Miracle on ice? Not on this night as Blackhawks blasted by Leafs
Ever since sports betting became legal in Illinois, it's been interesting to watch the odds on Blackhawks games.
This season, we've often seen opponents listed as 2-to-1, 3-to-1 and even 4-to-1 favorites.
Numbers higher than that are extremely rare, but Wednesday was an exception when the banged-up Hawks took on the powerful Toronto Maple Leafs. The Hawks went off at -650 on one site, meaning a bettor would need to bet $65 to win $10 or $650 to win $100.
This seemed like utter lunacy, considering the myriad goofy bounces that occur in an NHL game.
But it didn't take long to see why the Hawks were such massive underdogs as they yielded a goal after nine seconds and were behind 3-1 in less than 11½ minutes.
The Hawks actually clawed to within 3-2 early in the second period, but the Maple Leafs ended the suspense on goals by John Tavares at 7:37 and Conor Timmins at 16:07 en route to a 5-2 victory.
"The hockey gets harder as the year goes on," forward Max Domi told reporters when asked if there's a reason why the Hawks have been outscored 13-3 in the last three games. "These top teams, they're gonna gear up for the playoffs here. It's a good test and we've got to find ways when we start feeling (bad) to weather the storm a little bit."
Against teams like Toronto - which features William Nylander, Auston Matthews, John Tavares and Mitch Marner - the storm can come early and often. The Leafs' quartet has a combined 99 goals and accounted for 3 of their 5 tallies Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Hawks' top four scorers - which don't even include Patrick Kane - have a scant 53 goals. Kane (9 goals) hasn't scored in seven straight games.
Even at full strength, the Hawks would be hard pressed to keep up with Toronto. But on this night they were without Jonathan Toews (illness), defenseman Jarred Tinordi (knee sprain) and forward Mackenzie Entwistle (wrist). Tinordi and Entwistle were injured during the Hawks' 4-0 loss at Montreal on Tuesday.
Another factor in the Hawks' lackluster play could be the trade rumors that are swirling around Kane, Toews, Domi and others. Coach Luke Richardson doesn't buy that theory, however.
"That takes its toll off the ice," he said. "The mind's a powerful thing and it exhausts you. But I find these guys are really good when it comes (game time)."
It was a truly ugly start for the Hawks (16-32-5) as Jake McCabe fell down and then watched helplessly as Nylander (30) beat Petr Mrázek seconds after the opening faceoff.
Sam Lafferty (9) actually drew the Hawks even just 53 seconds later, but Toronto just kept coming.
The Leafs made it 2-1 at 8:14 of the first when Rasmus Sandin's bad-angle shot banked off Connor Murphy's stick and skittered between Mrázek's legs.
Three minutes later, Auston Matthews cranked home his 26th goal on a sizzling wrist shot that beat Mrázek top-shelf to the stick side.
Those who bet Toronto (33-14-8) may have been shaking like a leaf (ha!) after Philipp Kurashev (8) made it 3-2 off a nice pass from Domi, but a ghastly misplay behind the net by Mrázek allowed Tavares to score into a nearly empty net to make it 4-2.
Cole Guttman (16 goals in 39 games at Rockford) made his NHL debut by replacing Entwistle. Guttman had 3 take-aways, 1 shot on goal and won 5 of 13 faceoffs in 12:09 of ice time.
The Hawks close out their road trip against Alex DeBrincat and Ottawa on Friday, then return home for a rematch against the Maple Leafs on Sunday.