Chicago Blackhawks: Interesting weekend with Carolina Hurricanes

The Chicago Blackhawks went into Friday thinking that they had a weekend two-piece with the Carolina Hurricanes. Well, they found out that the game on Saturday was going to be postponed so that the Hurricanes can make up a game against the Tampa Lightning instead. It was a weird little switch but that is what you can expect from this weird 2021 season. With everything going on, you just kind of have to take it day by day.

The Hawks did play that Friday night game against the Hurricanes and it didn’t really go their way. They lost by a final score of 5-3 but they were honestly lucky that the final score was even that close. After a lot of good play recently, that game was not one of their best. Being outshot 38-29 isn’t going to get it done on most nights.

The Chicago Blackhawks had an interesting weekend.

Chicago showed in this game that despite the talent disparity between them and some teams, they don’t give up. The Hurricanes are wildly more talented on paper but the Hawks fought back from being down 2-0 to tie the game. The lead didn’t last, obviously, but they made a few nice plays to stay in the game for a bit. Even when Carolina hit an empty netter to go up 5-2, the Hawks crawled back and scored again because they just work.

Another remarkable note in this game is something that feels said every game. Patrick Kane is just getting even better somehow. He had one of the two goals to help get it tied and he assisted on both of the other ones. He just continues to help this team along as they try to make something of this season. It is a lot easier to develop some of your young guys if a player like Kane is there leading the way. It was tough to see them postpone their Saturday game because it would have been interesting to see how they would have responded.

Instead, they are now off until Tuesday. They have another tough battle with the Columbus Blue Jackets. It is to the point where they will be familiar with every opponent because of the “only division” baseball-style schedule they have this year. They have fared well against Columbus so far this year but they are a good team and are well-coached. There is a lot of high-end skill to be wary of. In that case, the Hawks just have to do what they do best is outwork everyone.