Hawks failure to ground Jackets could loom large

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Friday, Feb. 18, 2011
Posted 10:07 p.m.Updated 11:25 p.m.

By Tracey Myers
CSNChicago.com

The Chicago Blackhawks were starting to see better results on their penalty kill in recent games. But on a night they needed it to come up big, it allowed two big goals.

Patrick Sharp and Patrick Kane each had three-point nights, with Sharp reaching the 30-goal plateau, but the Blackhawks allowed two Columbus power-play goals in the second en route to a 4-3 loss Friday night.

WATCH: Frustrated Kane denies internet report

As losses go it was a jarring one, as the Blackhawks remain in 11th place but are now tied, at least in points (64), with those same Blue Jackets.

The penalty kill had been shoring up lately but came up empty twice in the second period. Acting coach Mike Haviland said not winning faceoffs led to bad endings.

They got two goals right off the draw. Certainly thats key when youre killing a penalty, Haviland said. You want possession and we wanted to kill at least 20-25 seconds by sending it down. We didnt win one draw on the kill and both ended up in the back of our net. That was obviously a momentum swing there.

And it was momentum lost from the first period, when the Blackhawks took a 2-1 lead thanks to the top lines work. Sharp scored on a breakaway off a Kane pass to tie the game early, and two and a half minutes later Sharp took a Jonathan Toews feed from behind the net.

WATCH: Sharp remains confident

But when the Blackhawks got in penalty trouble in the second period, the Blue Jackets took advantage. Antoine Vermette scored the first power-play goal and Anton Stralman added the other to put Columbus up 4-2.

We take some penalties and they get two goals on the power play. That deflates you a little bit, especially when you have a nice lead going into the first intermission, Kane said. That second period just killed us.
Blue Jackets center Derek MacKenzie taps in a puck that rolled through Corey Crawford in the second period. It was part of a three-goal stretch in 5:54 of the frame to turn a 2-1 Blackhawks lead into a 4-2 deficit. (AP)
Corey Crawford stopped 32 of 36 in the loss. Steve Mason, who came up big several times in this one, stopped 37 of 40.

Kane came back with a goal 21 seconds after Stralmans, a 2-on-1 with Toews that pulled the Blackhawks within one. But they could muster no more, despite getting their third power play with 2:28 remaining in the third period.

You get a 6 on 4 (with the empty net) for the last minute 15 (seconds), we had some good looks, Kane said. They just made some nice blocks and we couldnt get any by (Steve) Mason.

The Blackhawks broken record is playing again. The same mistakes are hurting them again. And with every missed opportunity, their shot at making the playoffs gets that much more difficult.

In the second we got a little bit more on the offensive side of it and thinking we wanted to score goals instead of playing the system we had going into the game, Haviland said. They started outworking us. Thats unacceptable this time of the year for sure.

Briefly

Theres been no change in the day-to-day status of Fernando Pisani (head). He and Nick Boynton (healthy) were scratched on Friday night.

Ryan Johnson is still on injured reserve for the concussion he suffered against the Dallas Stars. The center said hes hoping to return on Sunday.

Tracey Myers is CSNChicago.com's Blackhawks Insider. Follow Tracey on Twitter @TramyersCSN for up-to-the-minute Hawks information.

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