Hawks lose season opener in OT
It's obvious the Blackhawks still have a few kinks to work out.
On the bright side the Hawks got a point out of Thursday's season opener against Colorado at the Pepsi Center, but they allowed 41 shots in a 4-3 loss to the Avs in overtime.
Paul Stastny's second goal of the night with 1:20 left in OT spoiled the Hawks' comeback from a 3-1 deficit.
“We made some mistakes, but the chances we had and the power plays we didn't capitalize on, we still had a chance to win the game, captain Jonathan Toews said. “It's the first game of the year and you're going to make some mistakes so we'll learn from them, but we're not going to overreact and go crazy.
Hawks goalie Marty Turco got a piece of Stastny's shot from the right side, but the puck trickled over the goalline.
Turco basically kept the Hawks in the game with several terrific stops among his 37 saves.
“I saw the shot, Turco said. “It hits me twice and goes back in. It's pretty disappointing because of the way we fought back.
“There's a lot of room for improvement, no doubt, but we're certainly not going to hang our heads.
Defensemen Niklas Hjalmarsson and Nick Leddy were on the ice for the winner and had their difficulties.
Hjalmarsson was minus-3 and Leddy minus-1. Hjalmarsson was on the ice for all 4 Colorado goals.
“Pretty much every single guy can in here can play better because this wasn't good enough, Hjalmarsson said.
Said Toews: “A guy like (Leddy), he's going to look at the stat sheet and he won't be happy about it, but I found he seemed like he was really steady and confident on the blue line, especially with guys coming at him. Guys are going to make mistakes, but it's no big deal. We're not pointing any fingers at guys on our team. As a whole we know we're going to be better.
“We got 1 point out of this so it could have been worse, so we'll move on and be better in the next game.
The Hawks took an eatly 1-0 lead on Bryan Bickell's power-play goal in the first period, but it was 3-1 for the Avalanche late in the second period when Marian Hossa scored.
Patrick Sharp's power-play goal with 9:35 to play made it 3-3.
Last season the Hawks got an “A-plus in chemistry on their way to winning the Stanley Cup.
Despite a summer of dramatic change, many of the veterans remaining see this team becoming just as close sooner than later.
“It's a little bit different team, Patrick Kane said. “Chemistry takes a little while to build, but for this group I think it's developed pretty fast. It seems like everyone gets along pretty well.
It was the first game of many the Hawks will play this season against a team trying to measure itself with the champs.
“I think you have to, Avs coach Joe Sacco said. “They're the Stanley Cup champions and I think a lot of teams are going to try to measure themselves up against the Hawks, and rightly so. They're the best team in the league right now.