Recap: Blackhawks bested by Panthers 5-3 in Sunrise

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First period

This period was all Panthers. After a few shots on goal, Florida finally broke through Spencer Knight. Just under five minutes into the period, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Reinhart put on a passing clinic, finding Sandis Vilmanis in front, who put the puck home, 1-0 Panthers. Just under eight minutes later, the Panthers got their first power play of the game. Connor Bedard got two minutes for tripping, putting the Blackhawks a man down. Twenty seconds into the man advantage, Verhaeghe put the puck past Knight from in tight and the Panthers were up 2-0. Chicago got a power play late in the frame that would bleed over into the second, as the Panthers would go into the intermission with a 2-0 lead.

Second period

Florida went on to kill off the power play early in the second. The Blackhawks got more shots on goal than the Panthers to even things up late into the period. Thirteen minutes in, Vilmanis found Seth Jones coming into the right circle. He wristed the puck past Knight, giving Florida the 3-0 lead.

Then, three minutes after that, the Blackhawks finally solved Jacob Markstrom, with Roman Kantserov continuing his strong start. He picked up the puck in front of the net to make it 3-1 Panthers.

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The teams would go to the second intermission with Florida retaining their 3-1 lead.

Third period

With more early-period dominance from the Panthers, they gained another power play seven and a half minutes into the third. At the tail end of that power play, the Blackhawks intercepted a pass, with Frank Nazar taking it down ice. He out-waited Markstrom and put a backhander past him, making it 3-2 Florida.

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A minute and a half later, after the Blackhawks failed to clear the puck from the defensive zone, as Ian Cole mishandled a puck in front of the net. Vilmanis pounced on it and put it past Knight for his second goal of the game, 4-2 Panthers.

Five minutes later, the Blackhawks would get one back. After Bedard brought the puck into the zone, it found its way behind the net. Sam Rinzel put a pass to the front that found its way back to Nazar, who wristed home his second of the period, 4-3 Florida.

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Unfortunately, that would not be enough, as the Panthers would put the game away with an empty-netter from Reinhart, making the final score 5-3 Florida.

Analysis

This Blackhawks team is simply tough to watch this year. They don’t have a lot of energy, they don’t do well with contact, they don’t play good defensively…the list could go on and on. The Panthers are obviously a team that has a lot more grit to their game, and the Blackhawks are almost designed with the way Jeff Blashill has them playing to have almost none. That’s fine if your offense is good, but if that side has an off night, you cannot shoot your way to victory. This team is comprised of too many skill players and not enough guys who can hit, play good defensively and generally keep the puck under control. I’m not seeing enough guys who are playing good, responsible hockey with any kind of grit and effort. I would love to see more of this, like Boucher was trying to do in getting his team going:

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The Blackhawks’ next game is on Thursday night versus the Tampa Bay Lightning. That game will be at 6 p.m. CST on CHSN.