The Blackhawks aren’t scoring enough. Part of the problem is they’re not shooting enough.
Sometimes it’s that simple.
“We can for sure shoot it more,” Connor Bedard said after practice Saturday. “What do we have, 20 a game? That’s not enough.”
Entering Saturday, the Hawks averaged 21.4 shots on goal per game, the second-lowest in the league. And while trying to rally in the third period of their 4-1 loss to the Canadiens on Friday, they mustered only four shots — none in the first 10 minutes.
Like Bedard said, not enough.
“I think there’s times where we can just throw it on net,” he said.
Coach Jeff Blashill said as much Friday.
“My answer for [scoring droughts] will always be, you got to find a way to score dirty,” he said. “So we got to find a way to get more pucks around the cage.”
Generally, though, the Hawks look to maintain possession and get prime scoring chances. They’re not the Hurricanes, who look to shoot once they step on the ice. That philosophy did help them win the Stanley Cup last season, and they’ve picked up where they left off, ranking second with 33.5 shots on goal per game.
“We’re looking to make more plays, looking to get better chances,” Patrick Kane said. “Especially once you enter the offensive zone, you don’t want to give up possession by just getting rid of it and getting a shot on net. Sometimes you think there’s a better play and there’s not. There’s definitely times where you feel like you can shoot it a bit more.”
“If you’re at the blue line and there’s no one in front, there’s no point to shoot,” Bedard said. “But if you have guys in front, and for our [defensemen], we need to get in front of both of them so they feel comfortable shooting.”
Though Blashill is looking for that “dirty” goal to spark the Hawks — they’re averaging 2.2 goals per game, third-lowest in the league — he said he ultimately grades the team on scoring chances.
“Shots can dictate the way people see the game because it feels a certain way when you have a lot of shots compared to not a lot of shots,” he said. “The first step is having an attack mentality, meaning you look at the net first and whether that’s a shot or a play at the net. The second part of being able to get them through is shoot off the pass, so shooting quicker.
“Honestly, I can’t say we’ve passed up a lot of opportunities to shoot the puck. I can say we haven’t been in the [offensive] zone enough in general. As we grow as a team, we’ll be in that ‘O’ zone more. But I can say that’s been the biggest reason probably for the lack of shots.”
“You’re looking at ‘O’ zone time,” Andrew Mangiapane said. “You don’t want to waste a shot on net, they blow the whistle, they break the puck out, it’s in our zone now. It’s, let’s live to see another day, let’s rim it behind, let’s make a pass down low. Keeping the puck is better than a wasted shot on net sometimes.”
And other times — such as when a team isn’t scoring — it can help to just send the puck toward the net. What do hockey analysts always say? “Good things happen when you throw the puck at the net.”
“We’re going to try to create more quality,” Bedard said. “But we could shoot more.”
NOTES: Jeff Blashill said left wing Andrew Mangiapane (lower-body injury) is good to go for the game Sunday against the Panthers. At practice, Mangiapane skated on the fourth line with right wing Cole Smith and center Ryan Greene.
• Defenseman Bowen Byram (upper body) participated in about half of practice, wearing a non-contact jersey. There’s no timeline for his return.