Fansided

Chicago Blackhawks are stumbling in the Western Conference

By Vinnie Criscenzo

Mar 25, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) makes a save against the Philadelphia Flyers during the second period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 25, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (50) makes a save against the Philadelphia Flyers during the second period at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports /
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Corey Crawford was chased in the first period of a 5-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, led by Cam Atkinson’s hat-trick.

It was a game that the Chicago Blackhawks will want to throw the game tape in the garbage.

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The Blackhawks were coming off a disappointing 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night, but have been on a good stretch as of late, going 7-2-1 so far in the month of March. Up next was a game against a Columbus Blue Jackets team that is well out of a playoff spot, but have won four straight and eight of their last ten.

With the Blackhawks in a playoff spot and focusing on how they match up against other playoff teams, these games against non-playoff teams can be trap games. That seems to be what happened to the Blackhawks against the Flyers, and it was the same story Friday night against the Blue Jackets.

Brandon Saad opened the scoring just 3:26 into the game, but the Blue Jackets quickly answered when Ryan Johansen was sprung on a breakaway and beat Crawford to tie the game. The Blue Jackets would add three more first period goals, including two from Cam Atkinson. Atkinson’s second goal was a shorthanded breakaway that ended Crawford’s night.

Great move by Atkinson, but Crawford wasn’t sharp on this play at all. Crawford moved way too early, leaving Atkinson an easy decision to juke right and have a wide open cage to just slide the puck in. It seemed to be the story of the period, Blackhawks as a whole just not sharp in front of their goaltender, but Crawford clearly not on his game as well, as he allowed 4 goals on just 13 shots against.

Scott Darling came in to replace Crawford, and the Blackhawks seemed to tighten up after that. However, it remained a scoreless game throughout the rest of the night until Cam Atkinson completed his hat-trick with an empty-net goal.

The Blackhawks will need to regroup and get back to playing at the level they will need to play at if they hope to be ready for the playoffs. The loss of Patrick Kane might finally be catching up with the team, but they’ll need to find ways to win, as they most likely won’t have Kane back until the second round of the playoffs, if they make it past the first round.

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