The Good, The Bad, The Ugly from Thursday as Florida Panthers make statement

The Bad

Chicago Blackhawks – Wow, what a collapse. This was always going to be a tough year for the Chicago Blackhawks who made it clear during the offseason that they were going to blow all of this up and, while there have been good moments this year, their collapse to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday night will go down as a low.

Let us set the scene for you. After Patrick Kane – who else – scored his seventh goal of the year at :29 in the third period, the Blackhawks held a 4-2 lead and were seemingly on their way to recording their sixth win of the year. However, life is never that straightforward with the Hawks right now and, instead, they hit the self-destruct button and the Blue Jackets proceeded to score four goals with Kevin Stenlund scoring the go-ahead goal at 18:46 in the third. Yep, this is one the Chicago Blackhawks will want to forget in a hurry.

Dallas Stars – It was such a positive start to the 2020-21 season for the Dallas Stars who came out swinging despite having their year delayed due to a COVID-19 outbreak, but they have now dropped four straight after losing 5-3 to the Carolina Hurricanes last night with the Canes scoring three unanswered goals.

The Ugly

Gold Buckets – Yes, the Vegas Golden Knights don’t do things by halves. They have reminded us of that statement time and time again since entering the league four years ago, from stockpiling stars on the ice to their lavish pre-game shows and all-gold third jerseys.

Well, they refused to stop there and instead debuted chrome gold helmets on Thursday in their game against the Anaheim Ducks at T-Mobile Arena. At first, it looked as though aliens had taken to the ice but, no, it was just another wild outfit choice from the Vegas Golden Knights. Do we like these? You know what? I have no idea at this point, I’m just amazed they are actually a thing, so we will leave it at that.

The Vancouver Canucks – Oh boy, what the hell is going on with the hot mess that is the Vancouver Canucks right now?! They seem to lurch from one disaster to another and they have now dropped six straight and are 6-11-0 on the year after losing 3-1 to the Calgary Flames last night.

Granted, there is still time given how competitive the North Division is but, given how little room for error there is in a shortened 56-game schedule, time is running out for the Canucks and there are now rumors out there that suggests this group don’t want to play for Head Coach Travis Green anymore. Is that true? We don’t know yet but it is clear that there is something not quite right in that building at the moment and what is a talent-laden young core is punching well below its weight. They seem to be running around like headless chickens out there and, if things don’t change soon, expect huge changes in a market that will make their feelings known pretty clear and pretty loudly. It ain’t going to be pretty.