Kantserov extends point streak, Boucher fights, Blackhawks lose 4-1 to Lightning

In the second half of back-to-back games, the Chicago Blackhawks matched up with the 9-3-2 Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday, Nov. 5. There were a lot of Hawks fans in the house, as Tampa is a prime destination for a getaway and to watch your favorite team play. Alas, they weren't treated to much of a show, as Chicago fell 4-1 for their fifth loss in a row.

Let's get to the game details, game reaction and postgame quotes.

Blackhawks lineup & special teams

Bertuzzi-Bedard-Kantserov

Mangiapane-Frondell-Teravainen

Moore-Nazar-Donato

Smith-Greene-Boucher

Vlasic-Cole

Kaiser-Levshunov

Del Mastro-Rinzel

Soderblom/Knight

Extras: Greenway, Korchinski, Kane (upper body), Byram (upper body)

Compared to the previous game the night before in Sunrise, Andrew Mangiapane drew in on the second line replacing Cole Smith, who moved back down to the fourth line. Jordan Greenway was the scratch, while Dillon Boucher remained in the lineup.

The defensive pairings stayed the same, which Arvid Soderblom was in the crease on the second night of back-to-back contests.

Power play units

PP1: Nazar, Bedard-Kantserov-Frondell, Levshunov

PP2: Bertuzzi, Teravainen-Donato-Moore, Rinzel

Penalty kill contributors

Frondell, Greene, Smith, Cole, Kaiser, Levshunov, Vlasic, Terevainen, Nazar,

Blackhawks game notes

• Just a few minutes into the game, Blackhawks' Ethan Del Mastro was called for tripping. Victor Hedman scored on the ensuing power play to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. Assists were provided by Anthony Cirelli and former Blackhawk Brandon Hagel.

• The Lightning pretty much dominated the first period, with the Blackhawks not having much zone time. They got better as the period went on, but it seemed almost methodical by the Lightning. Sure enough, with less than two minutes to go, former Blackhawk Ilya Mikheyev came in with speed and went five-hole to beat Soderblom (assists by Erik Cernak and Pontus Holmberg. 2-0 Bolts was the score at the end of 20 minutes.

• There was a lot of back and forth in the second frame, but no scoring. Frank Nazar thought he scored by tipping in a shot by Wyatt Kaiser, but it was immediately waved off for Nazar having a high stick on the tip. At the end of the second, the Lightning led 2-0 goals, 24-15 in shots and 34-24 in shot attempts.

• But the real highlight of the second frame came earlier, when tough guy Dillon Boucher finally found a dance partner in the Lightning's Jeff Viel. It was quite the heavyweight tilt, and got the crowd REALLY riled up.

• The odds are definitely against the Blachawks headed into the third period. They're down 2-0 and being out-shot and out-chanced by the Lightning. Sure enough, Ryan McDonagh put the nail in the coffin with a shot from the point to make it 3-0 Lightning. Assists were by Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point.

• Mikheyev put the icing on the cake for the Lightning with his second goal of the night (doubling his goals on the season). Assists were by...do you really even want to know?! Ok, assists were by Cernak and Zemgus Girgensons.

• I guess you could say there is some good news here. In the last minute of the game, Roman Kantserov scored to ruin netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy's shut out bid. Assists were credited to D-mean Sam Rinzel and Del Mastro. It was Kantserov's eighth goal of the season, to lead the team and all NHL rookies. It also extends his point streak to seven games (5G, 2A). He's currently on a three-game goal streak as well. Not too shabby!

• Final score, 4-1 for the Lightning; and the Blackhawks fifth loss in a row.

Quotable quotes

Cole Smith is a depth player that prides himself on being physical. On this night he had six hits, second only to Boucher's seven hits. The Blackhawks accounted for 31 hits altogether, compared to the Lightning's 13. Said Smith, "I think that's something as a as a whole we can increase, and I think it helps helps the team. But yeah, it's something I've put on myself to do a little bit more. Obviously, having Bouch (Dillon Boucher) in the lineup, he brings a lot of that, and so yeah, that's something we needed, and we had a few (hits) tonight.

Now, back in the day, Blackhawk's head coach Joel Quenneville would say you don't need to hit anyone when you have possession of the puck. Which is quite true in this case. But the point here is that the Blackhawk's still seem to be trying. They're angry and they're frustrated and they want to start winning.

Speaking of Boucher, I asked Vlasic what the fight he got into meant to the team. "Yeah, great for him. He's brought a lot of energy for us. He's one tough guy. Happy that he's here. He's an awesome teammate and person. So yeah, he was definitely gushing a little bit, good to get the boys fired up. He knows that meant a lot for us out there."

Coach Blashill gushed about him too (pun intended). "I can't say enough good things about him. I don't know how many hits he had, but it felt like a number of real impactful hits. I think that's a momentum changer. That's a thing that makes you harder to play against. Obviously the fight; that's two real tough guys. Hats off to those guys because they traded some blows there. But guys love him. You know, he's accountable player. I think he's done a good job defensively, and he goes out there and he's physical. And that's what we want to bring to the table."

When asked why the team is having such a hard time scoring right now, Blashill cited getting to the net more as one of the key ways to remedy that. i also asked Blashill what he's seeing from Kantserov, one of the guys that IS scoring right now. "He's a guy that does go to the net. You know, and if you look at a lot of his goals, they're around the net. He's not going to score from far out. But he's a smart player. He's good around the net. He's got good eye-hand coordination, so he can tip pucks. He's a good shooter. I don't think him. Bedsy (Bedar) and Bert (Bertuzzi) had the jump they had a night ago, and so that made it harder for them throughout the game. And they were getting checked by a good checking line, and didn't have that same kind of jump. But he's a real smart player, and I think that combination together is real smart."

Getting back to the loss, Ryan Donato tried to put things in a proper positive perspective. "I think the effort's there. Guys are working. We have a great group of guys in that locker room. Guys that you know love being with each other. We want to compete and we want to win. And I think it's a matter of time."

I certainly hope Donato is right. But instead of getting better, things just seem t be getting worse for the Blackhawks. Something's gotta give. Does that mean a coaching change? A trade of some sort? More call ups from Rockford? Or do they continue to stay the course and wait for an easier schedule? I'm sure we'll have some answers soon. Because it just seems like there's gotta be a shake up of some sort.

The Blackhawks will conclude their road trip against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday (Nov. 7), who they fell to 5-2 on Oct. 10. Can they finally turn it around and find a win? We'll see on Saturday.

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