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Sloppy play and bad decision-making costs Blackhawks against Canucks

By Vinnie Criscenzo

Feb 11, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Vancouver Canucks center Bo Horvat (53) celebrates his goal in front of Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane (88) during the second period at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 11, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; Vancouver Canucks center Bo Horvat (53) celebrates his goal in front of Chicago Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane (88) during the second period at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports /
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A lot of sloppy play and bad decision-making by the Blackhawks cost them the game against the Canucks.

It was an ugly night for the Chicago Blackhawks, to say the least.

The Blackhawks have been a bit inconsistent in 2015. They are 8-7-3 since the calendar turned to 2015, going back and forth with winning one, losing one pretty much for the past six weeks. However, they have still been impressive at home with a 16-7-3 record at the United Center.

However, it did not show this night.

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The Blackhawks surrendered five goals in their 5-4 overtime loss to the Vancouver Canucks Wednesday night. It’s their second overtime loss in as many games, both being at home. They were uncharacteristically sloppy in their own end, making bad decisions and turning the puck over multiple times in their own end.

Head coach Joel Quenneville said it was more about the poor decisions they made with the puck rather than defensive positioning.

"It wasn’t defending as [much as it was] the poor decisions we made with the puck that led to all their action, he said, per CSN Chicago. We made some good plays in the offensive zone but some of the decisions we made with the puck were tough to watch."

That was very evident on the Canucks first goal. The first period went by scoreless, mainly due to some great goaltending by Corey Crawford, as he had to bail out his teammates quite a few times. The Hawks were able to take a 1-0 lead early in the second on a Patrick Kane goal, but it wasn’t long before the Canucks tied it. The Hawks turned the puck over twice in their own zone and eventually were caught in a 3-on-1 situation which the Canucks easily took advantage of to tie the game.

There was also Michal Rozsival who, well, I’m not sure what he was doing on that play. He ended up being up higher than the forwards that basically created the 3-on-1.

Almost every goal scored by the Canucks were the result of either a bad turnover or a missed assignment on defense. The Hawks found a way to force overtime despite being down 4-2 with a little over two minutes remaining in the game. However, it was Daniel Sedin being left wide open in front of the net and burying the overtime winner that halted the Hawks comeback.

There’s no questioning the Blackhawks offense. As shown tonight, they can basically score at will, even when they aren’t exactly on their best game. The issue lately has been keeping pucks out of their net. A lot of the issues can be fixed with better play and quicker, smarter decisions with the puck, but I would expect the Blackhawks to be shopping for a veteran defenseman to help with the depth on their back end before the trade deadline.

H/T Pro Hockey Talk

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