The Blackhawks knew they had to increase their game for Round One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in their matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights, who won the No. 1 seed from the West for the first round in the round robin.
The Hawks’ overtime of the No. 5 seeded Westerners of the West and their superior power play and penalty kill in second place in the regular season – and not to mention Leon Draisailt and Connor McDavid – was no small feat.
Chicago head coach Jeremy Colliton and the Blackhawks know they have a more complete team – capable of rolling four lines – in the Golden Knights, as illustrated by Tuesday’s 4-1 Game 1 decision over the Hawks.
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Instead of focusing on just shutting down two players, as they did against Edmonton, the Blackhawks have the task of shutting down every line against Vegas.
The Hawks’ tight-knit strategy may have played into the hands of the Knights in Game 1, as the Chicago forwards were so concentrated on their defensive responsibilities that they did not generate much offense, picking up a moderate 20 shots on goal Tuesday night.
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“I think we did a better job of controlling the puck in the offensive zone in the second period and on,” Golden Knights Reilly Smith said after Tuesday’s game. “They’re a rush team and we don’t want to come up with a track in the middle so we can stop in the D-zone once we control the game a little bit more.”
If Vegas is afraid of the Chicago rush, the Hawks should use it more. They may prevent a track from coming together, but what about a few races?
Colliton, 35, deserves above the benefit of the doubt in how he prepared the Blackhawks for the Stanley Cup qualifiers and in how they used a system that beat a good team as no. 12 to no. 5 underdogs on the home side of the opposition his first postseason win in his second year as NHL head coach. But he needs to find a way to encourage the Hawks to play loose enough, while limiting the Knights’ chances in Game 2, that they may generate some of their own.
“We expect a tight series, we expect it to be a grind, we expect to counter,” Colliton said after the loss in Game 1. “We did that, and we had it right. But we’ll have to find a way “to win some of these games (and) we have to put ourselves in that position as well. Again, we just have to keep it and they did it a little bit longer than us, and that’s the message.”
To give Colliton his credit, Corey Crawford gave up two soft goals he would normally have, so the Hawks could have a victory on Tuesday with their tight, conservative style.
“They’re a good team, they’ll make you work for what you get,” Colliton said. “But if you keep it long enough and put pressure on the puck, we forced our turnover, we got our chances. I thought we could have created even more if we were a little cleaner early on, especially in the first period. I thought there was more for us. We just have to believe in that. “
One way the Hawks can generate more in Game 2 on Thursday is by the attackers getting the puck to the D in the offensive zone, creating traffic for the net and getting shots from the point, which plays a big role played in eliminating the Oilers in the play-in series.
“Yeah, we’ve had a bit of success there in the last series. For some reason the first game here didn’t happen that much,” Hawks defender Duncan Keith said after watching Game 1. “Part of it is just that. keep game simple. Be able to get it low to high and then get the shot through. But every game is different. “
How does Seed make it look so easy? #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/RpmacwVuJz
– Scott King (@ScottKingMedia) August 12, 2020
Blackhawks forward Brandon Saad, who made a great play in the Vegas zone to steal the puck and feed David Kampf for the lone Hawks’ goal in Game 1, knows that there is more the Hawks can do for something to score goals against the Knights.
“We had a lot of one-and-dones,” Saad said after Tuesday’s loss. “The biggest thing is to get clean out of our zone, to play hockey in the end. We also had some shifts where we screwed them up, we didn’t get clean pucks on the net … For us, we just want that. get out of our zone as soon as possible. If we sit there, we will get nothing there. “
