Vegas hands another loss to bad-luck Blackhawks
If anyone on the Blackhawks knows what it's like to endure long losing streaks, it's Connor Murphy.
The veteran defenseman, who broke into the league with Arizona in 2013-14, has been a part of streaks that have stretched seven or more games a whopping TEN TIMES.
Five have come with the Hawks, with the most recent one being an eight-game skid from Nov. 14-30.
Then the Hawks beat the Rangers 5-2 on Dec. 3.
After that? Another loss. And another. And another, then another.
Of all the wretched stretches during Murphy's career, this might be the worst. But it's how guys react that says a lot about them as pros.
"If you let it sink into your conscious and your will and your hope, it's gonna show up even worse," Murphy said after the Hawks' 7-3 loss to Washington on Tuesday. "It's only gonna make the season feel longer, and it'll make the games and showing up to the rink no fun. ...
"It's really just a test of character for everyone and it's something everyone needs to take pride to get through ... because it can really build a strong team."
That's what the sagging Hawks faced Thursday at the United Center: an EXTREMELY strong team in the Vegas Golden Knights. The Pacific Division leaders were far from perfect, but improved to 22-9-1 overall and 14-2-1 on the road after stifling the Hawks and skating off with a 4-1 victory.
The Hawks, whose lone goal came from Taylor Raddysh with 3:54 remaining, have now lost five straight and 13 of 14.
"Just gotta keep working our (butts) off to try to get out of this," defenseman Jake McCabe said afterward. "It's not going to come easy. This league is very hard every single night. It's a challenge no matter who you're playing."
There were a few bright spots. Chief among them was Patrick Kane hustling back twice in the first period to thwart Vegas scoring chances.
That's the kind of example Kane and all the veterans must set regardless of score, regardless of record and regardless of how they feel on a night-to-night basis.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, those snap shots got shredded in the second period when Reilly Smith scored short-handed to make it 2-0.
Some truly pathetic defense led to score. A tough-to-handle pass from Tyler Johnson to Kane at the blue line led to a William Karlsson breakaway attempt that goalie Arvid Söderblom managed to stop.
What happened next was unconscionable as Jonathan Toews, Max Domi and Johnson all chased Karlsson to the sideboards. Kane, meanwhile, coasted along the goal line. This disaster allowed Smith to skate in, accept a pass from Karlsson and snipe home his 13th goal of the season.
Johnson cannot join that scrum along the boards. And Kane can't sit and watch. One or both must pick up the charging Smith.
"We just have to be more responsible with the puck, no matter if it's Seth (Jones) out there or Caleb (Jones) or five forwards," said coach Luke Richardson. "There's a reason why you're out there. You're supposed to have high hockey intelligence and we have to make sure we don't turn pucks over."
So now what? How do the Hawks respond to this, especially with another game at Minnesota on Friday night?
"It's playing the style we played with in the first period," Richardson said. "Did we generate enough? Probably not. But I think the way we played is in the right direction, and we've got to stick with that. ...
"(Then) you chip away at it and you'll get some bounces some nights. The other team will hit two posts like we did tonight and not score. When you get a win playing the right way I think it will stamp what we have to do."