Blackhawks make short work of 3-on-3 overtimes
One-hundred and seventy-seven seconds.
That's the total amount of time that it's taken the Blackhawks to vanquish their opponents in three overtime games this season.
• Blackhawks 3, Islanders 2: Game over in 109 seconds on a Patrick Kane goal.
• Blackhawks 1, Lightning 0: Game over in 17 seconds on a Jonathan Toews goal.
• Blackhawks 1, Ducks 0: Toews does it again, this time in 51 seconds.
It's safe to say that, thus far anyway, coach Joel Quenneville's squad is digging this new 3-on-3 format.
"When I first heard about it, I didn't know there would be scoring at this rate," Quenneville said after Monday's win over Anaheim. "I think eventually teams may figure it out defensively - safe, patient."
That certainly hasn't been the case in the Hawks' three games. The team that gains control of the puck immediately goes on the offensive, looking for the TKO. That's what the Ducks did Monday, but after being stonewalled by Corey Crawford, they lost control and Toews made them pay in a heartbeat.
"It seems like half a stride (and) it's like a clear 2-on-1. There's a lot of odd-man situations," said Quenneville, who prefers the outcome being decided 3-on-3 rather than in a shootout.
The Hawks played 18 overtime games last season with 12 going to the shootout. The Hawks were 4-2 when the game ended in OT and 9-3 in shootouts, for a 13-5 overall mark.
The year before, though, the Hawks played 22 overtime games with 14 going to a shootout. The Hawks were 1-7 in OT and 6-8 in shootouts, for a 7-15 mark.
That's a .500 record after regulation the last two seasons.
It's still really early, but the Hawks seem to have a clear advantage under the new system.
"Teams that have high-end skill on the roster favor them in a 3-on-3 situation," said Hawks radio analyst Troy Murray, a traditionalist who nonetheless prefers the new rules so that fewer games are decided in a shootout. "It is pretty intimidating when your first lineup is Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews."
The question is, what can teams to do combat their disadvantage? In the preseason, Lightning coach Jon Cooper said he wouldn't be surprised to see all kinds of combinations being thrown out on the ice, including using three defensemen at once.
Maybe that's the answer against the Hawks. Or maybe not.
"I think that's a little overboard," Murray said. "I would be surprised (to see that), unless those defensemen are offensive defensemen. I just don't think it would benefit anybody to have three defensemen just for the purpose of defending one unit that's on the other team. To me it wouldn't make sense at this point."
Toews loves the new rules and is impressed with how the Hawks have taken advantage.
"I think our puck carriers have done a good job of trying to draw two players towards them," he said. "Then you try to get speed going the other way. And as you saw on the play (against Anaheim), things are gonna open up.
"(On that) first shift, sometimes you're almost waiting to tire out the other line and then you get your one chance and it goes in.
"We've been getting the bounces, we've been getting the luck there, so hopefully that keeps going for us if comes down to 3-on-3."