Rozner: Look for more aggressive Blackhawks' D

Hits in hockey don't matter.

This is the opinion, naturally, of anyone who's never been hit.

Of course, the reality is getting pounded over and over again has an obvious physical impact.

It causes pain and wears a player down.

And there's the unseen psychological impact.

It's normal for any human to start thinking about where the hit is coming from, instead of where to move - or possess - the puck.

This was the case in Game 1 for the Blackhawks, who will have to get by with four defensemen playing heavy minutes - with perhaps a dose of Kyle Cumiskey - against a heavy team looking to run them every time they get near the puck.

The Ducks were quite effective in the opener of the Western Conference finals and will only be emboldened by their Game 1 victory in Anaheim.

And it was all rather predictable.

So they will continue to get pucks deep, make the Hawks' defense play the puck, and look for turnovers. Their big bodies will want to play below the goal line, where the smaller team has trouble controlling the play and moving the puck.

But it's not as if the Hawks haven't seen this before.

You need only go back to the 2013 Stanley Cup run to remember the defending-champion Kings playing the exact same style.

The Hawks countered it by playing a five-man game in the Los Angeles end and doing everything they could to keep the puck deep in the Kings' zone to limit the abuse they had to take in the Chicago end.

But Los Angeles wasn't healthy and just didn't have enough bodies to keep the Hawks pinned in their end, and the Hawks also had six defensemen and a very fast Nick Leddy who helped the Hawks escape the zone when they were in trouble.

The Hawks faced the same challenge against Boston in the 2013 Final and employed a similar strategy against a ferocious forechecking team.

In essence, the Hawks said with their play that they'd rather take chances on offense, pinch more and sort the rush in the neutral zone, while using all five guys below the circles on offense, than get their brains beat in on defense.

It makes sense.

Physically, they're not built to compete with these kinds of teams in their own end, so look for them to become more aggressive and use their speed in Game 2, and Cumiskey would help in that regard.

The problem - again - is that with only four NHL defensemen, and no one as fast as Leddy to assist, this type of game will take more out of their defense, but the alternative is taking beating after beating in their end, so it's the better option, even if it means risking odd-man breaks.

The other thing to remember is the Hawks played a pretty solid Game 1 and would have been ahead in the first period if not for a terrific performance by Ducks goalie Frederik Andersen.

Their speed was a factor and they controlled the play for the first 40 minutes, before looking worn down in the third period. The Hawks' defense starts the offense, and they were sluggish in the final 20 minutes.

"I think we started the right way. We did what we wanted to do," said Hawks coach Joel Quenneville. "Playing catch-up wasn't exactly what you want, but they got the break scoring first."

As for Game 2, "We play the right way, we score first and do the right things again next game like we did (in Game 1), that's what we'll be looking for."

This will be no easy task. Anaheim is a terrific team with great depth and no fear of the vaunted Hawks' pedigree, but it is that same winning history that the Hawks can call upon in times of need.

Game 2 will be one of those times.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's "Hit and Run" show at WSCR 670-AM.