When youre up to seven losses in a row, the moral victories dont count.
The Blackhawks showed some early resiliency and pushed back after being pushed around the opening period. Two guys who have not been offensive factors at all supplied all the offense in Marcus Kruger and Bryan Bickell.
But Marian Hossa, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews couldnt be found on the scoresheet. The special teams cost them (0-for-3 on the power play, 3-for-6 on the kill), and Corey Crawford was again caught way out of position moments after his team had tied the game at 3.
Toews was under 50 percent in the faceoff circle again for the fifth-straight game since returning from his injury and it was quite clear San Jose was going right after him. The Hawks eventually stood up for him, but it wasnt immediate and the Sharks took fewer liberties once Joel Quenneville decided to put Jamal Mayers on one of his wings.
And if the Hawks are going to take penaltiesthey better be sticking up for a teammate to build some camaraderie, rather than a four-minute high-sticking call in the opening minute, then a retaliatory one in the neutral zone in the closing minutes when youre trying to rally from one goal down.
What good things happened were still offset by way too many bad things, which has been the trend since just before the All-Star break. It continued. So does the overall losing streak. So does the even-longer road losing streak