The snowball keeps rolling as Blackhawks lose 4-2 to Nashville
What should a coaching staff do when a team is struggling as badly as the Blackhawks?
The days of kicking lockers and going into a tirade are basically over, but it's not unheard of to see a gut-busting practice followed by an energy-sapping bag skate.
Jeremy Colliton tried this tactic after the Hawks started 0-5-1 last season.
"We'll see if we get the desired response," Colliton said.
They did not - and Colliton was fired less than two weeks later.
New coach Luke Richardson could have gone this route at some point over the past few weeks - and especially after an embarrassing 7-1 loss to the Rangers at the United Center on Sunday.
Richardson instead took a more compassionate route, sitting the players down and showing them ego-boosting video clips from earlier in the season.
"There are times during the year, and even times early last game, where we executed things," Richardson said. "But right now we're not able to consistently do it for a whole game. We have to make sure if one play doesn't execute ... (and) one play bounces against us, then we have to lock it down and not make it two or three."
Said Jonathan Toews on Sunday: "It keeps snowballing in the wrong direction for us and we're mentally having a difficult time recovering."
Because of that, the Hawks hadn't led AT ANY POINT during the last seven games heading into their Wednesday tilt with Nashville at the UC. That streak finally ended at 456 minutes, 40 seconds, when the Hawks got second-period goals from Connor Murphy (3) and Mackenzie Entwistle (2) to erase a 1-0 deficit. The tallies came 37 seconds apart.
But the "snowball effect" reared its ugly head again for the Hawks as the Predators (14-13-4) scored 3 unanswered goals en route to a 4-2 victory. The Hawks (7-20-4) have been outscored 35-9 during this eight-game losing streak.
Nashville tied things up when Mattias Ekholm won a board battle with Philipp Kurashev and then zipped a pass to a charging Matt Duchene, who buried his ninth goal with just five seconds remaining in the second period.
Roman Josi (7) and Thomas Novak (1) scored in the first 6-plus minutes of the third period to give Nashville a 4-2 lead. Josi assisted on Novak's goal to become the Predators' all-time leading scorer with 567 career points.
As for Richardson taking it easy on his guys, let's not forget that he has one big luxury that Colliton did not: time. Colliton was under immense pressure to win with a roster that included the newly signed Seth Jones and Marc-Andre Fleury, as well as forwards Alex DeBrincat, Dominik Kubalik, Brandon Hagel, Kirby Dach, Dylan Strome and the returning Jonathan Toews.
Frankly, that wretched start called for a tough response. Sadly - for Colliton anyway - nothing changed.
These stripped-down Hawks might be the worst team in the NHL, but Richardson is nonetheless tasked with coaching up each and every player.
The key is for everyone to know their job - and that's been a big problem for quite a while.
"(We're) not on the same page when it comes to 'D' pinching or forwards reloading," Jones said after the loss to the Rangers. "Half the time we're good at it; half the time it's a Grade A (chance) against. It's hard to play that way."
Sure is.
The Hawks did a decent job Wednesday, but there were still far too many high-danger chances for the Predators (15). Only some terrific saves by Petr Mrázek - including one early in the third period where the puck lodged between his pad and his skate, then got kicked out - kept things close.
Mrázek finished with 33 saves.