New Blackhawks coach is just not afraid
Welcome to the new Blackhawks regime everybody.
One that is not afraid to double shift stalwart defensemen Seth Jones and Connor Murphy in an effort to right a listing ship that many believed had no chance of resurfacing.
Jones saw a whopping 31 minutes, 24 seconds of ice time during the Hawks' 3-2 shootout victory over Pittsburgh on Tuesday at the United Center. Murphy, meanwhile, played a career-high 28.5 minutes.
Two days earlier, in a 2-1 OT win over Nashville, Jones played 27 minutes, while Murphy was at 26:46.
"It's kind of different than what I'm used to, but you have to manage it in different ways," said Jones, who has gone over 30 minutes six times in 594 regular-season contests. "Sometimes you can take more offensive chances, and some of the minutes you have to really tone it back and play more simple."
In the short term, this strategy makes sense because the Hawks allowed the most high-danger chance goals (22) through Nov. 6, according to naturalstattrick.com. Vegas (20), Seattle (18), Ottawa (16) and Montreal (16) rounded out the bottom five.
The last two games weren't perfect, with the Hawks yielding 21 high-danger chances at even strength, although 6 came as Pittsburgh stormed back from a 2-0 deficit in the third period.
Overall, the more disciplined Hawks did a solid job of blocking shots and deflecting passes while also getting timely saves from netminders Kevin Lankinen and Marc-Andre Fleury.
"We always talk about trying to win games 1-0, 2-1," Jones said. "That's how games are won these days. You're grinding it out, doing the little things, the details.
"You're not going to win games 6-5. It's just not sustainable that way. It's a mindset and a mental challenge that we put on ourselves to be better - all four lines and all six D."
While ice time for Jones and Murphy has increased, Erik Gustafsson has barely played at all. The offensive-minded D-man was averaging 15.5 minutes under Jeremy Colliton, then saw his time plummet to 6:21 against Nashville and 8:06 against Pittsburgh.
"The way (the best Penguins players) were coming out over the boards, it was just like, 'OK, you guys got to go again; you got to go again,' " King said of Murphy and Jones. "It's not perfect. It's not what we want as we move forward, but last night was just one of those nights."
Playing time figures to even out a bit when Wyatt Kalynuk returns. The 22-year-old, who suffered an ankle injury during training camp, was assigned to Rockford and played in the IceHogs' game against Iowa.
It's possible Kalynuk could play for the Hawks against Arizona on Friday, but King isn't going to rush his young defenseman back.
"You spend that much time off and then, 'Oh we need you tomorrow night' and you've got to throw him in a game and you've got Connor McDavid coming down on you," King said. "It's not going to work for him. So let's give him the right opportunity down there to give him a better chance up here."
The somewhat surging Hawks (3-9-2) will be going for their third straight victory Friday.
Injury update:
Forward Brandon Hagel, who injured his left shoulder against Nashville on Sunday, will miss approximately two weeks. Hagel is third on the team with 4 goals.
Tyler Johnson, who has six missed games with a neck injury, will likely return to practice Thursday.
Slap shot:
The Hawks assigned defenseman Isaak Phillips to Rockford after an optional practice Wednesday.
By the numbers
By the numbers
Average time on ice for the Blackhawks' top six defensemen:
Player First 12 games Vs. Nashville Vs. Pitt.
Seth Jones 25:43 27:03 31:24
Connor Murphy 21:47 26:46 28:30
Jake McCabe 20:05 18:51 19:06
Calvin de Haan 18:50 17:42 18:12
Erik Gustafsson 15:30 6:21 8:06
Riley Stillman 14:50 17:59 15:47