Here are five thoughts on the Chicago Blackhawks following their 3-0 win over the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
1. Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville made one of his boldest decisions of the season by healthy scratching Michal Rozsival on Thursday. Rozsival’s inconsistencies have been apparent for some time, but Quenneville has often glossed over them whenever asked about Rozsival’s play. Rozsival has been an everyday player for much of the season and has been getting major minutes. Quenneville finally was swayed against Rozsival after witnessing him be on the ice for five 5-on-5 goals over the previous two games. “His last two were not good enough," Quenneville told reporters Thursday.
With Johnny Oduya also still out with an injury, Quenneville put Kyle Cumiskey, David Rundblad and Tim Erixon into the lineup, and it worked. All six defensemen held their own against the Panthers. Some ended up with negative Corsi numbers as the Panthers got aggressive late in the game, but each one of them had zero or positive possession numbers in close 5-on-5 situations, which is defined as when the game is within a goal in the first two periods or tied in the period. All six defensemen also played 12-plus minutes. It was no surprise the pairing of Niklas Hjalmarsson and Duncan Keith led the effort Thursday. Quenneville will likely stick with the same pairings Friday.
2. The Blackhawks got off on the right foot without Patrick Kane, but that was expected. The Blackhawks were motivated for a number of reasons. First, they want to prove they’re still more than capable of winning without Kane. Secondly, they just played the Panthers and felt they let a regulation victory slip away. Thirdly, Corey Crawford was driven to bounce back and was due for a solid game.
There’s also the fact the Blackhawks are simply better than the Panthers, who weren’t all that impressive in the last two games and are now on a four-game losing streak. The real challenge for the Blackhawks will be facing the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday. It’ll be the second game of back-to-back road games, and the Blackhawks are likely going to have score goals to stick with the Lightning, who lead the league with a 3.24 goals-per-game average. The Blackhawks haven’t scored three goals, excluding empty-netters, in the last seven games.
3. Teuvo Teravainen couldn’t have made a more immediate impact. He scored on his first shift Thursday, and he did so in a way that gave another glimpse of how special he is offensively. As he was drifting left in the right circle, his eyes and body position made it seem as if he was looking to pass, but he quickly fired a wrist shot that caught Florida Panthers goaltender Roberto Luongo off guard.
Teravainen sees the ice just differently. The Blackhawks have also been pressing for him to be aggressive, so that was a positive sign from him. It’ll be interesting to see whether Teravainen finally gets a chance on the power play down the road. The Blackhawks' power play wasn’t that effective again Thursday.
4. Brandon Saad took a step closer to exceeding his season-best numbers. He scored his 19th goal, tying his career-high mark of last season, and recorded his 41st and 42nd points in the win. He’s just five points from matching his high of 47 points in a season. Aside from a so-so first month, Saad has been pretty consistent over the last four months. He’s registered points in 29 of the last 52 games. He had points in 34-of-78 games last season.
5. Don’t bank on Trevor van Riemsdyk returning to the NHL real soon. He traveled with the Rockford IceHogs to Texas on Thursday, but he’s likely going to sit out their two weekend games. He has yet to practice with them and will get a chance to do so next week as they have three weekday practices lined up. Watch for him to play in his first game March 6. Depending on how his knee responds, he could play again March 7 with the IceHogs. From there, the Blackhawks will likely reassess where he is.
