With Seven Goals in Five Games, Are the Hawks’ Offensive Woes a Legitimate Problem?

Jim Neveau, PIB Co-conspirator

When Marian Hossa joined the Blackhawks on November 25th, there was much rejoicing throughout the city of Chicago. People hailed the coming of an offensive juggernaut that was going to demolish the NHL and steamroll a path to an inevitable Stanley Cup title.

The line of Hossa-Toews-Kane was talked about at length, with arguments being made that it would be an unstoppable force, and some folks wondering if it would work (PIB ranks among the latter category).

Needless to say, the team’s first Hossa-led performance was the stuff of legends. Three short-handed goals and seven total tallies later, and the entire hockey world was abuzz with talk of the Blackhawks’ ascension to the top of the food chain. Beating the top team record-wise in the league, on their home sheet, was akin to a first round TKO: stunning, but a validation of the skill of the team. It also marked their fourth straight win on their Circus Trip, which of course made the folks back home in the Windy City happy.

Alas, like most good things, the happy offensive tidings did not last. The team pulled a trick out of last year’s hat by getting shut-out in Anaheim once again on Black Friday (as they were last year), and they followed it up with a 2-1 loss at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings in a shoot-out.

They seemed to get a bit of mojo back when they returned to the United Center and defeated the Blue Jackets 4-3, but in the two games since they have scored three goals against the Predators and Penguins.

After some careful counting on the abacus that grandpa keeps in the closet, that totals up to seven goals in five games. 1.4 goals per game isn’t going to cut it through most stretches of a team’s schedule, but it is especially worrisome when you are facing the quality of talent that the Hawks have been as of late.

Patrick Sharp

Granted, the Quackers may have been performing as if their skill migrated south for the winter, but the Kings have been a surprise team in the league, the Blue Jackets have one of the best power play’s in the league, and the Predators have been one of the hottest teams in recent weeks. Oh yeah, and the Penguins won some large silver trophy last year and have the most wins in the league.

So, with that being said, the question becomes this: are the Blackhawks in a dangerous spot because of their spotty offense, or is this merely a blip on the radar and about to be corrected?

The team’s upcoming schedule could tell a part of the story, and the results aren’t pretty. With 12 games coming up in 21 days, the Hawks aren’t going to get a lot of breaks to rest and regroup. They also will have to face down some really tough defenses, with the Sabres (4th in goals allowed per game), Blues (9th), and Bruins (5th) all looming within the next week and a half.

Couple that with two more games this month against the surging Predators, tack on a few skates with the defending conference champion Red Wings, and toss in matches with the Sharks and Devils, and you have a recipe for low-scoring affairs galore.

The struggles of Cristobal Huet have been another cause for concern for this team. After winning seven straight starts, and eight of his previous nine, Huet has struggled, going 1-2-1 in his last four games, giving up 11 goals and stopping 91 of 102 shots, an 89% success rate. When you are only facing an average of 25 shots per contest, those numbers shouldn’t be that bad.

Cristobal Huet

Huet did rebound from a slow start to bring his overall season numbers to respectable levels, but if he continues to not back-up his solid defensive mates, then it won’t matter how many goals the Hawks can or can’t score.

Finally, the performances of some of the team’s key offensive contributors in recent times have been questionable at best. Patrick Sharp has two goals in the team’s last 15 games, a poor number for someone who has taken 47 shots over that time period.

Patrick Kane, who had a five game goal streak recently, has cooled off considerably as of late, failing to score a goal in seven straight contests. His last 20 shots have failed to light the lamp.

Duncan Keith, who does have two assists in his last five games, has struggled mightily in a category that he normally dominates: the plus/minus tally. He has gone for a negative-6 in his past four games. When a player averages as many minutes on the ice as Keith does, there are going to be inevitable times when you just can’t get onto the plus side of the ledger, but it’s extremely rare for a player like Keith who is used to being in the black in that category.

The Hawks’ offensive woes haven’t really been talked about at much length over the past few weeks, but as each game goes by and we see teams continue to stop the Hawks via the trap defense that the Devils perfected, it’s becoming apparent that something needs to change. If the offense is going to roll over and die every time a team goes trap, or mucks up the neutral zone, or collapses to the net to prevent the Hawks from doing the same, then the goal-scoring issues will simply continue to intensify.

With a daunting schedule packed to the gills with games upcoming, the Blackhawks are going to be challenged mightily to stay afloat if the dearth in goal production continues. If they are unable to come up with some lines that will function as they should, and get pucks into the net with more frequency, then the 12 Days of Christmas could bring bad tidings to the denizens of the West Side.

Tags: Chicago Blackhawks, Duncan Keith, Jonathan Toews, marian hossa, Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, Patrick Kane, Patrick Sharp, San Jose Sharks