Chicago Blackhawks lose a tough one to New York Islanders

The Chicago Blackhawks had a nice little winning streak going there for a minute but it was clear that they were playing well above expectations. It was fun while it lasted but it seems like they are starting to come back down to earth.

They lost a tough game against the New York Islanders on Tuesday night to bring their record down to NHL .500 at 4-4-2.

It isn’t like the Blackhawks were horrid in this 3-1 loss though. The New York Islanders play an amazing team game where they wait for you to make a mistake and then try to take advantage. The Hawks weren’t mistake-free but the Islanders had a tough time winning this game.

New York took a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Anders Lee and Brock Nelson who are two of their go-to guys there.

The Chicago Blackhawks gave the New York Islanders a fight but came up short.

Jonathan Toews made things interesting for them though as he scored a power-play goal at 10:19 of the period. Caleb Jones and Patrick Kane picked up the assists on this goal. For Kane, it is good to see him racking up the points again. That’s 10 points in 10 games. He will have a lot more.

The Blackhawks had a furious comeback effort late in the third but Zach Parise scored an empty net goal from 180 feet out to seal the deal. It was a risky play by Parise as missing would have been icing for a pressing Hawks team to take a draw in the offensive zone but he didn’t miss.

Chicago lost a close game to one of the hottest teams in the league right now. It is still a rebuilding season but we are seeing the Hawks compete hard in their wins and losses. That is a good thing because it will make the transition to winning easier.

When they have eventually more talent on the roster and play like this, they will become a really good team. The Islanders came to the United Center with a plan and they executed but the Hawks didn’t fall completely into their trap either.

If Parise doesn’t score that empty netter, the Hawks would have had a few more looks on the net late to try and get it tied. That’s not how it worked out and the Hawks dropped a tough one but they shouldn’t hang their heads too low.

The Blackhawks have another home game next on Thursday when the Los Angeles Kings come to town. That should be another tough game against a squad that plays very hard with a lot of skill. There are some things that they can carry with them from this loss to help them on Thursday.