Rozner: Blackhawks' defense can see finish line

The only place you will find anyone in the hockey world who thinks the Blackhawks aren't exhausted is right here in Chicago.

Everywhere else, hockey people are not deceived by their eyes.

Of course the Hawks are tired. They have every right to be.

The Hawks are beat and beat up. The Ducks took them apart for seven games and the Hawks are hanging on by a thread.

Nowhere is it more obvious than on defense, which has the added advantage of taking the worst beating from Anaheim while also playing huge minutes.

Throw in the fact that the Hawks have played very deep into the postseason three straight years, and it makes complete sense, especially since hits do add up and minutes do matter.

Naturally, the Hawks deny it. You think they're going to admit that they're tired and hurting? They can't and they won't.

So Hawks coach Joel Quenneville says he doesn't think his defense is suffering from fatigue.

"Not really," Quenneville said. "That question came up quite a bit when we were in the Anaheim series. 'How could they play so many minutes, especially having six periods and five periods in key games? You have four defense playing a lot of those minutes.'

"The guys take care of themselves to a different level. They prepare to the excitement and importance of the next game. They find ways where they're ready to compete.

"Whatever is in front of them, they feel the more they get, the better they'll play. They don't mind playing big minutes. I haven't seen that type of sign yet."

It's the right thing to say for a coach who knows his guys are gassed and doesn't have any way to change it now.

But the Ducks knew their best chance to win the series was to pound the top four and it nearly worked, and now the results are apparent.

"They're all workhorses," said Lightning veteran Brenden Morrow. "I don't know if we sense they were getting worn down.

"When you're getting pucks in the corner, you're winning those battles, winning the races to the pucks, and that's a good sign for us.

"As the game went on, we seemed to get to more pucks. Guys like (Ryan) Callahan that were playing relentless in the corners were winning those battles. That's something you probably don't see against these top defensemen a lot."

It's happening more and more and it's understandable.

Former NHL assistant coach Dave Farrish has been contributing to NHL.com during the Stanley Cup Final, and he pointed to the Johnny Oduya injury as more evidence of the obvious.

"Maybe this is the wearing down that we've been expecting all along," Farrish said. "Maybe that is starting to happen at this point.

"I definitely think if the (forwards are) helping their defensemen by trying to worry about them so much, I think that's going to take away from their offense. They're going to have to live with what they've got."

That much is inarguable. There's nothing Quenneville can do now but try to win two more games playing his top four extended minutes.

One might suggest that more shifts for the fifth and sixth defensemen would provide those players with more rhythm and a chance to be more effective, but it's too late to try to figure out if he can trust them with significant minutes.

There's only three games left - maybe as few as two - so the top guys will continue to average about 25 minutes and the others will stay at around five.

Those four were credited with 9 giveaways in Game 4, and that total was probably a gift, with the Hawks turning the puck over consistently all night.

Credit at the same time the terrific Tampa forecheck, which is making the Hawks' defense miserable.

It is what it is at this point. There's no cavalry riding to the rescue.

But there is something to be said for being able to see the finish line and those four defensemen don't have to leave anything in the tank now.

And despite all the trouble, it doesn't mean the Hawks won't win their third Cup in six seasons.

The Hawks are tied in the Final and have a very real chance to clinch at home Monday if they can win Game 5 on Saturday in Tampa.

If they do grab the big prize, all the talk of hits and minutes will again be discarded, history revised to fit a nonsensical narrative that flies only in Chicago and in the face of simple fact.

Then again, parades have a way of making players feel a little more rested and a little less injured.

History will note that, as well.

brozner@dailyherald.com

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