NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Blackhawks (0-2-2) have yet to win a game against the Nashville Predators this season. And, in fact, they’ve earned just two out of a possible eight points, which is less than they’ve earned against any other team so far this season. We’ll have more on those implications – and the Central Division race – later today.
For now, bullets.
•  Getting off to good starts has been key for the Blackhawks this season. Chicago is 4-11-3 when their opponents score the first goal of the game, and 3-9-1 when trailing after the first period. It’s an even worse 1-11-0 when trailing after the second period.
Colliton: "Disappointed in the response at the beginning of the 1st period, just understanding how big the game was. It was too easy for them to create chances, and they did a good job of keeping us to the outside…
We've got to get back our mentality and our identity."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 29, 2021
•  Five of the six goals scored by the Predators this weekend came as a result of the Blackhawks turning the puck over. Two of which (last night) were made worse, as they hit the back of the net after bouncing off Calvin de Haan’s skate. Sometimes bounces go your way, sometimes they don’t.
•  But when bounces aren’t going your way, you *must* capitalize on the opportunities your opponents provide, like powerplay chances. That hasn’t been the case for the Blackhawks against the Predators this season. Chicago is just 1-for-11 against the Predators on the powerplay in four games, going 0-for-3 last night with just one shot on goal with the man-advantage.
Colliton on PP, which produced only 1 SOG on 3 opportunities:
"Tonight, we just couldn't enter [the O-zone]. And when we did enter, we didn't execute very well, break pressure. They did a good job of getting clears, winning puck battles."
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) March 29, 2021
•  The zone entries are one thing, but once they were able to get into the offensive zone, Chicago did little to challenge the active penalty-kill of the Predators. Last night saw a lot of individual play and standing around on the powerplay for Chicago. That’s never going to work. The Blackhawks find success on the powerplay when players are moving, interchanging positions and changing angles on the goaltender. Quick, effective puck movement is your best bet on the powerplay. Not telegraphing passing to Patrick Kane so he can do all the work.
•  One player who was effective last night, maybe the only player who was in the game, was Alex DeBrincat. Scoring two goals in the third period to tie the game at that point, DeBrincat now has 18 goals on the season in 32 games played.
https://twitter.com/NBCSBlackhawks/status/1376356818742558727?s=20
•  Last season in 70 games, DeBrincat had 18 goals and we were talking about how maybe his hot goal-scoring start to his career might have been a fluke. Some saying he’s just too small to be effective in the NHL long-term. I think we are seeing that both of those statements are not true for DeBrincat.
That’s the fourth multi-goal game of the season for Alex DeBrincat. Coming into the night, the only NHL player with more than four this season was Auston Matthews (6). #Blackhawks
— Carter Baum (@CarterBaum) March 29, 2021
•  DeBrincat is second on the Blackhawks in points (35) this season and leads the team with 18 goals. He ranks tied for fourth in the NHL in goals with Max Pacioretty, Alex Ovechkin, and Tyler Toffoli.
While it came in a 3-2 loss to the Predators, Alex DeBrincat lit the lamp a pair of times in the 3rd period for the @NHLBlackhawks on Sunday. With that, he has moved to an impressive 18 goals on the season as well as 4th on this list of early career stars in CHI franchise history pic.twitter.com/aj3vA8iBPu
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) March 29, 2021
•  Kirby Dach has played two games since returning from broken wrist surgery this weekend, and it looks he’s playing at full-go (which is a great sign). Jeremy Colliton has deployed him heavily in the first two games of his season and his conditioning doesn’t look like it needs to “get up to speed” at all — he played 20:08 minutes on Saturday, which was the third-most among forwards, and 21:28 minutes on Sunday, which was third-most on the team behind Kane and Duncan Keith. Expect Dach to keep logging heavy minutes the rest of the season.
•  Dach playing the minutes he did last night probably had a little to do with the fact that Dylan Strome was missing form the game. He was off getting his “new Dad strength” powers installed.
Congrats to Dylan Strome and Tayler on the birth of their baby girl Weslie Margaret Strome, coming in at 7lb, 7 oz!
As such, Strome will not play in tonight’s game against Nashville.#BlackhawksBabies | #Blackhawks
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 28, 2021
•  Congratulations to the new parents, Dylan and Tayler!
•   With last night’s game, Patrick Kane surpassed Bob Murray for the sixth-most games played in Chicago Blackhawks franchise history, skating in his 1,009th game. Kane will pass Eric Nesterenko (1,013) for fifth on the all-time list in a few games on April 8th against the Dallas Stars at the United Center.
•  Finally, on this day in 2018, the legend of Scott Foster was born.
Three years ago today, an emergency backup goaltender walked into the United Center just like any other gameday and left it a #Blackhawks legend.
Let's take a look back at Emergency Backup Goaltender Scott Foster's @NHL debut! #OTD pic.twitter.com/Hkp0C8N5LX
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 29, 2021
•  Anton Forsberg injured himself prior to the game. Collin Delia, who had played the game before got the unscheduled start and had himself a 6-2 lead early in the third period when he began cramping up. Delia couldn’t continue the game and the emergency backup goalie, an accountant named Scott Foster, entered the game. Foster made seven saves on seven shots and forever became a Chicago legend.
