Blackhawks Daily: Faceoff Struggles, Third Period Push, Richardson

The Chicago Blackhawks were outplayed last night against the Dallas Stars, losing 3-1 in a tough road loss. For the Hawks, it was yet another night of playing a bad 40 minutes before making a late push in the third period.

The Blackhawks have done it time and time again this season, play a poor first and second period, fall behind, before finding some new life in the third period. The Hawks willingness to battle and continue to push his commendable, but Chicago Hockey Now’s very own Brooke Lofurno summed up what the big problem is with the third period success.

I think the coaching staff needs to start telling the #Blackhawks it’s the third period, every period. Maybe that will help.

Can always count on them to show up and make a strong push in the third.

— Brooke (@brooke_lofo) November 8, 2024

The Blackhawks poor play last night might have something to do with a failure to have the puck. Chicago was 16 of 56 in the face-off dot, something head coach Luke Richardson addressed postgame.

“When you start out without a puck, that’s a hard thing,” Richardson said. “We’re chasing the game quite a bit.” 

The fact Chicago lost 3-1 while only winning 28.6 percent of the faceoffs is actually impressive. It shows the Hawks ability to continue to forecheck and not give up on a shift, still they need to be better, which brings me to some Blackhawks stories you may have missed from yesterday.

Blackhawks Stories You May Have Missed

Yesterday, I addressed the Blackhawks faceoff struggles in a story centered around Jonathan Toews. While the Hawks addressed a lot of holes in the lineup this offseason, the lack of a true star center like Toews who can win faceoffs still hurts the team.

Going into last night’s game, Joey Anderson and Andreas Athanasiou had missed the Hawks last seven games. Anderson did get in the lineup last night, playing 12:32 minutes. Still, Luke Richardson needs to find Athanasiou and Anderson’s roles with the Hawks.

In case you missed last night’s game, here are four thoughts from the Blackhawks 3-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.

News from around the National Hockey Now Network:

Detroit Hockey Now: The Detroit Red Wings had a number of top prospects with their fingerprints all over Sweden’s win in the opening match of the u20 Five Nations tournament in Fineland.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Pittsburgh Penguins were outplayed by the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday night, losing 5-1. After the loss, head coach Mike Sullivan didn’t hold back.