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Weekly Chicago Blackhawks Review: Wrapping up week 1

By Mike Bober

Oct 15, 2022; San Jose, California, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Philipp Kurashev (23) and defenseman Jack Johnson (8) celebrate with the team during the third period against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 15, 2022; San Jose, California, USA; Chicago Blackhawks center Philipp Kurashev (23) and defenseman Jack Johnson (8) celebrate with the team during the third period against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports /
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Welcome to my first regular season Blackhawks Weekly Review.  In week 1, the Chicago Blackhawks played three road games against teams out west: the Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, and San Jose Sharks.

Positives

1.) Jonathan Toews scored in the first period of the first game of the season.  It took Toews 26 games to score last year, so this is a huge plus sign for the Blackhawks and fans.

2.) The penalty kill started out 2/6 against Colorado.  The Blackhawks proceeded to kill off the next 6 penalties (3 against Vegas and 3 against San Jose).  The penalty kill improved from 33.3% to 66.7%.

It’s nothing spectacular, but Coach Luke Richardson said that the Blackhawks are working very hard on having an aggressive penalty kill.  The improvement on the PK is great to see for Blackhawks fans.

Along with the improving PK, Sam Lafferty cashed in for 2 short-handed goals against the Sharks, which shows that the new PK system is clicking with at least some players.

3.) The Blackhawks seemed to have improved over the course of week 1.  The game against Colorado was hard to watch (which was expected), the game against Vegas showed much improvement in the compete level, and the game against San Jose ended with a win and two points.

The win against San Jose was far from perfect, and there is still PLENTY of room for improvement.  However, it appears as though things could be moving in the right direction.  We will need much more than the first week (and even this entire season) to see for sure.

Negatives

1.) The Blackhawks powerplay was down-right bad this first week.  They went 2/3 against Colorado, and I thought maybe we’re on to something here.  Then, the Hawks went 0 for their next 4 powerplays.

The PP is 2/7 with an overall percentage of 28.6%.

2.) The Blackhawks were heavily outshot 98-69.  This is expected this year, so prepare to see shot totals in the “negatives” section all season.

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3.) The Blackhawks allowed 4 powerplay goals against the Colorado Avalanche.  Despite the PK making a turn around the next two games, giving up 4 PPGs in a single game is a bad look.

Record

Weekly: 1-2-0, 2 pts

Season: 1-2-0, 2 pts

My 3 Stars of the Week

*** Alex Stalock – 1 GP, 36 saves, 1 goal against, .973 save percentage

** Sam Lafferty – 3 GP, 2 G (both shorthanded), 1 A, 3 P

* Jason Dickinson – 1 GP, 1 G, 2 A, 3 P

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