Saad stays hot, but Hawks still fall 4-2 to Caps
With his Blackhawks trailing the lowly Los Angeles Kings 1-0 after two periods last week, head coach Jeremy Colliton swung for the fences and moved Brandon Saad up to play with Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
The move turned out to be a home run as Saad tied things up just 2 minutes and 39 seconds into the third period.
The Hawks went on to lose to the Kings in a shootout, but Colliton kept this high-octane trio together in a 3-1 victory over Minnesota on Sunday and again during a 4-2 loss at Washington on Wednesday.
Saad stayed hot in the nation's capital by scoring in a third straight game, but the Hawks were unable to come back after the Capitals grabbed a 3-0 lead midway through the second period.
Saad's goal at 11:37 of the second period made it 3-1, and Erik Gustafsson made it 3-2 at 5:23 of the third. Devante Smith-Pelly gave Washington a 4-2 lead at 7:12, however, and the Hawks fell to 8-9-5 on the season.
Colliton leaned heavily on Toews, Saad and Kane, playing all of them in excess of 22½ minutes while Marcus Kruger (6:55), Andreas Martinsen (4:13) and John Hayden (2:45) barely saw the ice.
"They looked fresh and looked like they could get us back in the game at any point," Colliton told reporters. "I'm trying not to play them, but it felt like we could come back. So we kind of had to give it a shot."
Washington, which got 37 saves from Braden Holtby and improved to 11-7-3, grabbed that 3-0 lead on goals by Tom Wilson, Andre Burakovsky and Michal Kempny.
As opposed to Joel Quenneville's theory that keeping Kane and Toews apart made the Hawks more dangerous, Colliton hasn't shied away from playing his superstars together since he took over Nov. 6.
"If we play them together, they've got to produce," Colliton said. "But sometimes when you spread them out, no one produces. By loading them up, it puts some pressure on them.
"But hopefully they play so well, it doesn't matter who has the puck; they're making plays, they break through anyway, no matter who they're playing against. That's what we ask of them, and so far they're coming through."
It's not like Toews and Kane never played together the past few seasons. According to naturalstattrick.com, they spent 892 even-strength minutes together from 2015-18. That pales in comparison, however, to the 2,119 minutes they were together from 2008-11.
Toews admitted Sunday it might take some time for things to click the way they want it to.
"Sometimes when you have an expectation right away to go out there and score, you don't play the situation and you just get in a hurry," Toews said.
Kane agreed before Wednesday's game against the Capitals.
"We're learning more and more about each other every game, and (been) a little better every game," he said. "Just continue on.
"The biggest thing with us is just play the right way (and) don't get frustrated. Even if you don't dominate shifts and you feel like you should every time you're out there, eventually you're going to get your chances."
Slap shot:
Forwards Chris Kunitz, Luke Johnson and D-man Brandon Manning were the Hawks' healthy scratches at Washington on Wednesday. Manning, who signed a two-year, $4.5 million contract last off-season, has sat out four of the last seven games.
On the farm:
Rockford IceHogs forward Dylan Sikura scored his eighth goal of the season in a 3-2 shootout loss at San Antonio on Tuesday. Rockford (8-7-4) hosts the Chicago Wolves at 6 p.m. Friday, plays at Milwaukee at 6 p.m. on Saturday and is at the Wolves at 3 p.m. Sunday.