Sure. Fine. Whatever: Hurricanes 3, Blackhawks 0
Photo by Bill Smith/NHLI via Getty Images
Meh. The Chicago Blackhawks were shutout 3-0 by the Carolina Hurricanes on Monday night at the United Center.
The Hurricanes opened the scoring midway through the first period as Jordan Martinook deflected a Brent Burns shot into the back of the net.
Still not entirely sure how it happened but we know it is good pic.twitter.com/qORisjSBzr— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) November 15, 2022
Jordan Staal doubled the Hurricanes’ lead 16:49 into the first with a snipe from the right dot. This was one of several lengthy periods of time when the Hurricanes camped out in the Blackhawks’ defensive zone.
This was nasty from Jordo ️ pic.twitter.com/xi46nvpb1v— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) November 15, 2022
Although the first period was pretty lopsided in favor of the Hurricanes, the Blackhawks did have a couple of good chances, including this one between Patrick Kane and Philipp Kurashev:
Good chemistry here between Patrick Kane and Philipp Kurashev. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/GEPUYO1iO0— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 15, 2022
The Hurricanes scored the lone goal of the second period as well. Jasper Fast broke up Caleb Jones’ outlet attempt, and the puck trickled to a perfectly placed Andrei Svechnikov, who scored to make it 3-0 with 5:53 left in the middle frame.
Svech scored again? That's weird. That never happens. pic.twitter.com/PdwiGKMpI7— Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) November 15, 2022
The Blackhawks best chance in the second was unsurprisingly on the penalty kill after a great pick-off from Reese Johnson that almost resulted in a goal:
It's been a while since Chicago has scored a shorthanded goal and Reese Johnson almost got one here. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/CK5TzY8W47— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) November 15, 2022
And that score remained after a scoreless third, as the Blackhawks fell 3-0 to the Hurricanes.
Notes
The first period should have been one of the most humbling for the Blackhawks this season, based on the sheer effortlessness with which the Hurricanes dominated them at 5-on-5. Carolina owned a 77.27 percent shot attempt share and 56.92 percent expected goals share, and it often felt worse than that.
The Blackhawks did bounce back decently in the second, even if they still lost on the scoresheet. At 5-on-5, Chicago had a slight edge in attempts (52.63 percent) and then prevented the Hurricanes from getting a single high-danger scoring chance (by location) while getting three of their own. Add in two very strong power plays where the Hawks did everything except score and it was a good period for the team.
The third was a bit of a letdown, if only because the Hurricanes kept the puck away from the Hawks so well they had trouble mounting any serious comeback.
This was one of the Blackhawks best games in terms of generating high-danger scoring chances by locations: they had 11 at 5-on-5 (tied for second best this season) and 17 overall (tied for best this season). These were mostly sporadic, one-time chances without much sustained pressure, but there’s still something to be said about the sheer volume.
No offense to these guys, but when the best line is Boris Katchouk, Sam Lafferty, and MacKenzie Entwisle, you know it’s been a rough game for the Blackhawks.
It likely wouldn’t have made a difference, but it’s a little odd that Richardson didn’t challenge on the first goal against considering there was likely enough evidence to prove it was a high stick.
Reese Johnson is probably still a nice guy, but it’s been good to see him also being a nice player for the most part. The Blackhawks did him a real disservice playing him in the NHL last season before he was ready, but he’s been useful enough this season that it’ll be hard to see him likely sit when it comes time for Tyler Johnson and Jason Dickinson to re-enter the lineup.
Ugh, how sweet would it have been if Kurashev had scored on the above give-and-go with Kane? There haven’t been many pretty passing play goals for the Hawks this season. Their line along with Domi got eaten up by the Canes for the most part, but this was the first time that happened to that trio since being united.
Ultimately this was an expected result — the Hurricanes are just a much, much better team than the Blackhawks — but it was still disappointing nonetheless. We’ve come to expect a little more from this Chicago group, even in losses.
Game Charts
#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Chicago Blackhawks on 2022-11-14:#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/b5tReaG2fp— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) November 15, 2022
Three Stars
Jordan Staal (CAR) — 1 goal, 1 assist
Pyotr Kochetkov (CAR) — 27 saves on 27 shots
Brent Burns (CAR) — 2 assists
What’s next
The Blackhawks host the St. Louis Blues at the United Center on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m.
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