The Blackhawks lost their first home game in 19 days on Monday, in a shootout after a deflected puck missed crossing the goal line by inches in overtime. They lost their second Wednesday in overtime after erasing two two-goal deficits.
The Hawks have been inconsistent of late, and several decisions made with the puck Wednesday were suspect. But the team continues to play disciplined hockey. The Hawks entered Thursday second in the NHL in fewest penalty minutes and are one of just three teams averaging fewer than eight per game.
The Hawks were the third-least-penalized team last season, and the last time they were outside the top 10 was 2008-09.
“In the old days, guys wanted to have that big number of penalty minutes. But in today’s game, the power plays are so good,” Patrick Sharp said. “We know how valuable it is to stay 5-on-5, if not draw penalties.”
The team’s power-play unit has been rightfully maligned this season, but ineffectiveness with an extra skater is better than playing short-handed. The Hawks had just two penalty minutes Wednesday, a Niklas Hjalmarsson delay of game call. They drew four Canucks penalties, including two late roughing calls that helped launch a comeback in the 5-4 loss.
The Blackhawks had just four penalty minutes in Monday’s 3-2 loss to the Coyotes as well and have not been on the wrong side of the penalty differential in the last four games. Perhaps just as impressive as Patrick Kane’s league-leading 62 points are his mere four penalty minutes all season. The defense has been shoddy of late, and the scoring has come only in spurts, but efficient and disciplined teams rarely stay in a funk for long.
“We’ve been pretty disciplined. We’re not a team that when we have the puck, we take a lot of penalties,” Kris Versteeg said. “For whatever reason, this loss happened.”
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Added Brad Richards: “In this locker room, we’re more focused on what we can control.”
That mentality should help the Hawks end their skid. And when they do find themselves on the wrong side of an infraction, they haven’t lost a step: The team ended Wednesday with the best penalty-kill percentage in the league.
Twitter @steven_golds