Penalty kills big problem for Blackhawks
The penalty kill is absolutely killing the Blackhawks.
For much of the season, this special-teams unit was one of the few things the Hawks could hang their helmets on, but heading into Thursday's contest against Vancouver, opponents racked up 12 power-play goals on 28 chances over the previous nine games. That stunning 43-percent rate dropped the Hawks from 10th in the league to 20th in just two weeks.
"We've been giving up momentum that way, which is frustrating," said defenseman Connor Murphy after Colorado went 2-for-3 with the man advantage in a 5-1 victory Tuesday. "Guys want to be out there and want to be in the right spots to block shots and do what it takes. …
"It comes down to pushing harder, reviewing stuff and working to try to be better in that way. It's not good."
Before Thursday, the last power-play 4 goals came:
• Fifteen seconds after John Hayden failed to clear a puck.
• On a shot from 55 feet away that Anton Forsberg should have stopped.
• On a redirected shot from the Blues' Vince Dunn that Brandon Saad could have blocked.
• On a one-timer from Dunn that Murphy could have blocked, but he went to one knee and turned to the side instead.
"You've got to find a way to block shots," said Murphy, who is on pace for 94. "There's definitely a knack to that. There's times where we've missed some of those."
Niklas Hjalmarsson, who ranked sixth in the NHL with 181 last season, is one of the best at this skill, but he's in Arizona now.
The Hawks ranked 22nd in blocks going into Thursday's game. Last season they were ninth, but the 2015 team - which ranked 27th - showed if you don't commit many penalties and you possess the puck a lot, there aren't as many shots to block.
The 2014-15 Hawks took 211 penalties, third-best in the league. This year's team has taken 218, which is 13th best.
Slap shots:
Victor Ejdsell, whom the Hawks acquired in the Ryan Hartman deal, was assigned to Rockford from his Swedish team Wednesday. … Alex DeBrincat, with his 25th goal of the season Sunday, joined Steve Larmer, Darryl Sutter, Eric Daze, Artemi Panarin, Denis Savard and Jeremy Roenick as the only rookies in Hawks history to hit that number. Larmer holds the record with 43 in 1982-83. … The Hawks are 0-23-4 when allowing 4 or more goals and 5-32-7 when allowing 3 or more.
He said it:
"It really hits you when you finish that last game, and you sit at home and see a few days later teams prepping for the playoffs and their excitement to try to win the Stanley Cup. That's the hardest part."
- Connor Murphy