Powerless Blackhawks drop Central Division showdown with Wild
- by Grant Boone
- in Sports
- — Jan 14, 2018
Nick Schmaltz and Jonathan Toews each scored two goals and Kane had a goal and four assists as Chicago cruised to an 8-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators.
"We had some OK zone time, but we really weren't connecting on passes", said Patrick Kane, who was held off the scoresheet after posting a career-high five points at Ottawa.
Seabrook has a goal and 10 assists in 41 games for the 20-15-6 Blackhawks, who are now last in the Central Division after making the playoffs each year and winning three Stanley Cups over the last nine seasons.
The Hawks scored four power-play goals to support goalie Anton Forsberg, who made 25 saves in his second straight start since he sat out four games in a row in favor of Jeff Glass.
After what Boudreau dubbed an "embarrassing" start by the Wild in which it was overwhelmed by the Blackhawks in the first period en route to a one-goal deficit, the team cleaned up its play the rest of the way to rally for a critical 2-1 win over its division rival at United Center.
"From the tape we get and from the angles we saw, I thought it was definitely off-side because these things aren't spoken about lightly because I knew we were down 1-0 playing like that and then they're going to have a power play", Boudreau said. We were kind of making easy plays.
The Ottawa Senators couldn't get a save Tuesday night and, ultimately, they couldn't save themselves either.
"We fell off in the second period and we couldn't climb back", said alternate captain Dion Phaneuf.
The Blackhawks scored five times in the second period to blow the game open. The Chicago Blackhawks are averaging three goals per game and are scoring on 14.4 percent of their power play opportunities.
When the 'Hawks put Franson on waivers yesterday, one would think this means that the Hawks are really comfortable with Jordan Oesterle. "We made mistakes, we made mistakes in key areas and our goaltenders have been solid".
Over the span of 4:39, Craig Anderson surrendered three goals on four shots. Brassard then made it 4-2 by driving to the net and tipping Stone's shot in off his chest.
"We've talked about it, you guys have talked about it and we have to find a way in our room to have better second periods", Phaneuf said. "We don't do a good enough job in our defensive zone to limit the chances". "We have to regroup in the next 24 hours to be prepared for Toronto".
Patrick Kane was named to the 2018 NHL All-Star tournament, Brent Seabrook would be back in the lineup after being a healthy scratch Tuesday, and Richard Panik got traded to the Arizona Coyotes for Anthony Duclair.
