What the Blackhawks have to do to stun the Vegas Golden Knights
Robin who?
That was basically the reaction Sunday from coach Jeremy Colliton and Dylan Strome to questions about Robin Lehner as the Blackhawks got set to take on Vegas in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Game 1 of the best-of-seven series is in Edmonton on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m.
Colliton quickly pivoted on two queries, clearly not wanting to provide the Golden Knights with a shred of bulletin-board material.
“Listen, he was a big part of our team when he was here,” Colliton said. “But at the same time, it's over. Our total focus is on beating Vegas and that's what we're gonna talk about.”
Jonathan Toews was a bit more diplomatic Monday, saying the “guys liked him a lot” and that he had “a positive influence on everyone in the room, especially our leadership group.”
Now, of course, he's in the Hawks' way. Whether or not they can get past him and/or fellow goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury will boil down to a number of factors:
• They must slow down a well-rounded team with plenty of fire power. Forwards Max Pacioretty (32), Reilly Smith (27), Jonathan Marchessault (22) and Mark Stone (21) all had 20-goal campaigns. The Hawks also must be aware of defensemen Shea Theodore (13G, 33A) and Nate Schmidt (16G last 120 games). And don't sleep on Alex Tuch, who missed time this season but scored 20 times in 2018-19.
Pacioretty missed the three round-robin games but showed up in the Edmonton bubble last week and will be ready for Game 1.
• The Hawks must understand how hungry the Golden Knights are to redeem themselves after a heart-wrenching collapse in the opening round last season against San Jose. Vegas was just minutes from winning Game 7 when the Sharks wiped out a 3-0 deficit by scoring 4 goals after a controversial five-minute major penalty was called on Cody Eakin.
“You've got to learn from those things. You're not just going to walk back into the Stanley Cup Final,” said Schmidt, who was part of Vegas' incredible run to the Final in 2018. “It's incredibly hard to get there. ... Last year we thought maybe you could just roll through a team once you're up. Now we learned the valuable lesson that that's not going to happen.”
• Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat must get untracked. Kane (1 goal on 17 shots) and DeBrincat (zero on 9 shots) were pretty quiet against Edmonton. An explosion by these two scorers would go a long way in planting a seed of doubt in the Golden Knights.
“You've got to realize that you are in playoff hockey and it's gonna be a little bit tougher to score goals,” said Kane, who has scored 51 times in 131 postseason games. “It might be a tough series to score against a detailed, structured team like Vegas. So gotta stay patient as well.
“But it's always fun to play playoff hockey, and there's nothing better than scoring in the playoffs and helping your team that way. So try to do that a little more this series.”
• Corey Crawford stealing a game or two. If the Hawks' netminder outplays his counterparts, anything can happen.
• Keep it simple. Set the table for the next line. Play selfless, winning, smart hockey. Avoid costly turnovers and silly penalties. Pretty obvious, right?
“There's no part of our game that can have any issues, any holes,” Toews said. “It's going to be a different challenge and we're all going to have to find that next gear.”
• Get even more from Kirby Dach, Strome and Adam Boqvist. And get something from Alex Nylander. These four must find a way to contribute. Dach, for one, seems up to the task.
“The adjustments you need to make in a team game and yourself, they need to happen fast and quick,” Dach said, “or you're going to be left behind and lose the series.
“It's been a lot of fun. I've enjoyed every minute of the bubble and I'm looking forward to this next series ... to really show everybody who the Hawks are and that we're here to win and not here just to be here.”