In his preseason debut, he quickly showed the Blackhawks what he’s capable of after recording two assists and displaying an incredible ability to stick handle after dancing around several defensemen.
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But Quenneville, like Toews, knows patience is a necessary evil for the Blackhawks at the start of this season.
Three straight Pacific Division titles are nice, but teams like Anaheim are judged on the postseason, with the Kings owning two recent Cups to the Ducks’ embarrassment.
F Brandon Saad, F Patrick Sharp, C Brad Richards, C Antoine Vermette, F Kris Versteeg, D Johnny Oduya, G Antti Raanta.
Questions swirled around the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday morning because of the distraction that threatened to derail their focus from their primary goal.
F Ryan Garbutt, D Trevor Daley, F Viktor Tikhonov, C Artem Anisimov.
Chicago and the Los Angeles Kings have won five of the last six Stanley Cup championships, starting with the Blackhawks in 2010. That would certainly be said of him in tonight’s game. Oscar Lindberg would be the man to get the first goal of tonight’s contest, as he lit up the lamp behind Crawford to give the Rangers an early 1-0 advantage. Actually earning a playoff berth seems a little bit unrealistic, though. “Nothing huge to worry about”. “I thought we did an incredible job getting into lanes and reading plays”. We have all the tangibles and intangibles. He just kind of laughs, goes off and keeps shooting.
They didn’t execute well at all in the first period.
Panarin answered with his first career National Hockey League goal to even the score at 1 with 5:36 to go in the first period.
But the festive atmosphere at the United Center arena in Chicago didn’t last long as the Rangers scored three first period goals, and then held on for a 3-2 win. The core is still strong for the Blackhawks, but it may take a while before the team hits its stride.
“He hadn’t skated much coming in here, but I felt he’s gotten better every day”, Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.
Their skill was obvious. Not all of them will but most. They attacked on their toes when before they were defending on their heels. The Hawks almost rallied from 3-1 down to tie it, but Patrick Kane’s jab-in of a Toews rebound under Henrik Lundqvist’s right pad in the final minute was waved off, as the whistle had blown. Who could ever forget his hat trick in his National Hockey League debut against the Sabres?
Alexandre Burrows’ wrist shot and a Henrik Sedin goal in the third period made the game safe. “It was a good start for him”. Kane has not been charged and has said he expects to be exonerated.
Outlook: The Coyotes could be facing another year of struggles as they take a youthful turn on their roster. On the 6-on-5, Miller and Zuccarello played catch until Miller hit defenseman Keith Yandle (assist), who set Klein for the one-timer.
Teravainen was critical of his game, saying he needs to hound the puck more, have the puck more. This year we didn’t lose quite as many players.
Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford, center, saves against New York Rangers right wing Jesper Fast, left, and center Dominic Moore during the first period of an NHL hockey game Wednesday, October 7, 2015, in Chicago.
The Blackhawks didn’t necessarily get their confidence and swagger Wednesday, because it’s hard to feel good about anything after a loss. “You throw Boston and L.A. into the playoff picture, a few people might pick them to win it just because they’re playoff style teams”.
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“To watch the banner go up is pretty awesome”, Jonathan Toews said before the game. “Lots of guys are hungry, and I think that’s important”.
