Weekend Recap: Blackhawks lose 3-2 to Canucks, win 2-1 to Ducks
Recapping the Blackhawks weekend
Happy Monday to all. If there was ever such a thing.
The Blackhawks played two games since we last spoke: the Vancouver Canucks on Friday and the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. There’s some news items to look at and some things to muse about.
Bedard Shooting Spree
Connor Bedard had nine shots on goal on Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks in their 2-1 overtime win. On Friday, Bedard had four shots on goal in the Hawks’ 3-2 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks. Bedard’s best weapon, since draft day, has been his shot. Last season, that’s a weapon that was underutilized.
For comparison, last season Bedard was only slightly above league average in shots on goal per 60 (a 0.59 z-score according to All Three Zones data). Auston Matthews, a superstar center with a deadly shot (not sure if you heard of him), had a 2.97 z-score—meaning, Matthews was at the high end of being above league average in that category.
It’s only seven games, so there’s a lot of hockey left, but I liked seeing Connor Bedard taking more shots on Sunday and not deferring to his linemates. Bedard can be an excellent playmaker. That’s why players like Philipp Kurashev get a boost when they play with the kid. But Bedard was drafted to be a goal-scoring machine.
What frustrates me is how often Bedard’s shots don’t go in or just flat out miss the net and smack into the boards. Granted, looking at the shot map above, Bedard has missed the net eight times compared to 12 of his shots being on goal. Bedard had nine shots on goal and 11 shot attempts on Sunday (all were unblocked shot attempts). On Friday, Bedard had four shots on goal and seven attempts (six of those were unblocked). I’d consider Sunday’s the high end of what we can expect (nine shots on goal is ridiculous) and Friday the low end of what I would like to see.
If he keeps up this volume, he’ll be scoring incredible goals.
Spencer Knight
He’s been incredible and a large part of why the Blackhawks have stayed so close in their games (all four of their losses were by one goal). Knight is eighth in goals against average (1.96), fourth in save percentage (.937), and first in goals saved above expected (8.7).
I’m not sure how sustainable the volume he’s facing is, but he’s made incredible saves. The Blackhawks rank 26 in shots on goal against per 60.
News of the Morning
Nick Foligno returns to the lineup following the successful surgery his daughter underwent. Nick Lardis was named the AHL player of the week. Lardis has eight points through his first six professional games. Joey Anderson cleared waivers on Sunday, was removed from IR, and sent to Rockford.
The Hawks won’t play again until Thursday. Enjoy the time off. Relish the Bears’ victory (four wins in a row!). I may or may not be back here with more thoughts.