WINNIPEG, Manitoba _ As the losses have piled up one after another, Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton admitted it has often been too painful to look at the standings.
"It doesn't help," he explained.
It might be time to put on blinders during the games as well. At least during the first period.
The Hawks fell behind 3-0 on Tuesday night and didn't get a shot on goal until nearly 18 minutes had elapsed during another dreadful first as they fell to the Jets 6-3 at Bell MTS Place for their eighth consecutive loss.
Just as they've done nearly every game during this losing streak, the Hawks mounted a comeback that fell short. Alex DeBrincat's 12th goal of the season with 13:52 left in the third pulled them within a goal.
But after Jan Rutta took his second penalty of the game, Mathieu Perreault scored a power-play goal to restore the two-goal lead. The Jets' Brandon Tanev added an empty-net goal with 4.8 seconds left.
Ready for some difficult numbers? Brace yourself.
_ This was the 11th straight time the Hawks allowed the first goal of the game.
_ It marked the 10th time in 11 games they allowed at least two goals in the first period.
_ The Hawks were outshot 14-0 and trailed 3-0 before their first shot on goal with 2 minutes, 24 seconds remaining in the first.
_ The Hawks have an eight-game losing streak for the second time this season, and their third since last February.
It could have been even worse in the first as Tyler Myers hit a post and Hawks goalie Cam Ward's giveaway nearly led to an open net. The Hawks came away unscathed from each of those, but Mark Scheifele's power-play goal at the 12:11 mark got them on the board.
Myers and Kyle Connor also scored over the next six minutes, while the Hawks seemed to be content to watch the Jets skate around them and pile up shots on Ward.
As awful and inexplicable as their start was, the Hawks followed their recent trend and came out with a strong second period that got them back in the game.
The Jets went up 4-0 on Connor's second goal of the game less than two minutes into the period, but the Hawks outshot the Jets 17-10 and got goals from Dylan Strome and David Kampf to cut the lead in half.
Strome has four goals in eight games since joining the Hawks in a trade for Nick Schmaltz, who also has four goals since going to the Coyotes.
On the other hand, Strome is 0-8 in a Hawks uniform.
Ward made several huge saves in the second, including a diving glove save to deny Connor a hat trick.
Despite their efforts, however, this was another game that was all but decided in the first period. The Jets were toying with the Hawks throughout and one moment seemed to illustrate how badly things were going.
With the Jets already leading 3-0, former Hawk Dustin Byfuglien was called for slashing Kampf, who fell to the ice in front of Byfuglien. Kampf turned around, looked and looked up at Byfuglien who skated over and menacingly shoved him back to the ground.
