When the schedule came out for the 2011-2012 regular season, November 6th was one that Chicago collectively circled. After a thrilling first round playoff series last season, it would be the first time the Blackhawks met the rival Vancouver Canucks on the ice.
On Sunday night, the Blackhawks looked very much like a team that got caught up in the hype of the season’s first meeting.
After a disappointing loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday night, which saw the team get complacent and sloppy in losing a two-goal lead, the Blackhawks followed that up with easily their worst performance of the season.
Against a Vancouver team that has struggled early in their season since losing in the Stanley Cup Finals, the Hawks had almost no presence on the ice throughout. Their special teams were a disaster and despite 40 shots, they didn’t really challenge Roberto Luongo, who looked like he could break had there been any sort of pressure from the Hawks.
The Canucks didn’t waste any time scoring on Sunday, getting on the board with David Booth‘s power play goal six minutes in. Power play goals would be a trend for Vancouver, as the Blackhawks found it impossible to stay out of the box.
The Blackhawks would get a break later in the period, with Michael Frolik sending a soft goal past Luongo to even things up. That would be one of the few positives that the Blackhawks would be able to pull from the game.
Bad penalties were the flavor for the Hawks on the night, as they wound up in the box six times, most of which were just penalties that the team didn’t need to take. Those would prove costly, as the Canucks would capitalize on five of those power plays, dismantling a Chicago penalty kill that had been strong all season prior to Sunday.
Even when the Blackhawks had a chance to climb back into it, after Marcus Kruger crashed the net and scored to make it 3-2, the Hawks just couldn’t keep up with Vancouver. The Canucks would add two more in the period before another goal with the man advantage in the third.
There are many words that we could use to describe the 6-2 drubbing the Hawks received on Sunday. Obviously, in an 82 game season there are going to be some bad games, but for the Blackhawks to come out like they did on Sunday, especially against Vancouver, it’s a tough one for everyone to swallow. Especially with how much jawing the team did before the game.
Between Dan Carcillo‘s Twitter and Dave Bolland talking up the rivalry, the Blackhawks appeared to simply have got caught up in the moment. Vancouver didn’t, and that made the difference. The Hawks appeared more interested in flashing their new grit than anything.
However, Sunday’s result doesn’t mean there’s any reason to panic. It’s a poor effort, and it’s likely that everyone in that locker room will acknowledge that. But while panicking is not necessary, there is some serious work to be done.
The power play is horrendous. Chicago ranks 29th in the league with the man advantage, in front of only St. Louis. The defense had been shaky without Duncan Keith, but melted down on Sunday. Niklas Hjalmarsson was on the ice for five goals on Sunday and Brent Seabrook was on for four of them. The penalty kill may also have to go back to the drawing board after allowing five goals on Sunday, slipping from third in the league to 22nd.
Luckily for the Hawks, this was just the 14th game of the season. They’re already miles ahead of where they were at this point in the season last year. Obviously the special teams need work, there are some other tweaks that need to be made, and maybe some changes in personnel at some point soon.
As for Sunday, we can just chalk it up to a stinker of a performance that the team can put behind them and grow from, and hopefully don’t plan on repeating.
