The Chicago Blackhawks were riding high after a 10-goal outburst on Thursday. They love to start fast in their building. Their opponent, the Columbus Blue Jackets, had played the night before and arrived in Chicago late.
So, naturally, the Blue Jackets were quickly in a 2-0 hole.
Joonas Korpisalo didn’t get much help from the group in front of him, and despite losing the puck possession battle, the Blackhawks had the better scoring chances (particularly of the high-danger variety). As they showed in a 10-1 drubbing of the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday, these Blackhawks don’t need many opportunities to make you pay. Whether it was broken plays, counterattacks or odd-man rushes, the Blackhawks found multiple ways to put the puck in the net.
After two games, they’re 1-1-0. Not bad, not great. There’s been a lot to like and some things that need cleaned up, so it sounds like most teams’ situation in the first week of a new season.
Gather ‘round for some observations following a 5-1 loss at United Center:
HIT THE BRAKES
A day after they looked quick, sharp and assertive in their home opener against the New York Islanders, the Blue Jackets looked the exact opposite. They knew the Blackhawks would start the game on time and they knew what was coming at them, but it took Columbus a while to get settled into the game. When they finally did, they were behind 2-0 and scrapping just to get a decent scoring chance. They did, however, get pucks toward the net (albeit from the perimeter); the Blue Jackets had 58.5 percent of 5-on-5 shot attempts in the game, which is good, but they also had a hard time finding looks in dangerous areas of the ice.
“It was like we did the old ‘wait and see what was going to happen,’” captain Nick Foligno said. “That’s a team you can’t do that (against). You have to go after them.”
WHOA, JACK
The Blue Jackets need Jack Johnson to play like he did a year ago (and perhaps even better) to help out their blue line, which would include eliminating questionable decisions like he made early in the first period tonight. With the Blackhawks bearing down on an odd-man rush, Johnson left Patrick Kane alone on the right wing in order to travel across the ice and deliver a punishing hit to Nick Schmaltz, who would leave the game with an injury. Johnson’s decision left Kane with a clean look from inside 20 feet on Korpisalo, and it was a no-doubt missile to the top shelf that opened the scoring.
KING OF CORSI
Pierre-Luc Dubois has been a nice surprise coming off a strong training camp. He scored his first NHL goal last night against the Islanders and was effective again tonight, playing primarily with Brandon Dubinsky as his center. Dubois played a touch over 15 minutes in this game and was +7 (68.5%) in Corsi at 5-on-5. When the kid’s been on the ice, the Blue Jackets have had the puck. His play has given John Tortorella another option on special teams, too, as he logged power play and penalty kill time tonight.
Pierre-Luc Dubois after two games:
— Jeremy Crowe (@307x) October 8, 2017
+17 5v5 Corsi (66.7%)
+10 5v5 medium-danger Corsi (77.8%)
+4 5v5 high-danger Corsi (80.0%)
MIXED BAG
Tortorella was quick to point out that, despite getting beat five times, his goaltender was not the issue in tonight’s loss. Korpisalo had some shaky moments but the Blackhawks’ goals were, in many cases, well-executed plays. Kane picked apart the defense on at least two occasions and Brandon Saad cashed in on an overwhelming mess at the front of the net, leaving Korpisalo in a pretty helpless position.
TAKE A BREATH
There are 80 games left. Enjoy your Sunday, won’t you?
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