Hawks’ power play is MIA
Like jumbo shrimp, the Blackhawks’ power play is an oxymoron.
At least thus far in the series with Vancouver.
The Hawks are 0-for-5 in the series, and their two chances with a man advantage Friday were wince-inducing, according to coach Joel Quenneville.
“Our power play really took us out of the game,” he said. “I thought we lost the momentum of the game a couple of times when we did have it. You’re not going to get many in this series and you want to take advantage of at least getting some offensive zone time and scoring chances.”
Patrick Sharp agreed.
“I think we failed to capture some momentum last game, not only generating chances, but giving up a few,” he said. “We can’t make any excuses; we have to find a way to make them count.”
Quenneville even went so far as to hint that there might be some new looks in Game 3 today at the United Center.
“We’ll look to change, be it the units or the look and try to get something off that,” he said. “Certainly it can’t be any worse than it was.”
Getting physical: Just when you thought the Canucks couldn#146;t get any more physical than they#146;ve already been in the first two games of the series, comes the return of feisty Rafi Torres, fresh off a suspension for an illegal hit.Torres has been relegated to watching the series from the press box, but he said Saturday he#146;s liked what he#146;s seen done to the Hawks big guns thus far, particularly Patrick Kane.#147;It almost looks like he doesn#146;t want the pucks at some points,#148; Torres said. #147;But at the end of the day you know those guys are going to come back stronger than ever in Chicago and we#146;ve just got to keep doing the same thing.#148;Hawks coach Joel Quenneville was asked if he thought some of his guys were shying away from the physical stuff against Vancouver.#147;I don#146;t think we#146;re shying away from contact,#148; he said. #147;I think whether it#146;s our support men, our puck possession game or in the puck area #8212; we can be stronger and we can be better. I think that#146;s an area we can be better as a team.#148; A different perspective:Former Canuck and current Hawks center Ryan Johnson#146;s take on why the Hawks have been outmuscledearly in the series:#147;We#146;re trying to make lateral plays or east-west plays that aren#146;t forcing their D to turn every time,#148; he said. #147;You see when we took over the games in the last two, we were forcing their D to turn and getting in and establishing a forecheck.#147;You want to play physical and create hits, but you can#146;t create those out of nothing; you have to put yourself in position to do that.#148;Injury update:News on injured Hawks Tomas Kopecky (upper body), Bryan Bickell (apparent skate blade to the wrist) and Dave Bolland (concussion) straight from Joel Quenneville: #147;Kopey#146;s progressing. Bick is getting assessed (Saturday); we#146;ll have a better idea in the morning skate. Bolly right now is doubtful.#148;The quote:#147;I turned on the TV after Game 1 and the Vancouver media was talking about how Daniel Sedin was shut out after Game 1. Things sometimes get carried away. The more important thing to me is getting some wins.#148;-#8212; Patrick Sharp on the pressure put on the Hawks#146; big guns to score in the playoffs.