There wasn’t a lot to be said after the Blackhawks fell to the Dallas Stars in a tight 3-1 loss Saturday night. It’s been a similar story all season long–playing tight games and showing flashes trying to put an opponent away. There have been nights where it does indeed go their way–but a whole lot more where it’s gone the other way.
Head coach Luke Richardson said he doesn’t go into the locker room after games, but tonight was a different matter, with a hurting team that had chances but came up short again.
“Yeah, even playing that well, I feel bad for the guys,” Richardson said. “We just couldn’t get that finish again. We’re stuck on that one goal a game and it’s just not getting us over the hump. Anytime we have one little hiccup or turnover, it seems to be in the net at the wrong time, too.
Guys are pretty down. I don’t usually go into the dressing room after the game, but I just wanted to let them know we’re really with them and we believe in them and they have to have belief with the way we’re playing–it’s not acceptable to lose and only get one goal, but it’s going to lead to something if we continue that.”
Which has been the message for most of the season–how to get past these games where they can only muster a goal, or play an incredibly tight game but cannot hang on long enough.
Losing weighs on the mind and soul–and Saturday’s was another disheartening reminder of that for the Blackhawks.
Blackhawks ‘Played On Our Heels’ in the Third Period
Boris Katchouk, who had Chicago’s only goal of the night, believed the Blackhawks couldn’t match the intensity they had in the second period.
“I think we played on our heels a little bit,” Katchouk said. “We got a little too comfortable with that 1-0 lead, and I’m a culprit of it too. But the little chips, it’s always the little battles and the little things that you need to do to make your team win. And it’s those little battles that really helped and we didn’t really do it.”
So how does it change? What can they do? Or maybe another question:
Is there really any more they can do about it?
It’s tough to look at a team with a 12-29-2 record and not be surprised by some of the same things happening over and over again. Rem Pitlick missed a great chance low that sure looked like a sure goal. Lukas Reichel had a chance on a rush, slowed down, and had the puck taken away by a chasing Star. Matt Duchene’s shot muscled its way through Petr Mrazek, who had another fine game that ended up a loss because of a lack of goal support.
The Blackhawks have little margin of error because they simply don’t have the depth or talent to compete with the league’s best night in and night out. They’re a young team learning, and growing. What’s been misleading about their record is that they’re more often in the game rather than not.
For sure, they had “an egg” as Richardson would call them against Dallas (8-1), Arizona (7-3), and Columbus (8-1). But they’ve been in each of the last five games. Yet in those five contests, they’ve scored just one goal in three of them.
Maybe a few more go in and that 12-29-2 mark looks a lot different. But it goes beyond wins and losses–it’s about fighting through the adversity and not falling into an abyss where losses outnumber wins by a heavy margin.
Perhaps Katchouk said it best.
“Obviously, we’re building a process in this culture or in this team right now,” Katchouk said. “And for sure we can take away the positives that we’re playing so well, but we’re still losing. That’s the hardest part of this game. All that matters is wins and losses, and losses suck.”
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