5 things to watch for during the Chicago Blackhawks’ 3-game ‘mini-playoff’ series against the Tampa Bay Lightning
Perhaps no one wants a second shot against the Tampa Bay Lightning more than Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Malcolm Subban.
Subban gave up five goals in the season opener in Tampa, Fla., a 5-1 loss in which the Hawks looked a step behind the Lightning on defense and offense.
Since the Florida road trip — during which the Hawks dropped their first two games in Tampa, then the next two to the Florida Panthers — the Hawks have gone 12-4-3.
They look like a team reborn, and they’ll have a chance to prove it in their first rematch against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
“It’ll be a good test for us,” Subban said. “It didn’t go the way we wanted that first road trip, but hopefully we can continue to build here and have a different outcome.”
The three-game series at the United Center — Thursday, Friday and Sunday — is a “big challenge,” coach Jeremy Colliton said, but the Hawks aren’t blowing the rematch out of proportion.
“We know that we’re a much better team than we showed the first couple of games,” he said. “We just have to play our best, be ourselves, do the things we do to make us a good team.”
Mattias Janmark said the Hawks have focused on playing their game regardless of the outcome.
“Just take that first game, play as best we can and improve the next couple of games too,” he said. “I don’t think you look at it too much as a series. We look at (Thursday) night’s game and play the rest from there.”
Here are five things to watch for during the series.
1. Goalie depth might come into play.
The Lightning’s Andrei Vasilevskiy was a handful for the Hawks in the first two games — he gave up just three goals over two games — and little has changed since. He leads the league in save percentage (.942) and goals-against average (1.65) among goaltenders with at least 10 starts and is coming off three straight shutouts, the most in franchise history.
“He’s got everything,” Colliton said. “He’s got the size, he’s athletic, he’s competitive, he’s got all the attributes.
“So it’ll be a good challenge for us. ... Every team does a scouting report on goaltenders, but we’re going to focus on how we play and creating chances, and then when we have chances, have some quality to our shots and let the chips fall.”
Hawks goalie Kevin Lankinen’s .924 save percentage is best among rookies.
With the Hawks and Lightning playing three games in four days — including back-to-back games Thursday and Friday — we likely will see Subban in net for the Hawks and Curtis McElhinney for the Lightning.
McElhinney has made three starts, all in February, giving up a goal in his first and third starts but allowing six to the Panthers on Feb. 15.
Subban notched his second career shutout against the Columbus Blue Jackets but followed with a five-goal game against the Detroit Red Wings in his sixth start.
Subban said Tuesday he continues to focus on improving his rebound control, one of the factors in the season opener when he allowed five goals to the Lightning.
“The biggest thing for rebound control is tracking, following with your eyes first, head first, so you’re not behind the play,” Subban said. “Make sure you keep your head down on it, so you’re seeing the puck properly — that’s the biggest thing is just tracking the puck in games.
“And it’s easier said than done. You ask any goalie, tracking the puck, all the game, on every shot, it’s not easy to do.”
2. The Hawks have to contend with the league’s top offense — and defense.
Whichever numbers you choose from the Lightning, they don’t add up to great odds for the Hawks.
3.55: No. 1 in goals per game
1.64: No. 1 in five-on-five goals ratio
1.95: Fewest goals against per game
62%: No. 1 in goals-for share
9%: Sixth in five-on-five shot percentage, according to NaturalStatTrick.com.
And for those who might quibble about other factors or statistics that might suggest stronger cases for other teams, consider the Lightning also rank first (1.56 goals above average) in Hockey-Reference.com’s Simple Rating System (SRS), “a team rating that takes into account average goal differential and strength of schedule.”
The Lightning are the only team with an SRS above 1. Incidentally, the Hawks are at zero, where “zero is average.”
The Hawks need to take care not to let the game get away in the second period, when the Lightning specialize in putting teams away. They’re tied for second in second-period goals (29) and tied for first in fewest allowed (13).
“The second period magnifies all the details of your game,” Colliton said, “and if you’re doing the details well, it’s an opportunity and you can exploit teams. And obviously they’re a great team, so that’s what they do.
“We’ll focus on the first five minutes, the first rotation and being sharp. But we know the second period is a big moment in the game.”
So given a mountain of challenges, how do the Hawks cut the Lightning down to size?
“They’re playing pretty good in the (defensive) zone,” Dominik Kubalik said. “They don’t let any rebounds there, especially in front of the net. (Vasilevskiy is) pretty good on the first shot. So we’ve got to make sure we have bodies there. Probably some net-front presence has got to be there.”
Colliton said the Hawks “need to take care of our own game.”
“That’s work ethic, skating and pressure on the puck,” he said. “They have some high-end skill. They have guys who, if you turn the puck over in critical areas, they’re going to make you pay.”
Naturally, that means taking care of the puck and getting through neutral-zone defense on zone entries and breakouts.
“That’ll give us a chance,” Colliton said.
3. The Lightning defensemen play a big role in their offense.
The Lightning rank fourth in points by defensemen (51) and third in defensive assists (44) despite playing just 20 games.
Victor Hedman (16) and Mikhail Sergachev (14) lead the Bolts in assists. Ryan McDonagh, Jan Rutta and Erik Cernak have contributed on offense too.
“Obviously, they got over the hump of knowing how to win,” Colliton said. “They do a lot of little things away from the puck, their details. They’re hard to play against in a lot of ways.
“Their skill makes them hard to play against as well, and they’ve got that skill sprinkled throughout the lineup, all with the grittiness to their work ethic. So we’re excited about measuring ourselves against a team like that.”
4. The No. 1 power play against the No. 1 penalty kill — something has to give.
When the Hawks practiced Tuesday, they tried different personnel in power-play drills.
“We have some time, why not try a few things?” Colliton said. “We have some good players. There are different looks we can use.”
The matchup of the Hawks’ top-ranked power play (33.3%) against the Lightning’s top-ranked penalty kill (88.6% after going 3-for 3 against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday) should be interesting.
The Lightning are riding a 16-for-16 kill streak over the last four games.
To make matters worse, Vasilevskiy became the first Lightning goaltender to post three consecutive shutouts, and the Lightning’s five straight victories are the league’s longest active winning streak.
So have the Hawks found a weakness they can exploit?
“Well, if we did, we’d be the only one, so we’d want to keep that to ourselves,” Colliton said. “They do a really good job. They’ve got a bunch of guys who are comfortable in those roles and they have excellent structure.
“They’re going to make you work. We’re going to have to recover some pucks, we’re going to have to get some shots through and then recover a puck and then hopefully take advantage before they get their structure back. They’re sharp and they know what to have to do, and they’re going to make it hard on us.”
5. The Hawks are guarding themselves against putting too much weight on this ‘mini-playoff’ series.
Or so they say.
“The message is, for sure, don’t give up that much respect,” Hawks defenseman Nikita Zadorov said. “You still have to be confident on the ice.”
But it’s impossible to ignore the landscape. Only three points separate the Central-leading Lightning (31) and the fourth-place Hawks (28). So three games against the Lightning weigh heavily.
Next is a six-game trip that pits the Hawks against the Stars, who are in last but have played only 17 games and will have games in hand; the Panthers, who are in third but are just a point behind the Lightning and Carolina Hurricanes; and the Lightning for two games.
It’s all part of a packed March calendar that includes 14 games.
“Everyone knows the schedule,” Colliton said. “There’s been a lot of discussion about that on the outside. From the inside, we just have to focus on the next game, take these three as a mini-playoff series — that’s all we should be looking at.
“We shouldn’t look past that at all. Let’s be really good in these games here, and we’ll worry about the rest of the schedule when it comes.”
