The Blackhawks head into their Oct. 27 meeting with the Los Angeles Kings at 3-8, and Jeff Blashill is again reaching for a lineup shakeup in search of a jolt.
The most notable move is up front, where Connor Bedard will no longer be riding with Patrick Kane and Roman Kantserov on the top line. Instead, Bedard will stay with Kantserov while Ryan Greene moves up from the fourth line to join them. Greene spent most of last season with Bedard on the top unit, and that group had been one of Chicago’s best looks.
Blashill framed the change as a simple attempt to turn chances into goals.
"Ultimately, I think we've been able to create chances. We haven't produced to the level that we need to produce, so we're hoping a little bit of the change adds to the same level of chances, but more production.
It might not. Statistically, Bedsy's produced at a better rate with Greene on his line... is there chemistry there?
So we'll see. Does it spark something?
Ultimately, as I've said, I think there's been enough chances created to score more, but we do have to produce, and so sometimes you make a little change and you hope to spark it."
That adjustment sends Kane to a different spot, where he’ll skate with Oliver Moore and Frank Nazar. Blashill pointed to speed, puck placement and matchup pressure as the reasons behind that combination.
"Well... lots of offense, you know, and not much up against. Those two (Nazar and Moore) have a lot of speed.
Kaner pucks into really good areas. If you can get the pucks into the areas for those guys to exploit their speed, I think that can be a real positive.
I think all three of them have a lot of skill. You know, [it] separates matchups a little bit, too.
So, it makes the matchups probably... I don't want to say more difficult, but you got to be cognizant of where Kane is, where Bedard is.
(They're) is just on different lines. So, we'll see how it goes."
The Blackhawks do have enough versatility in their forward group to try this kind of shuffle, Kane included. If he can click with Nazar and Moore, Chicago may get the kind of balance it has been missing.
The opponent offers a chance to make that work. The Kings have only two more points in the standings than the Blackhawks, and they sit seventh-worst in goals-for per game at 2.70.
Los Angeles did, however, beat the New York Rangers 6-3 on Oct. 26.
Chicago’s own scoring troubles remain front and center. The Blackhawks managed just 2.18 goals per game, second-worst in the NHL behind the Philadelphia Flyers. Their power play has been especially rough after going 0-for-7 against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 25, leaving them last in the league at 8.3 percent.
That’s why the matchup with Los Angeles stands out. The Kings have the league’s worst penalty kill at 63.3 percent, which gives Chicago a chance to finally get something going with the man advantage if the puck movement sharpens up.
There’s also the matter of how Chicago opens games. In its last two outings, the team scored first within the opening five minutes, only to lose control afterward. Jordan Greenway said the challenge is keeping the same edge after getting that early break.
"I mean, sometimes you get up a goal, you know, you think it might be an easy night, and you get away from the structure and whatever we were doing to get that first lead. Outside of that, I mean, just not being settled.
Not settle for getting the first goal and kind of letting them come back at you. You just got to keep the momentum going."
If the Blackhawks can spread the offense around, get more from the power play and hold onto those fast starts, they’ll give themselves a real shot at ending a three-game losing streak.
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