Jan. 27--As coach Joel Quenneville said, the only positive that came out of the Blackhawks 5-0 loss to the Hurricanes was that it was over. The weary Hawks limp into the All-Star break having lost three of four after winning 12 straight.
Out of gas
There was no way of getting around it the last few games, but the Hawks do look like a team in need of a break. They have played 14 games in 24 days and while the month of January was good to them, the end was not in dropping three of four. The good news for the Hawks is that the schedule in February is a little kinder. The Hawks only have 11 games the entire month and have no back-to-backs. By comparison, they had three back-to-back stretches in January, including two that were entirely on the road. The schedule doesn't really ramp up like this again until the middle of March.
Toews sick
Winger Jiri Sekac missed the game because of an illness while Jonathan Toews played through an illness he has been battling a while, Quenneville said. Quenneville added Toews was "pretty run down."
Toews played just 10 minutes, 6 seconds on Tuesday. His season average before Tuesday was 19:54.
Change in net
Coach Joel Quenneville has not used the hook on his goaltenders much this season. Tuesday represented just the second time this season Quenneville yanked Corey Crawford in favor of Scott Darling (Darling has not been pulled from any of his starts). Usually when Quenneville does that it's to send a message to the rest of the team to wake up.
He did not get the desired result Tuesday. After the Hurricanes went ahead 3-0 on Crawford, they added two more on Darling in the second period.
Look at Corsi
It was about as bad as you might thing in the first period. The Hurricanes dominated possession in the period and had 25 overall shot attempts during even strength play to the Hawks' seven. The Hawks actually outpaced the Hurricanes in the second period 16-15 but the Hurricanes added another two goals. Then there was really no point in the Hurricanes doing nothing but shore up their lead in the third. The second line of Patrick Kane, Artem Anisimov and Artemi Panarin was the only line to finish with a positive Corsi plus-minus on the night for the Hawks.
