NEWSLETTER
I can’t be sure, but I think the Blackhawks listened to Patrick Kane’s guided meditation prior to tonight’s game against the Stars. The team was simply not awake for the full 60 minutes and it showed in a 6-1 loss. It’s Chicago’s first loss to the Stars this season, moving their record to 13-9-5 this season.
FINAL: Stars 6, #Blackhawks 1
Shot attempts: 60-36 DAL
Shots on goal: 37-22 DAL
5-on-5 scoring chances: 25-11 DAL
5-on-5 high danger chances: 11-3 DAL pic.twitter.com/PoGjNgXrH6— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 10, 2021
This was not the type of game that Patrick Kane probably envisioned for his 1,000th regular season game. Prior to the game, the Blackhawks gave Kane a fitting entrance to the warmups, but that was about it for the honors that they would give Kane.
Patrick Kane’s teammates give him a warm welcome ahead of his 1,000th career NHL game. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/zPzOVFZicB
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) March 10, 2021
The Stars scored just 1:40 into the opening period and added a second goal in the first period to make it eight unanswered goals for the Blackhawks since they had a 3-0 lead against the Lightning in the second period of Sunday’s game. Mattias Janmark scored in the second period to cut the lead in half and the Blackhawks showed some life, but it was quickly wiped away with three unanswered goals from Dallas in the second period.
Dallas added a sixth goal in the third period, making it a 12-1 goal differential for the Blackhawks since they had a 3-0 lead over the Lightning on Sunday. Malcom Subban stayed in net the entire game, making 31 saves on 37 shots faced. He sees his record move to 4-3-1 on the season. Rebound control remains an achilles heel for the 27-year-old goalie, but to put the entirety of the loss on his shoulders would be unfair. He was facing a number of odd-man rushes tonight. The Blackhawks were out-chanced 60-36 and the Stars had a 14-3 advantage in high-danger chances.
It’s a game that you can’t not expect a young team to have. Remember, they’re still outperforming their preseason expectations – by a wide margin – so an effort like tonight shouldn’t come as a surprise (even if it it’ll always be disappointing). We saw this team in mid-January, we remember what these kinds of games looked like.
The hope is that Chicago can take their beating and regroup for Thursday night’s contest. Expect to see Kevin Lankinen in net and a number of lineup changes for the Blackhawks in their next game.
Final Thoughts
•  Malcolm Subban did not have his best game tonight. He gave up a season-high six goals tonight and was left hung out to dry for a number of those goals allowed. Not to write him off completely for one bad performance after going 4-1-1 in his previous six starts, but with his shaky game tonight and Kevin Lankinen starting to come down to earth, maybe the goalie competition is opening back up for the Blackhawks as we reach the mid-point of the season.
•  Patrick Kane played 20:35 minutes in his 1,000th career regular season game. He registered just one shot on goal, but he nearly made that one shot count.
https://twitter.com/NBCSBlackhawks/status/1369485463053103106?s=20
•  The best part of the night was seeing Jonathan Toews, Brent Seabrook, Marian Hossa, Niklas Hjalmarsson, Joel Quenneville and many others send their congratulations to Patrick Kane on playing his 1,000th game. It was so good to see all the “One Goal” era players back on my TV screen, if just for one night.
