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10 observations: Hawks routed by Canes

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The Blackhawks fell to the Carolina Hurricanes 6-3 at PNC Arena on Friday for their eighth consecutive defeat to start the season.

Here are 10 observations from the loss:

1. It was a wild six-goal first period in Carolina. The Blackhawks scored first for the second straight game after giving up the first goal in their first six contests and held the lead twice, yet still found themselves down 4-2 going into intermission. 

2. In the first period, the Hurricanes generated 28 shot attempts, 19 shots on goal, 10 scoring chances and six high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Blackhawks had 19 shot attempts, 10 shots on goal, nine scoring chances and four high-danger chances.

3. Here's the distance, measured in feet, for all six Carolina goals: 7, 9, 9, 12, 14, 26. Kevin Lankinen stood no chance on most of them, and he wore it for the whole game because Marc-Andre Fleury is slated to start on Saturday in St. Louis.

4. The Blackhawks were outscored 5-1 at even strength, and have now been outscored 29-7 during 5-on-5 play this season. Oof.

5. On Wednesday, William Nylander scored the overtime goal for Toronto after Seth Jones' shot was stopped by Jack Campbell and whipped around the boards that led to a breakaway opportunity. Carolina's first goal was similar to that one. Jake McCabe's shot went wide then rung around the boards, which led to a 2-on-1 chance and a goal. It was déjà vu.

6. The Blackhawks scored their eighth and ninth power-play goal of the season, which matches the Edmonton Oilers for the league lead. That's been the most consistent bright spot through eight games.

7. The Blackhawks were outshot 35-26 after being outshot 40-29 against the Maple Leafs on Wednesday. They've outshot their opponent just twice this season.

8. Alex DeBrincat had 15 controlled exits, according to Sportlogiq. No other player had more than seven. He also scored his fourth goal of the season, finished with a game-high 10 shot attempts (four on goal) and 22:12 of ice time; only Seth Jones (25:34) logged more minutes on the Blackhawks.

9. The first player from Chicago's 2020 NHL Draft to make his NHL debut? Nope, not Lukas Reichel. It was defenseman Isaak Phillips, who was taken in the fifth round (No. 141 overall). He had a very strong training camp and the team rewarded him for it by throwing him into the lineup in just the eighth game of the season. He logged 11:01 of ice time, had three shot attempts (two on goal), one hit and committed a holding penalty in the second period. 

10. Tyler Johnson left the game at the midway mark of the second period with an apparent injury and did not return. Head coach Jeremy Colliton said after the game that he's not expected to play on Saturday against St. Louis: "He’s got kind of a stinger, like his neck, he had some pain in his arm. What exactly it is, I can’t speak to that. We still got to evaluate him further."

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