The Blackhawks aren’t good enough to win when they lack energy at the start.
They were reminded of that Sunday night.
After winning six of their last seven games, the Hawks lost 2-1 to the Kings in front of 19,236 at the United Center, avoiding a shutout when Ian Mitchell connected with 3:15 left in the third period. Jaret Anderson-Dolan scored both goals for the Kings, and Petr Mrazek stopped 25 shots to keep the Hawks close.
Defenseman Connor Murphy couldn’t explain the Hawks’ flat opening.
“The energy didn’t seem like it was there with us tonight,” Murphy said, “but we’ve got to learn [when] we don’t have the energy, we’ve still got to manage the game the right way and know how to support each other and have short shifts and not make errors that are going to cause us to be out there for too long and kill the momentum of the game.”
Like the Hawks, the Kings also played Saturday night, but they didn’t have a sluggish start.
“They were on a back-to-back, too, so we were in the same situation, but we just didn’t seem to have our legs there to start,” Mitchell said.
The Hawks should’ve entered with momentum, coming off a 5-3 win Saturday in St. Louis. Instead, the only aspect that carried over from that victory was the lack of early pressure.
Against the Blues, the Hawks didn’t muster a shot on goal until Jason Dickinson scored 10:27 into the first period. On Sunday, it took the Hawks even longer to challenge Kings goalie Pheonix Copley, and Jonathan Toews’ shot off a centering feed from Patrick Kane with 4:24 left in the period was saved.
Los Angeles plays a 1-3-1 neutral-zone trap, and the Hawks struggled to break through, giving them a low early shot total for a second straight night. But coach Luke Richardson didn’t think there was much of a connection between the minimal shooting Saturday and Sunday.
“[The Kings] were kind of mugging us,” Richardson said, “creating a little bit of interference — legal moving interference — and we just had no energy to fight through it and create those breaks.”
Despite the loss, the Hawks are playing more competitively. Even with the slow start, they had a chance to tie the game in the waning seconds when the Kings’ Drew Doughty was called for hooking at the 19:37 mark of the third.
They didn’t convert the brief power play, but the Hawks at least gave themselves an opportunity to steal a point. During their closing flurry, they looked more like the team that had rallied after hitting rock bottom and seemed destined for the worst record in the NHL.
“I just think we had so many losses in a row, and eventually you become a little numb and want to just say, ‘Screw it,’ and go play with a little more ease and a little more tension off your shoulders,” Murphy said. “It seemed like we were doing that with some of those wins and trusting that some goals were going to come, and they did.”
Unfortunately for the Hawks, an injury resurfaced.
Forward Tyler Johnson reaggravated his left ankle injury and didn’t return after the first intermission. Richardson said Johnson would get checked out Monday and probably wouldn’t make the upcoming road trip.
“That’s frustrating for him, and it’s tough for the team,” Richardson said.
