The Chicago Blackhawks will play their 30th game of the season Sunday against the New York Rangers, and there are certain trends that have marked their recent slump.
The numbers tell the story.
Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane reacts after the Wild’s second goal during the second period Friday in St. Paul, Minn. (Abbie Parr / AP)
The Hawks lost their sixth straight game Friday, 4-1 against the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul, Minn. They had an eight-game winless streak recently, but it’s the first time this season the Hawks have lost six consecutive games in regulation.
Wild right wing Mats Zuccarello (36) celebrates with teammates after scoring his third goal against the Blackhawks in the third period Friday in St. Paul, Minn. (Abbie Parr / AP)
Wild forward Mats Zuccarello put up the third hat trick of the season against the Hawks, cashing in on feeds from Kirill Kaprizov in the first and third periods and scoring on the power play in the second. Connor McDavid registered the first hat trick against the Hawks on Oct. 27, and Alex Ovechkin’s hat trick Tuesday pushed him to 800 career goals.
Blackhawks defenseman Jake McCabe (6) celebrates with goaltender Arvid Söderblom after a 3-2 victory against the Ducks on Nov. 12 in Anaheim, Calif. (Alex Gallardo/AP)
The Hawks’ last win came against the Ducks more than a month ago, a 3-2 victory in Anaheim. They have gone 1-13-1 since then and have been outscored 66-29.
In five of the last six games, the Hawks have scored one goal or been shut out. The only outlier: They scored three against the Capitals on Tuesday — a 7-3 defeat.
Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews (19) celebrates after scoring against the Wild during the third period Friday in St. Paul, Minn. (Abbie Parr / AP)
In the third period against the Wild, Jonathan Toews tied Max Domi for the team lead in goals (10) with his sixth power-play goal, which also tied Domi for tops among the Hawks on the man advantage.
Petr Mrázek made some spectacular saves against the Wild — just ask Matt Boldy — but the Wild were on top of him for most of the game. The five-on-five goals they scored averaged 8 feet, by far the closest distance (11 feet is the next closest), according to naturalstattrick.com.
Toews’ power-play goal salvaged what would have been a dismal showing in five man-advantage opportunities — the worst being the three short-handed shot attempts they allowed on the third power play. Even with that goal, the Hawks have scored on only two of their last 17 chances, which coincides with the six-game losing streak.
The Hawks’ penalty kill has allowed a goal in five consecutive games and six of the last seven.
Copyright © 2022, Chicago Tribune
Copyright © 2022, Chicago Tribune