Dec. 03--The dressing room stalls of Blackhawks Andrew Desjardins and Andrew Shaw at Johnny's IceHouse West are next to each other. The setup is a ripe recipe for comedy.
Seeing Shaw's sandals in front of his stall, Desjardins picked them up and chucked them into a hallway. In retaliation, Shaw picked up some of Desjardins' shirts and threw them down the stairs.
It seemed as if Wednesday was a day for battles for the Hawks, whether a battle for clubhouse space or pucks, a drill the Hawks ran for a significant portion of their practice.
"It's actually one of my favorite (drills)," Shaw said. "It's something I'm good at but I have to put it into my game. I have to be better in the game. Winning those one-on-one puck battles you keep plays alive."
The thing is, the Hawks haven't been doing that as much as they would like. The puck battle drill is supposed to help the Hawks increase their offensive zone time, something the team said has been lacking over its last few games that it wants to correct for Thursday's road game against the Senators.
"It feels like we're just chasing pucks and it's everyone, myself included" Shaw said. "We're not battling as hard as we need to be. We have to stick together as a team, support each other and sustain those pucks when we get there."
Even when the Hawks were winning games on their recent circus trip, they were not able to sustain shifts in their opponent's zone to generate significant chances, especially when the teams were at even strength.
It was a problem again Tuesday in the Hawks' 2-1 loss to the Wild. Their lone goal came from Patrick Kane on a power play. In fact, over the last three games, the Hawks have scored just one goal 5-on-5, and that came from the Hawks' only consistent line -- Kane, Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov. Their power play has produced when the Hawks have needed it, but the inconsistencies of scoring at even strength have puzzled the Hawks more than a quarter of the way through the season.
"Even if we don't score, I'd like to see some more offensive zone time and some more puck possession and a little more chemistry among the (lines)," coach Joel Quenneville said. "It looked like we were trending that way, but now it looks like we're off track again."
Shaw said the team has been frustrated that only one line has been a reliable source of scoring.
"We can't put that much pressure on one line," Shaw said. "So we have to start chipping in and have some secondary scoring."
Secondary scoring is now their primary concern.
One-timers: Niklas Hjalmarsson missed Wednesday's practice but is expected to play Thursday. ... Quenneville said he may change his lines in advance of Thursday's games but expects to stick with the same lineup.
chine@tribpub.com
