Hawks finish trip with another shootout loss
GLENDALE, Ariz. — For the Blackhawks, the six-game road trip that ended here Saturday night was about as average as they come.
And being average certainly is not going to get the Hawks into the playoffs.
A second straight loss in a shootout left the Hawks 2-2-2 on their six-game trip and stuck in 11th place in the Western Conference.
“Obviously average isn't going to climb up in the standings too much,” defenseman Brian Campbell said after the 3-2 loss to the Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena. “We knew it wasn't going to be easy, but we were hoping to be at least above .500 with a win today and we didn't come out on top.”
At first it appeared as if the Hawks would come away with nothing when they fell behind 2-0 in the second period.
But a power-play goal by Troy Brouwer late in the second period and another on the power play by Duncan Keith with 4:02 to play got the Hawks to overtime.
A win was on Patrick Kane's stick with 1:14 left in OT when he broke in alone on a 2-on-0 with Dave Bolland, but Coyotes goalie Ilya Bryzgalov made a pad save.
Bryzgalov stopped Jonathan Toews and Kane in the shootout with Marian Hossa firing wide. Radim Vrbata scored the only goal for Phoenix.
“It was better tonight,” Toews said. “We played a much more efficient and smarter team game and we played hard for each other. We played the way our team is supposed to. Getting down a goal or 2 is not an easy thing to come back from, but we kept fighting.
“It would been a great feeling to get 2 points in that one, but I think we can be, not content, but happier with the way we played. We made the best of the situation going into the third period down a goal.”
The Hawks have 26 games remaining and still believe they have what it takes to not only get into the playoffs but to be a factor in the postseason.
“We still have confidence, tons of confidence, in this room, but we just have to find a way to get it done,” goalie Corey Crawford said. “It's getting down to the time we need points and we definitely can get them.
“At least we got 1, but at this point I think we need more 2-point games than 1-point games.”
The Hawks caught a break late in the third period when Coyotes defensemen Adrian Aucoin was penalized for delay of game. Bolland won the faceoff to Keith, who ripped a slap shot from the right point through a Brouwer screen and past Bryzgalov.
“It was a good comeback for sure, and the power play did some good things,” Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
Quenneville called the 4-3 loss at Vancouver on Feb. 4 as the toughest part of the road trip, when the Hawks let a 3-2 lead slip away late in the third period. They also blew a 3-0 lead Friday when they lost at Dallas in a shootout.
“A couple games we could have got the win,” Quenneville said. “I thought the Vancouver game was probably the tough point of the whole trip knowing we played maybe our best game of the trip and didn't have 2 points to show for it.
“It's a tough way to end it on these shootouts, but it gave us some good points nevertheless.”