a lot of chances. We just gotta convert on them, right? And you put one or two of those away in each game, it's a different game. So I think just it's a matter of us stepping up. Everybody getting a little bit better each and every day at their jobs, and converting on our chances, and you know, our goalies have done a great job at giving us chances every night. But we (got) to also score and give them a feeling that we're pulling the boat in the same direction."

The Panthers are currently 18th in the league in goals-against per game (3.09), and have been a little shaky to start the season with a 5-4-2 record, while also missing their captain Aleksander Barkov, Brad Marchand, and goalie Jacob Markström.

But the team that won back-to-back Stanley Cups in the last three years always make for a tough opponent.

It's where scoring on their chances will be paramount and Jeff Blashill said as much pregame about facing the Panthers, "You know it's going to be a physical game. They're going to dump a lot of pucks in. I mean, you'd like to be able to do a job in the neutral zone to eliminate their ability to, especially get on the rim forecheck... But especially certain groups are going to be physical. It's just part of it, and I think it's more the pressure they put you under and the way they gap all over the ice. That's kind of their M.O. And so, if you beat that pressure, you get real chances. And if you don't, you spend a lot of time in your end. You got to understand the fact that you're going to be under that kind of pressure. You're not going to beat it every time, so you're gonna have to defend. But if you can beat it enough times, you're gonna get real chances. On those real chances, you got to score."

When the chances are not going their way, scoring those "dirty" goals may be the Blackhawks' best bet. Generating chaos in front to get a greasy or fluky goal.

If that puck luck can go the Blackhawks way, and if they at least continue to generate chances, the puck should end up in the back of the net more eventually.

They just have to generate, "score dirty" and see where it goes.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow