Chicago Blackhawks must win to close out their Florida trip

The Chicago Blackhawks really need to win this game against the Florida Panthers.

The Chicago Blackhawks are in big trouble. At 0-3-0 it is looking bleak, especially in a season that is only 56 games long against the same seven opponents who will know your strengths and weaknesses. Coming out of the gate slowly is something that playoff teams simply can’t do and the Blackhawks have done that. With their current roster, they have no business being a playoff team but they do need to show some life at some point.

It is hard to say that the fourth game of the season is a must-win but that is the case here. They are playing their second straight game against the Florida Panthers in Sunrise. The first one didn’t go well as they gave up five goals for the third straight game. The first two came against the Tampa Bay Lightning who are the defending champs but this can’t continue.

Now, every team they play this season is going to be more talented on paper. That might even apply to the Detroit Red Wings who have added some nice players to help them this year. You know that Joel Quenneville is going to have his team, although they aren’t world-beaters either, ready to play in every game. The Blackhawks need to grind out a win at some point. Every loss going forward makes that first win harder and harder.

If they lose this game, they will need to make sure that some of their top players don’t start to become disinterested. The young kids who will be there for the next half-decade or more will continue developing but a horrible losing environment won’t help that cause. You have to wonder how long some of these veterans put up with the rebuild before asking to be traded. There is no evidence that they are even rebuilding anyway based on the moves that Stan Bowman has made.

So, how do the Blackhawks win this game? Well, they can start by not giving up five goals. We don’t know yet who will be in the net but whoever it needs to be better. They also need the team defense to be better in front. Patrick Kane and Alex DeBrincat have had good starts so far this season offensively but they need more.

The coach needs to give Dylan Strome and Dominik Kubalik more ice time. It is pretty sad that we should need to say that two of the five best players on the team need more ice but it is what it is. Kubalik was nominated for the Calder Trophy last year after a 30 goal campaign and he still isn’t getting good ice time. This is an issue that can only be fixed internally so hopefully, someone up top also notices this. If some of these things go their way in this game against the Panthers, they might get to leave Florida with a couple of points.