Blackhawks Defense Cracks in 6-2 Loss Against Seattle

The boys were buzzing, and Bedard felt it. Frank Nazar centered Bedard and Ryan Donato and generated meaningful OZ time thanks to the successful employment of a 2-1-2 forecheck and a sleepy Kraken team. Wyatt Kaiser made a couple of noteworthy entries into the zone, and Artyom Levshunov made impressive plays on both ends of the ice. Tyler Bertuzzi also ended a goal drought of his own in "Bertuzzi-fashion," redirecting a Vlasic shot in front of the net to put the Hawks up 2-0.  

As the period was nearing an end, the Blackhawks began to crack with their first goal against a bad defensive misread, which led to Seattle's first goal of the night less than a minute after Bertuzzi's tally.

It wasn't a perfect period (the Hawks had a 43 xG%), but it was like drinking water in a desert. 

Then horror struck. The second period and beyond had a lot of bad. The goals against exposed a flimsy defense that gave up the middle of the ice with zero fight. The Kraken out-worked the Hawks out of position, who looked confused as to what their roles were. Horrible puck management sucked the energy from this team. With every goal the Kraken scored, the Hawks gave up more shot attempts. The life bled out of them. 

Spencer Knight didn't have his best game, but this one wasn't on him. Knight gave up six goals on 30 shots, a .800 SV%. His defense carries that "L."

Analysis

I'm not sure what Anders Sorensen's messaging is. When the second period started, with the Hawks up 2-1, Sorensen had every line (including Bedard's line) run a 1-2-2 forecheck. As the lead widened, the Hawks played more conservatively. This is where fitting players into a system doesn't work. When you let the kids play their game, good things happen. When you try to force a rigid system on players with a skill set, bad things happen. 

I understand that the roster is what it is, but I find it hard to believe that a group of NHL players cannot play consistently for most of the game. What they did in the first period is what they should have done for the whole game. 

If there's ever a time for Kyle Davidson to realize that Anders Sorensen isn't the coach for this team's future, that time is now.