Although the Chicago Blackhawks find themselves in second place in the central division, and just four points out of first place, their play has been less than stellar. A large reason that they are in their current position within the standings is due to good play earlier in the season. As evidence, they have won only seven of their last twelve games. Part of the reason for this has been frustrating trend in their play as of late, giving up two goals in rapid succession. I’m not sure what the cause of this is, but it is a problem which needs to be remedied. To make sure that this really is a problem, I’ve done a bit of leg work. I have gone through the play-by-play log for each Hawks game this season to look for times when goals were given up within the span of about 1 minute. Below are the dates, opponent, score of the game, time between the two goals, and the state of the game before the Hawks conceded both goals.
11/15, WPG, L 0-4, down 0-2, give up 2 in 11 seconds
12/3, PHI, L 1-3, up 1, give up 2 in 31 seconds
12/20, OTT, L 3-4, tied 1-1, allow 2 in 10 seconds
12/30, CAR, L 2-3, up 1-0, give up 2 in 65 seconds
1/13, WSH, L 0-6, tied at zero, give up 2 in 13 seconds
1/17, COL, W 6-4, up 2-1, give up 2 in 63 seconds
1/22, VAN, W 4-2, up 2-0, give up 2 in 46 seconds
1/24, TB, L 5-2, tied 2-2, give up 2 in 30 seconds
1/26, WPG, L 3-5, tied 0-0t, give up 2 in 42 seconds, regain lead 2-3, give up 2 in 32 seconds
There have been 9 games in which the Blackhawks have given up 2 goals in less than 65 seconds. That’s bad. Even worse, we did it twice in the last game played. In those nine games, the Hawks have a record of 2-7-0 (yikes). Clearly, giving up 2 goals in rapid succession is not ideal, and won’t win you many games as that record reflects. What’s worse is that the Hawks are giving up these goals in crucial times of the game. In nine of the ten occasions its happened, the Hawks were either winning or tied. Even worse, in the past two games, TB and WPG, the Hawks entered the third period with a lead and lost in regulation, something they hadn’t done all year. Clearly this is a problem which is really hurting the Hawks and somehow needs to be addressed.
Looking at the dates also confirms another observation; this issue is increasing in frequency. Five of the games where the Hawks have given up two goals in less than a minute were in January, and only one game was played before December. This certainly is part of the reason for the Hawks downtick in play over the last couple of months as they are giving away games with these mental lapses. So, here is to hoping that Q, or anyone for that matter, can solve this issue.
