Joined: Jul. 2019
Posts: 640
Likes: 162
The message I like to see sent if possible, is for the team to be a healthy scratch in L.A with Lehner playing goal, defence, forward, pk & pp.
Seriously, this last game was a barometer of where in the league the Hawks are, and what they MUST do to qualify for the playoffs. Nashville is the real deal. It is obviously the Hawks can’t skate with them, so this team will need to bump and grind to slow the Predators down.
This club is playing with little confidence now. It is imperative they get on the board first in games and build off it. This slump can be attributed to one thing in my opinion. Rebuild the power play. Put players on the 1st unit who have earn the right to be there. Saad, Kubalik, Carpenter & Kane of course. Get Keith out there or another D man. It is not working with Gustafsson. Get some pp goals. Restore confidence. Then if need be, the team can draw back on the current pp unit.
The whole team is slumping offensively, so jam the net. Net front presence. Shoot from everywhere. This team needs to feel good about scoring. Again I come back to how they played in third after Saad scored against Philly. Best six minutes they played this season.
It is October. What happen last night is a Godsend, than it happening in late March.
The goaltending has been solid. The defence has been an improvement from last year. If Chicago had last year’s power play, their record would be better than it is.