Home sweet? Not for Hawks it isn't
This is becoming a huge problem for the Blackhawks.
The team that has played its sharpest hockey on the road continues to look like one that doesn't have a clue how to duplicate those efforts at home.
It was a script all too familiar Sunday night at the United Center, as the Hawks fell behind early by 2 goals in the first 3:21, then tried to fight back only to fall short. The 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators was the Hawks' third in a row on home ice and dropped their record to 3-5 at the UC.
"It's mental preparation," Hawks center Kevyn Adams said. "We've got to challenge ourselves in the room to be better. It's not acceptable for us to be a .500 team and keep taking steps back. We've got to realize how difficult it is to be an elite team."
The next step, according to coach Denis Savard, is to make some changes with regard to home game preparation.
"We're going to change something up," Savard said. "I'm going to think about it. I have some ideas and we'll talk it over with (general manager) Dale (Tallon) and see what happens."
Perhaps the Hawks will stay in a hotel the day of a home game, which has been done before.
The Predators led 3-1 after the first period, scoring on just 6 shots. Savard pulled starting goalie Nikolai Khabibulin to open the second period but laid the blame elsewhere.
"You just can't blame him," Savard said. "The first goal is (defensive) zone coverage, something we do every week. The second is a power-play goal where we didn't come back hard enough.
"I took him out to get our team going, basically. Those 3 goals they scored, there's not much he could do about it. I sent a message to our team they had to be better."
Nashville's David Legwand opened the scoring at 1:23 when he was left all alone in front. The play started with a Brent Seabrook turnover behind the net. Seabrook sat out the entire third period.
"Seabs had a tough night, but he wasn't the only one," Savard said.
The Hawks battled back to within 3-2 on goals by Robert Lang and Yanic Perreault, but a James Wisniewski turnover early in the third period resulted in a goal for Jordin Tootoo at 4:20 that was a killer.
About the only bright spot for the Hawks was the play of rookie Patrick Kane. He was head and shoulders their best player, and he made a dazzling move to set up Lang's power-play goal.
"When four of your kids up front are your best players, you need to get everyone else going," Savard said.
After impressive road wins at Dallas and St. Louis, the Hawks dropped back to 7-7.
"We've got to have urgency in every minute, every shift, every battle, and if you don't this is what happens in this league, you become inconsistent and you don't win every night," Savard said.
"You can be in some games, but at the end of the day you're not going to be in it every night. That's the message we're trying to get across, to try to get to that level where we have everyone playing consistent."