Hawks need to locate Oduya, Stalberg
Johnny Oduya was already having a bad series.
But it doesn't get much worse than what happened in a scoreless Game 4 on Thursday night, with about 13 minutes left in regulation.
Oduya skated the puck slowly out of his own end and did not feel Shane Doan directly behind him, so Doan picked his pocket, turned back toward the Blackhawks' goal and slid a sweet pass across the slot to Ray Whitney.
Corey Crawford made a brilliant first save but Doan fired home the rebound for an easy 1-0 Phoenix lead.
Only 44 seconds later, three Blackhawks got caught chasing Radim Vrbata on the half-boards. Vrbata got the puck to a wide open Antoine Vermette in the corner, and he walked toward the net and found an equally wide-open Taylor Pyatt for an easy tap-in and 2-0 Coyotes lead.
Two goals on a pair of awful mistakes, and the Hawks were chasing again.
That, in a nutshell, sums up the series so far.
Sure, the Hawks have lost three games in overtime, so obviously the games are close and they could just as easily be up 3-1 as down, but their fundamental errors against a team that feeds on turnovers and gaffes is the story.
The Hawks' defense has been punished physically and the Coyotes lead in hits 177-129. It has taken a toll on the entire club, but Oduya — specifically — does not look anything like the player who was so very good the final month of the season for the Hawks.
Similarly, Viktor Stalberg has disappeared. Stalberg became a fabulous weapon the last month of the regular season, but in this series he's a minus-1 with a single assist.
Three times Thursday night Stalberg was under pressure and mishandled a puck near the blue line and caused an offside, probably leading Joel Quenneville to wonder if he can have Stalberg out there when it matters right now.
Quenneville's substitution of Sean O'Donnell for Dylan Olsen didn't work out as O'Donnell was as responsible as anyone for the overtime goal Thursday, but Quenneville has seen his defense pounded and might have thought a big veteran would better handle the physical nature of the Phoenix offense.
On the other hand, getting Brendan Morrison into the lineup — another surprise — looked like the stuff of genius when Morrison threw a shot at the Phoenix net from the top of the circle and Rostislav Klesla got a blade on it, fooling Mike Smith short side, as the puck found the top of the net.
It was still 2-1 when Bryan Bickell hit the post on a rebound, but about 30 seconds later, Dave Bolland's backhand went off Smith's chest and the rebound landed in the crease, where Michael Frolik could have had a cup of coffee before putting it in the back of the net for a 2-2 tie with only 1:26 left in the game.
“Especially against a goalie like Smith, who's playing so well, you have to get pucks on net,” Morrison said. “Pucks to the net, traffic in front, guys going hard to the net, it's all simple stuff and we have to do more of it.”
One huge difference between the Hawks' defense and the Coyotes' blue liners is their ability to create lanes and get shots to the goaltender, especially on the power play.
The Hawks are getting shots, but too many are easy looks for Smith, and the Phoenix defense is blocking shots like there's no tomorrow.
After four games, the Hawks are way ahead in shots (164-120), but Phoenix is far ahead in blocks (80-44), and on the nights the Hawks are getting big shots totals, Phoenix is piling up shot blocks.
At the same time, the Hawks' stars have been noticeably quiet.
Patrick Kane has 4 assists, but is playing nowhere near the level he did when Toews was out of the lineup. Toews is working hard but has 3 points (1 goal), and Patrick Sharp has 1 goal in the four games.
The Hawks haven't played terrible hockey, but they haven't been smart or patient enough against a team like Phoenix that can frustrate a skill team like the Hawks.
“It's a funny thing,” Morrison said. “Sometimes during the playoffs you can feel like you deserve a lot better than you get, and we feel like that right now.
“You have to fight through that and build on the good things we did. We did a lot of good (in Game 4). We have to do more of it (in Game 5), and we have to do it for 60 minutes.”
Or, in the case of this series, 65 or 70 minutes.
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