Chicago Blackhawks might split up Toews, Kane
The way the Tampa Bay Lightning defended Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews in the first two games of the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, the Blackhawks' super duo could have been listed under the home team on the stat sheet.
Each wore Lightning defenders like winter coats in the first two games and, not surprisingly, they have 1 combined point to show for it — an assist by Toews in the Hawks' 4-3 loss Saturday night in Tampa. Defensemen Victor Hedman and Anton Stralman, combined with a defensive-minded third line led by feisty Cedric Paquette, have stifled the Hawks' top players thus far.
Hawks coach Joel Quenneville will get the last line change in the next two games, however, and it looks like he might split Kane and Toews onto the top two lines for better scoring balance.
“I think that line's had some decent looks,” Quenneville said, referring to Kane and Toews playing with Brandon Saad as the top unit. “But, you know, their team defense is aggressive. There's not a lot of room and time. I think that maybe changing those two guys on different lines will get us a little bit more depth and a little bit more balance, (and we'll) see how they can defend it.”
Ever since the 2010 championship run, Kane and Toews have progressively played more apart than together. Every now and then, Quenneville reunites them onto the top line and it usually results in instant offense.
The downside is exactly what happened in the first two games of this series. The Lightning has used its speed through the neutral zone to make life miserable for Kane, Toews and just about every Hawks player toting the puck up the ice.
Kane was held without a shot on goal in Game 2, just the second time that has happened this entire season. But he's not worried about it just yet.
“It's not a stat you like to see, for sure,” he said. “At the same time, going into the next game I'm not going to go in saying, 'I need to get a shot here or there.' I just go out and try to make the right play and worry about the results from there.”
It's not the first time Kane has been subdued by a team early in a playoff series. When it's happened in the past, he almost always has bounced back to produce some big numbers later in the series.
A similar situation happened in the Hawks' 2013 championship run in the Western Conference Final series against the Los Angeles Kings. Kane was limited to 1 point in the first three games (an assist) but scored 4 goals in the final two games, including a hat trick in Game 5 at the United Center that was capped by his series-clinching goal at 11:40 of double overtime.
“There's chances there, there's opportunities,” Kane said. “At the same time, I think (you've) got to stay positive, stay patient, try not to get too ahead of yourself and start thinking offense all the time. Try not to think about just scoring goals too much. Hopefully something opens up.”