Back and forth
Hawks struggle to capitalize while ahead as Wild win in a shootout
The Chicago Blackhawks took a lead twice during Sunday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Minnesota Wild but lost both of them in the time it would’ve taken you to highfive a friend.
Hawks defenseman Jack McCabe opened the scoring in the first period, but the Wild’s Matt Boldy answered 22 seconds later.
Andreas Athanasiou regained the lead in dramatic fashion with a partial breakaway in the third, but it took Boldy just 17 seconds to dampen the Hawks celebration again.
It was quite the reversal from previous scrappy comebacks. And Hawks coach Luke Richardson can’t afford to let this become a trend — and the sour expression he wore on his face after the game suggests he won’t.
“Everybody says it, but we want to be the team that does it,” he said.
“The next shift is the most important because it deflates a team when you score, and then you let a team score right back and it can be the opposite. The next shift is always important.”
“If we get scored on or the other team gets scored on, we have to be the ones that dictate what goes on in the game.”
The Hawks took a big blow before the game, losing top defenseman Seth Jones to a right thumb injury. He’s expected to miss three to four weeks.
Jack Johnson paired with McCabe, and Caleb Jones and Filip Roos filled out the lineup. The Hawks didn’t have any more defensive miscues than they usually have.
“I thought they did good,” Richardson said. “Roos hasn’t played in a while, but I thought he looked good. Caleb, he’s been playing really well this year and tonight he was exceptional. I hope all these young guys who are doing well, we just need to make sure they’re not satisfied.”
Here are five takeaways from the game at the United Center.
1. Has Jonathan Toews turned back the clock? Toews poked in a rebound goal off Philipp Kurashev’s shot for his fifth goal of the season. The last time Toews had five goals in his first nine games was 2018-19, when he had five in the first three games, including a hat trick against the St.
Louis Blues on Oct. 6, 2018.
Few need to be reminded of how sluggish his start was last season, when he didn’t score until his 26th game.
Toews is on a five-game point streak and has scored three goals in the last four games.
“He’s just working hard,” Richardson said. “He’s had a couple tough years in the past. But I think he’s really worked on getting his body back to where he needs it to be.”
Toews had been well-supported by Tyler Johnson and Taylor Raddysh, but when Johnson was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury, Kurashev hopped on and the line didn’t miss a beat.
“With Radds and Johnny and I, we started figuring out how to manage the puck and not have to overskate ourselves and utilize too much energy to create offense, and we found ways to start letting the puck do the work,” Toews said.
“We’re just really finding ways to find each other and those two are working like dogs out there. It’s fun when I can rely on them and we all rely on each other to do little jobs like that and the offense just kind of comes as a result.”
Turn to Blackhawks, Page 13
Hawks defenseman Jack McCabe opened the scoring in the first period, but the Wild’s Matt Boldy answered 22 seconds later.
Andreas Athanasiou regained the lead in dramatic fashion with a partial breakaway in the third, but it took Boldy just 17 seconds to dampen the Hawks celebration again.
It was quite the reversal from previous scrappy comebacks. And Hawks coach Luke Richardson can’t afford to let this become a trend — and the sour expression he wore on his face after the game suggests he won’t.
“Everybody says it, but we want to be the team that does it,” he said.
“The next shift is the most important because it deflates a team when you score, and then you let a team score right back and it can be the opposite. The next shift is always important.”
“If we get scored on or the other team gets scored on, we have to be the ones that dictate what goes on in the game.”
The Hawks took a big blow before the game, losing top defenseman Seth Jones to a right thumb injury. He’s expected to miss three to four weeks.
Jack Johnson paired with McCabe, and Caleb Jones and Filip Roos filled out the lineup. The Hawks didn’t have any more defensive miscues than they usually have.
“I thought they did good,” Richardson said. “Roos hasn’t played in a while, but I thought he looked good. Caleb, he’s been playing really well this year and tonight he was exceptional. I hope all these young guys who are doing well, we just need to make sure they’re not satisfied.”
Here are five takeaways from the game at the United Center.
1. Has Jonathan Toews turned back the clock? Toews poked in a rebound goal off Philipp Kurashev’s shot for his fifth goal of the season. The last time Toews had five goals in his first nine games was 2018-19, when he had five in the first three games, including a hat trick against the St.
Louis Blues on Oct. 6, 2018.
Few need to be reminded of how sluggish his start was last season, when he didn’t score until his 26th game.
Toews is on a five-game point streak and has scored three goals in the last four games.
“He’s just working hard,” Richardson said. “He’s had a couple tough years in the past. But I think he’s really worked on getting his body back to where he needs it to be.”
Toews had been well-supported by Tyler Johnson and Taylor Raddysh, but when Johnson was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury, Kurashev hopped on and the line didn’t miss a beat.
“With Radds and Johnny and I, we started figuring out how to manage the puck and not have to overskate ourselves and utilize too much energy to create offense, and we found ways to start letting the puck do the work,” Toews said.
“We’re just really finding ways to find each other and those two are working like dogs out there. It’s fun when I can rely on them and we all rely on each other to do little jobs like that and the offense just kind of comes as a result.”
Turn to Blackhawks, Page 13
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