Chicago Blackhawks' Teravainen still struggling on faceoffs
Ever since last season ended, coach Joel Quenneville talked about how he wanted Teuvo Teravainen to take the next step and be one of the Chicago Blackhawks' centers.
Over the last 10 games, that's exactly where the 22-year-old Finn has found himself, with varying degrees of success. Quenneville has raved about Teravainen's defense most of the season, but the rookie's lack of success in the faceoff circle hasn't gone unnoticed.
“It's getting better,” Teravainen said. “Get some good games, get some tough nights, too. I'm getting the timing better.”
Well, at times.
Among players with at least 200 faceoffs, only eight have a worse win percentage than Teravainen's 41.2 entering Tuesday's loss to Dallas. As Teravainen said, some games are good (he has gone 11-for-17 and 8-for-12) and some are tough (3-for-9, 2-for-11, 3-for-15).
Teravainen said success in the faceoff circle has a lot to do with simply gaining confidence. Quenneville expects young players to struggle but also expects them to improve by getting stronger and paying attention to the details that give you an edge.
“You're more aware of the officials,” Quenneville said. “You're more aware of the all the little tricks you can add to that experience of knowing that the more you take, the better you are.”
When Marcus Kruger returns — possibly as early as Saturday in Calgary — the Hawks will have to decide if they want to move Teravainen or Andrew Shaw back to wing. Shaw began Tuesday's game by centering the fourth line with Andrew Desjardins and Richard Panik as his wingers.
Doing too much?
When a team is loaded with as many playmakers as the Hawks have — from Jonathan Toews to Patrick Kane to Artemi Panarin to Marian Hossa — there can be a tendency to do too much with the puck.
Players often make that extra pass when they should just be shooting it. That happened numerous times in the Hawks' 3-2 shootout loss to Minnesota, and Marian Hossa was asked about it before Tuesday's game against the Stars.
“You're right,” Hossa said. “There's sometimes where there's so much skill on this team guys try to make the perfect play to an empty net … where we should maybe just put pucks in play at the net and go for second chances.”
Crawford update:
Coach Joel Quenneville once again said Corey Crawford is day to day with an upper-body injury. Quenneville's answers on the subject over the past week have been short, and he has offered no further details on what happened, other than to say it was an on-ice injury.
As to whether Crawford will travel with the team on its upcoming four-game road trip, Quenneville would only say, “We'll see.”
Slap shots:
In Richard Panik's last three games, he has 2 goals, has taken 11 shots on goal and delivered 12 hits while averaging just more than 12 minutes of ice time. … Dallas' Jamie Benn, who had 2 assists Tuesday, is 10 points behind Patrick Kane in the scoring race. He has a career-high 36 goals, the third straight season he has had 30-plus.