Chicago Blackhawks vs Flyers: Pathetic effort to close homestand

The Chicago Blackhawks needed a win in the worst way when the Philadelphia Flyers came to town but they laid an absolute egg and got blown out.

The Chicago Blackhawks had a pathetic effort to close out their seven-game homestand as the Philadelphia Flyers came in and played with their food. They couldn’t get much going offensively and were terrible in their own end the entire night. Robin Lehner got the start in net and he was laid out to dry. The Flyers continuously generated great chances and created turnovers for themselves. The Blackhawks didn’t do anything to help themselves.

The Flyers won the game 4-1 and all four of their goals were off of Blackhawks turnovers. That is not going to get the job done. Two of those four came to two Philadelphia stars in Claude Giroux and James van Riemsdyk. Both of those players had not scored a goal yet this season and needed to get going in the worst way and the Blackhawks allowed that to happen. Each of then tucked in their first of the season. The Blackhawks also won two offsides challenges so they were really in danger of losing 6-1 if things went just a little bit differently.

It is tough to lose a game like that after playing a pretty solid game against the Vegas Golden Knights just a few nights prior. This loss drops their record to 2-4-2 on the season. Their very important seven-game homestand is now ever with a 2-3-2 record. The six points out of 14 are not good enough if they want to be a playoff team. Taking care of business at home is so important and that seven-game homestand was a large chunk of home points on the table. The three straight losses to end it really stung.

They are now in a two-game streak of only scoring one goal so the offense needs to be way better. They can’t defend well with much regularity so they definitely need to score and they aren’t. Their power play is doing the offense no favors as it doesn’t have a goal in its last 13 attempts. If this team is to be a good team, they need to score.

Now they will hit the road for one game as they have a Saturday matinee against the Carolina Hurricanes who have been one of the best teams in the National Hockey League so far this season. This is not getting easier and the work ethic needs to be better. It is still so early in the season but if they keep this up it is going to be a long season. They need more from everyone, especially their stars in Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. They looked like their old selves in 2018-19 and so far this year it hasn’t been the same.

Jeremy Colliton has been messing with the lines throughout the struggling times and hasn’t found anything dominant yet. The one positive in the stretch has been the play of Kirby Dach. He played in his first NHL game against the Washington Capitals, then in the next game against the Vegas Golden Knights he scores his first career NHL goal, and in this game against the Flyers, he had his first career NHL assist on the only goal in the game. He has looked like he belongs and the Blackhawks have six more games to decide if he is staying with them all season.

When the Blackhawks get back to the ice in Carolina they need to make sure they are ready to play. Carolina comes at you in waves with their great forward group and one of the best defense cores in the NHL. The Blackhawks need to play a similar game to the one against Vegas if they have any shot so we will see how they do, but it must be better than this game vs Philly.