Hawks' welcome home a big thud
The less said about Tuesday's Blackhawks loss the better.
There were no positives, silver linings or things to build on.
It was an awful game from the Hawks' perspective, from the start when Corey Crawford allowed a bad goal in the first period to the end of the 4-1 loss to the Phoenix Coyotes at the United Center.
They always say the first game back home from an extended road trip is a killer. The Hawks bought into that all the way around and let it overtake them.
“We're at home, excited to be back after a couple weeks, and there's no way we should pack it in like that,” said Patrick Sharp, who finally got the Hawks on the scoreboard with 43 seconds to play.
Coach Joel Quenneville wasn't pleased with his team's fourth loss in six games, but he admitted there was no denying the history of these types of games after road trips.
“It's tough to handicap because the trend is there, whether it's your reactionary habits or delay in the switches,” Quenneville said. “But I thought we were real weak in the puck area. They had better sticks and quicker sticks and quicker feet in that puck area. We didn't win any puck battles.”
On a night when the Hawks needed Crawford to be a difference-maker because of the situation, he let Daymond Langkow's tuck shot get through him at 15:53 of the first period. The Hawks chased the rest of the night.
“We knew that scoring first tonight was important,” Quenneville said. “We know their record (11-1-3) when scoring first. They played that perfect checking game and frustrated us. It wasn't pretty.”
Duncan Keith didn't think the Hawks lacked energy, so to speak. Outplayed is outplayed.
“I don't know if it was lack of energy,” Keith said. “I thought we had a lot of energy. We were skating out there, we just didn't accomplish anything. We'd get the puck out of our zone and it seemed they would ram it right back in our zone.
“It seemed like they were right on top of us every time. I don't know if that's energy or being smart with the puck.”
Shane Doan scored off a 4-on-2 midway through the second period before the Coyotes blew things open in the third and chased Crawford with 2 goals in the first five minutes.
The Hawks had 7 shots in the first period, 8 in the second and finished with 25.
They didn't generate much of anything offensively against Coyotes goalie Mike Smith to even earn themselves a power play until there was less than three minutes to play.
“You generate power-play opportunities based on offensive zone time, puck possession, speed, quickness, advantages,” Quenneville said.
Patrick Kane had 3 shots on goal, but Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa registered just 1 each. Niklas Hjalmarsson was minus-3.
“Maybe (it was a long trip), but that's no excuse, especially at this level,” Kane said. “Especially playing at home. There should be enough energy in the building, enough motivation to play in front of our own crowd and adrenaline to build off that.”
tsassone@dailyherald.com