Slow start dooms Chicago Blackhawks again
The Chicago Blackhawks can talk all they want about winning streaks and playoff aspirations, but they're not going to accomplish either if they keep allowing opponents to dominate the first 10-20 minutes of every game.
That's exactly what happened during an embarrassing 8-3 loss to Vegas on Tuesday night at the United Center as the Golden Knights went up 3-0 after one period and 6-2 after two periods.
This on the heels of Florida grabbing a 2-0 lead in less than 14 minutes, Tampa Bay going up 4-1 in under 15 minutes, and Washington building a 3-0 lead in 29½ minutes.
"You don't want to be losing the way we're losing," Brent Seabrook said. "It's tough when you're giving up 2 or 3 in the first period and you're scratching and clawing from behind the rest of the game. It's something we've got to fix."
Vegas, which got 2 goals each from Cody Eakin and Shea Theodore, has won four straight by a combined 19-5 to improve to 13-12-1. The Hawks (9-11-5) are 3-5-2 under Jeremy Colliton and 3-9-3 since their 6-2-2 start. They've yielded 20 goals in the last four games.
Jonathan Toews wouldn't admit his team's slow starts are part of a bigger problem.
"I don't think what you saw tonight was a trend that's been emerging at all," he said. "It's just one of those games (where) you're just flat and everything that could have gone wrong went wrong.
"We'll be (ticked) off about it. We'll be angry. We've got to be better, but we can just focus on the next one."
The ugliest moment Tuesday came when Corey Crawford retrieved a puck behind his net and threw it about 40 feet up the side boards, right to a charging Alex Tuch. Crawford got back in position, but Tuch's laser from the right slot found its mark at 12:14 to give Vegas a 2-0 lead.
Crawford finished with 24 saves and was replaced by Cam Ward after two periods.
The Hawks made it a 4-2 game on second-period goals by Gustav Forsling and Dylan Strome, but Ryan Reaves and Shea Theodore scored at 13:16 and 19:54 to basically put the game away.
"We actually outchanced them in the first," Colliton said, "but it doesn't matter when you don't defend hard enough, (and) you don't stay in the game long enough to break through offensively."
Strome, acquired along with Brendan Perlini from Arizona on Sunday in exchange for Nick Schmaltz, centered a line with Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat. After a slow start, the trio produced multiple high-danger opportunities.
Strome's goal, his fourth of the season, came at 11:16 of the second period when he found a loose puck in front of the net and backhanded a shot past an out-of-position Marc-Andre Fleury.
This line's play was a lone bright spot on an ugly night.
There's no time for the Hawks to catch their breath, either, as their next two opponents - Winnipeg and Nashville - are a combined 30-15-3.
Colliton remains "very confident" that the Hawks eventually will turn things around, but he admitted that getting his message through is tougher during stretches like this.
"It's easier to be hard on guys when you're winning because they can take it," Colliton said. "When you're losing, it's more difficult. You've got to be careful.
"But I've been pretty happy so far. The guys are open to feedback, they want to get better, they want to win. And that's a good start. We want to speed up the process, though."