The Home Stretch – Your Weekly Blackhawks Recap

By Kevin Schroeder
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Updated: April 12, 2016

(Week of 4/3 – 4/9)

Hawks – Bruins Recap

Hawks – Coyotes Recap

Hawks – Blues Recap

Hawks – Blue Jackets Recap

The Blackhawks went 2-0-2 on the week, defeating the Bruins and Coyotes at home and losing in overtime to St. Louis at home and Columbus on the road.

Notes

Forwards: Save for the game against St. Louis, where Brian Elliot turned in a very nice performance, the offense was rolling for the Hawks last week. Panarin will be owed some bonus money for finishing in the top 10 in scoring among forwards. Watching him play during the IIHF World Championship last year, I thought he was going to be good, that he’s got a really high ceiling, but would need some time to get there, and that he’d be a natural fit with Patrick Kane. Even I didn’t think he’d be this good, this soon. Does playing with Kane, who had a fantastic year, becoming the first American to win the Art Ross Trophy, have something to do with that? Sure, but at the same time, Panarin helped Kane elevate his game. Someone’s going to have to go to make it happen, and it’s going to be rough, but the Hawks have got to sign Panarin to a long-term deal. Last year, I thought his ceiling was “smaller Alex Ovechkin.” This year, I think it’s only a matter of time before he reaches it.

Kane had a great week, lighting the lamp six times, including a hat trick against the Bruins. Toews scored in every game he played this week. Andrew Ladd had a nice showing.

Defensemen: Took their foot off the gas a bit after amassing big leads over the Bruins and Coyotes and were hurt more by it in the former. Played mostly very well against St. Louis until two lapses lead to the tying and winning goals. The game in Columbus didn’t count, so Hjalmarsson was wisely rested. That went about as well as could be expected.

Goalies: Darling was mostly fine. Crawford returned in Columbus,playing his first game in three weeks behind a team playing without 5 of its 6 best defensive players (Toews and Hjalmarsson rested, Anisimov and Hossa were recovering from injuries, Keith is still suspended, Kruger was on the ice.) and that went about like I thought it would. He wasn’t particularly sharp, but given the circumstances, I wouldn’t worry.

The Hawks will open the playoffs Wednesday in St. Louis. Keith is suspended for game 1, so the rest of the defensive unit is going to have to step up for that one. Hossa, Anisimov, and Shaw are all back; that should really help the offense. The team hasn’t looked all that great overall lately and Crawford’s probably still got a bit of rust to shake off, but I wouldn’t bet against the Hawks. You don’t win three Cups in six years by accident, especially not in the cap era. I’m not thrilled about the idea of just hoping this team can flip the switch, but they’ve shown an ability to do so in the past, and I’m confident they’ll be able to do it again. In hockey more so than any other sport, playoff experience matters. The Hawks have it, the Blues don’t. I like the Hawks’ chances.

Blackhawks 3 stars of the week:

★★★ Jonathan Toews, C (3 G, 2 A)

★★ Patrick Kane, RW (6 G (1 GWG), 4 A)

★ Artemi Panarin, LW (3 G (1 GWG), 6 A)

Twitter: @KSchroeder_312

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com