Blackhawks, Penguins both struggling
The Blackhawks and the Penguins are looking a lot alike lately.
Both have lost star players recently - Patrick Kane for the Hawks and Evgeni Malkin of the Pens - each, coincidently, going down during games against St. Louis.
But the most striking similarity between the two clubs is the doldrums they've been in since returning from the Olympic break.
The Penguins are 7-7-2 and Hawks are 7-7-1 over that span, and each team is 4-5-1 in its last 10 games.
"We've had our struggles the last couple of months," Pittsburgh's Craig Adams told reporters after the Penguins snapped a three-game losing streak with a 2-1 victory Friday at Columbus. "We're struggling to find consistency."
The Hawks enter Sunday's road finale against the Penguins off back-to back losses to Boston and Ottawa and have dropped three of their last four.
"Give the other team credit, but at the same time I just think that consistency and playing well defensively gets you success in our league, and we're maybe looking for shortcuts," Hawks coach Joel Quenneville said after Friday's 5-3 loss to the Senators.
Pittsburgh clinched a playoff berth courtesy of its win over Columbus.
More shooting, less passing:
After playing back-to-back games against Dallas and Boston, Teuvo Teravainen was a healthy scratch against Ottawa.
"I thought he was all right (against Boston), thought he played better his first game," Quenneville told WGN radio. "We just want to make sure he's progressing and adapting into our style of game and getting familiar with where to go on the ice and getting more comfortable on the ice.
"He's getting the puck in good areas, and now we're telling him to think about shooting the puck.
"You don't always have to make a play. Shooting the puck creates a great disruption in the offensive zone and then you can improvise and make some plays."
Opening night:
Blackhawks center Matt Carey made his NHL debut Friday, winning 7 of 9 faceoffs (78 percent) and recording 1 hit in 7:53 of ice time.