NEWSLETTER
It was a game that the Chicago Blackhawks looked like they’d finally woken up on time, got to the rink, and knew that the game started when it did. Then, they lost. The Blackhawks fell 3-0 to the Nashville Predators yesterday afternoon, dropping their fifth game of the season to the Predators and dropping two points behind Nashville in the Central Division standings in fifth-place. Chicago is 0-3-2 against the Predators this season, with three remaining games against them this season. They’ll likely need to win all three to even think about climbing back into the fourth and final playoff spot in the Division.
• In a game where the Blackhawks out-shot and out-chanced the Predators heavily, Chicago was done-in by their own mistakes. One bad penalty on the day and the Predators score. A lazy pass gets intercepted and turns into a penalty shot, which they convert. A juicy rebound to an unmarked man finds the back of the net and the game is over. At this point in the season (basically the playoffs for the Blackhawks), you can’t have those kinds of mistakes if you are trying to be a playoff team.
• Chicago has a combined five wins and 13 points earned against the top three teams in the Division. No wins and just two points against the team directly above them in the standings. I can’t explain it.
Blackhawks record against:
Tampa: 1-5-1
Carolina: 2-2-1
Florida: 2-3-1
Dallas: 3-1-0
Columbus: 4-2-0
Detroit: 5-1-0Nashville: 0-3-2*
Nashville, man.
(*Barring a miracle comeback today.)
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) April 3, 2021
• The next nine games for the Blackhawks will be against the teams in the playoff race, with three more against Nashville, and a two-game set against the Red Wings, Blue Jackets, and Stars each, with Dallas coming up next back in Chicago.
• Chicago’s special teams should have been an advantage for them against the Predators yesterday. Nashville has the league’s worst penalty kill and the Blackhawks boast the third-best powreplay in the NHL. Chicago also has been extremely disciplined as of late, taking just one penalty in each of their last four games, including yesterday’s contest.
The Hawks have had 36 power-play opportunities in the last 11 games, scoring 5 times. (And allowing a short-handed penalty shot goal).
The Hawks have yielded just 22 power-play chances to their opponents in that time. But foes have scored 6 times.
— John Dietz (@johndietzdh) April 3, 2021
• Hockey is that way sometimes. You can try to do everything right, and it all goes wrong.
• I talked about it in the pregame before yesterday’s game, but Patrick Kane hasn’t been the MVP-caliber player he was earlier in the season. He’s looked downright pedestrian against the Predators this season and while he has still been getting on the scoresheet pretty regularly, he has just two goals since February 28th.
Patrick Kane has 2 assists in five games vs. Nashville this season.
He also has 2 goals in the last 16 games overall – one of the big reasons the Hawks are 4-10-0 in their last 14.
— John Dietz (@johndietzdh) April 3, 2021
• If the Blackhawks are going to climb ahead of the Predators and get a hold of fourth-place in the Central Division, they’ll need Kane to get back to the front of the line of the offensive attack. Although, it could always be worse.
Random stat of the day:
G Tristan Jarry (3) has more assists than LW Taylor Hall (2) has goals this season.
— CapFriendly Depth Charts (@CF_DepthCharts) April 3, 2021
• One thing that was a positive from yesterday’s game was Kendall Coyne-Schofield stepping in for Eddie Olczyk on the Blackhawks broadcast with Pat Foley. It wasn’t the first time Kendall had done an NHL broadcast, and it showed.
.@KendallCoyne's best calls from the #Blackhawks vs #Preds game #Blackhawksin60 @ChevyDrivesChi pic.twitter.com/bVY8i71Fwc
— Blackhawks Talk (@NBCSBlackhawks) April 3, 2021
• It’s always fun to get some different voices on the broadcast when Olczyk is off doing National broadcasts. Coyne-Schofield and Patrick Sharp have filled in this season and I’d think NBC Chicago would have them back again.
• The Blackhawks will be getting Vinnie Hinostroza back in Chicago soon, likely today, but he’ll have to go through a quarantine period before he is able to officially rejoin the Blackhawks. He drove from Florida to Chicago to try to cut down that quarantine time.
Vinnie Hinostroza is driving about 20 hours from Florida to Chicago. He and the Blackhawks are hoping he’ll be able to shorten his quarantine time by doing so. He might be able to join the team early in the week.
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) April 3, 2021
• A double Happy Blackhawks Birthday today to Cam Barker and Yanic Perrault!
A double #Blackhawks Birthday today! Happy 35th to Cam Barker and Happy 50th to Yanic Perreault! pic.twitter.com/CDI1RzD2p0
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) April 4, 2021
• On Friday morning, Brandon Hagel was placed on the COVID Protocol list for the Blackhawks. He was removed on Saturday morning and played against the Predators. We now know that it was a false positive test. So crisis averted for the Blackhawks.
Jeremy Colliton said Brandon Hagel had a false positive COVID-19 test and had to "jump through a few hoops" to make it to the game on time today. #Blackhawks
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) April 3, 2021
• The Vancouver Canucks, however, have not been so lucky. The situation has gotten worse and worse for the Canucks as the number of positive COVID cases grow and the fact that these COVID cases are from a variant the NHL hasn’t dealt with before.
Via sources, here is the latest on the Canucks outbreak. Again, hockey is secondary.
There are 16 players and three coaches currently affected but that list is likely to grow.
More developments ⤵️@TSNHockey @TheAthletic pic.twitter.com/sAoh5ghJUc— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) April 3, 2021
• The health of all the players and staff has to come first in this situation. I don’t see how the Canucks come back to play the remaining games left on their schedule.
Should also add, the NHL plans on sending out a memo to all 31 clubs this weekend just as a reminder to stay vigilant and continue to follow protocols, etc.
No reason to believe the league has any issue with what the Canucks did, just using the opportunity to remind everyone— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) April 3, 2021
• For a more in-depth analysis on what this will mean for the Canucks and the league, I highly recommend Thomas Drance’s latest for The Athletic on the situation.
• Shifting to Chicagoland hockey, congratulations to the Chicago Steel on bing the first team in the USHL this season to clinch a playoff spot.
STEEL FIRST USHL TEAM TO CLINCH PLAYOFF BERTH
Chicago’s win Saturday secures spot in 2021 Clark Cup Playoffs
READ: https://t.co/vYj54CUIQ0 pic.twitter.com/lbHdUOi0WF
— Chicago Steel (@ChicagoSteel) April 4, 2021
• The Steel are just a powerhouse in the USHL and look to recapture the Clark Cup this season after falling in the 2019 Final and having the 2019-20 postseason canceled.
• Speaking of Junior Hockey powerhouses.
Connor Bedard attempts the lacrosse goal 😲@WHLPats | #SubwayWHLHub pic.twitter.com/eBLVszztZm
— The WHL (@TheWHL) April 3, 2021
• Regina Pat’s 15-year-old phenom Connor Bedard is just bored now and trying to do anything to entertain himself as he slays these 17, 18, 19-year-olds. He has 22 points in 12 games in his first season of WHL hockey. He has at least one point in all 12 games this season. He’s 15.
• That’s all for today! Enjoy your Sunday and a Happy Easter to those who celebrate!
