DE-FENCE… DE-FENCE… DE-FENCE.
I've been feeling like a broken record for most of the year when evaluating this Blackhawks team; they like to score goals but damn can they not keep them out.
As I've been preaching, I believe it is more the current roster that needs to change vs. coaching. Saturday night's 2-1 win over Dallas showed that this roster is capable with the right effort – and I believe it was effort and team commitment to defence that was on rare display on the weekend. Well that, and Corey Crawford, who played a great game.
This was only the 8th time this season that the Blackhawks have kept their opponents to 1 goal or under.
Of those 8 games, 5 have happened since Jeremy Colliton took over and this was the first time they did so since December 21st when they neat the Avalanche 2-1.
It's been a minute and it was so refreshing to see what a low scoring victory looked like. Also, this is the kind of win that the players will like to show their coach they can win. It's a confidence booster and more efforts like this would be welcomed as the Hawks look ahead to next year.
A few player observations and thoughts from my end:
* Brendan Perlini – I had a blog started where Perlini was the star (and I still plan on breaking down his play fully at a later date) but I just wanted to say that he's been benefitting largely from extra ice time. The Caggiula injury – while obviously not ideal – has worked out very much in Perlini's favour.
I've been high on this guy since he came over and wanted everyone to be patient because there is so much to like about his game. The main area I would like to see him improve on would be his physical play. I don't need him to take runs at guys, but he just needs to get better at using his 6'3/215 lbs body in a more effective way when battling for 50/50 pucks.
* Dylan Sikura – this kid better go to school (and the gym) this summer. He started the game on the Toews and Saad line but ended with just 9:24 TOI. He was quickly shifted off the top line after consecutive shifts of not making the strongest play available to him. There is something to like about his game but as Stan Bowman looks like re-shape the forwards a bit this year, I wouldn't be shocked if Sikura wasn't here come October.
* David Kampf – I like Kampf's game. If slotted properly (4C makes me the most comfortable) he can be very effective for this team. He gives a top effort every night, is strong along the boards and has a defensive mindset that the Hawks really need down the middle. Also, don't think for one second that his playing and being around Marcus Kruger won't help his game long-term. I've heard that the Hawks have "buddy-ied" these guys up by design.
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The Hawks take on Arizona tonight and Toronto on Wednesday. These will be 2 very difficult matchups and I am curious to see if the Hawks can keep up with this strong team play.
What did everyone think of the Dallas game?
See ya out there!
JL
Chicago Blackhawks Blogger • 
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