Leddy hanging in there

Nobody needs to remind Nick Leddy he has hit the roughest patch of his brief career.

The second-year Blackhawks defenseman is minus-9 in the last four games, which is about as bad as it gets.

But you will get no excuses from Leddy.

He says he is not playing too many minutes at almost 23 per game. It's not his partner's fault. And those two times he has been knocked down illegally on goals in the last week? Bad call, or no-calls, are part of the game, he said.

Leddy sees the stats every day with his team-worst minus-9 jumping off the page.

“It's been weighing on my mind a little bit, but there's another game coming and it's a long season,” Leddy said Wednesday. “You just try to shake it off and move ahead.

“I haven't had really one of these (slumps) before, so I have to use it as a learning experience and try to play through it and stay confident.”

Remaining confident is easier said than done when things are going so wrong, especially around his own net.

“I don't like getting scored on, but you've got to battle through it,” he said. “I've just been trying to move on and keep playing.”

Hawks coach Joel Quenneville has leaned heavily on Leddy as part of his second defense pair with Niklas Hjalmarsson.

Leddy averaged only 14 minutes of ice time last season as the Hawks' fifth defenseman, which is about nine minutes fewer minutes than he is getting now.

“I don't think that's it at all,” Leddy said of his increased workload. “I just think it's a learning experience and something you have to work through.”

Quenneville agrees part of what's going on with Leddy is the process of learning how to play defense in the NHL, but he's not giving the 20-year-old a pass either.

“Moving forward is what you've got to look at,” Quenneville said. “I think he's doing some good things, he's moving the puck well.

“I just think around the net, that coverage area, is something he can learn a little bit on his positioning, a little stronger and more awareness of puck positioning and his own positioning.

“Sometimes guys are a little bigger and stronger than you are, so you have to find ways to circumvent that and keep it simpler. He's in a stretch right now where he's been on for a few too many goals. You need to find a way and learn from it.”

Leddy's tough stretch comes at a time when Quenneville has asked all of his players to pay more attention to checking and defense.

Leddy is among nine Hawks who are minus players, including what has been the entire checking line of Dave Bolland, Bryan Bickell and Michael Frolik, although the line has been broken up of late because of injuries to Patrick Sharp, Marcus Kruger and Daniel Carcillo.

Bolland centered the second line for Marian Hossa and Jimmy Hayes in Tuesday's win over Columbus. Bolland was plus-2 but still is minus-4 for the season.

“It's always tough seeing minuses,” Bolland said. “It does (stink). You wish you could be a plus, but your season always has twists and turns, and those are things you have to deal with.”

tsassone@dailyherald.com