The Chicago Blackhawks are waiting to show that they are a better team than they were in 2023-24. They made a lot of good moves over the summer that had most thinking they wouldn’t be the second-worst team (based on record) again.
So far, they have done nothing to prove that they aren’t at minimum a bottom-five team once again. They came into Saturday night’s road tilt against the Dallas Stars on a three-game losing streak. All of those games came at United Center.
This Dallas game didn’t go much better for Chicago as they fell 4-2. They can feel good about their effort late but they once again let the game get out of hand early.
Almost halfway through the third period, the Stars were up 3-0 thanks to goals scored by Evgenii Dadonov, Jamie Benn, and Matt Duchene.
Less than a minute after the Stars took that three-goal lead, however, the Hawks began to mount a comeback. Ryan Donato scored his third of the season to get Chicago on the board.
About five minutes later, Connor Bedard made a nice shot to get his team within one. With the pressure on Dallas to close it out, it felt like the Hawks were going to find the tying goal.
Unfortunately, Duchene hit the empty net at 19:42 of the third and Chicago was dealt that aforementioned fourth straight loss.
The positive, once again, is that Connor Bedard scored. His game has been coming along as a playmaker and now the shots are starting to find twine. His statistics are going to end up being gaudy if he keeps up this level of play.
The slow starts are causing Chicago to lose games. Their record might be a lot different if they came out with more energy to begin each match.
If they started this Dallas game the way that they ended it, they would have hung with the Stars who are one of the top teams in the NHL.
Chicago needs a win in the worst way. They were unable to get Dallas to break but few teams can do that to them. Following the win, the Stars are 7-2-0 and show no sign of slowing down.
Their next chance to get a win and end the streak will come on Monday night when they take on the Colorado Avalanche.
The Avalanche have been okay to start the year but far below their high expectations. They still have Hall of Famers all over the ice on basically every shift so the Hawks must bring their best to this upcoming road contest.