Things have been tough for the Chicago Blackhawks, but Friday may have been the roughest evening of this stretch.
The New Jersey Devils chased Corey Crawford from the net with three goals in the first period and then cruised to a 4-2 win against Chicago tonight. (The Devils did face a strange end, as Chicago emptied its net with about six-and-a-half minutes left.)
In doing so, the Devils continue to argue that they’ll be a tough out this season, as they’ve now won seven of their last nine games.
Chicago, meanwhile, is going in the opposite direction.
After winning four straight (and three in a row with Duncan Keith on the shelf), the Blackhawks have now dropped four of five contests, going 1-3-1.
They’ve also allowed at least four goals in those three defeats, although one can’t totally disregard beating the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Monday.
Niklas Hjalmarsson: "It takes a lot for us to panic. We've been around a long time. There's no panic." #Blackhawks
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) November 7, 2015
Still, it’s been a rough go, and they also lost Artem Anisimov to a lower-body injury in this loss.
It’s the kind of night that might get Jonathan Toews to drop the gloves, really.
