Monday, March 29, 2010
Don’t look now but the good ship Chicago Blackhawk is taking on water.
Once considered a serious candidate for the Stanley Cup, the rival Blackhawks have fallen on hard times since the Olympic break, going 5-6-2. They have 99 points, but have dropped seven of their last 10 games, including back-to-back defeats to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“We haven’t experienced this type of stretch all year,” Coach Joel Quenneville told Chicago media after Sunday night’s 4-2 loss to the Blue Jackets. Columbus blitzed Hawks goaltender Cristobal Huet for seven goals in an 8-3 thrashing Thursday night, prompting Quenneville, former coach of the Blues, to call a team meeting.
It doesn’t get any easier for the Blackhawks (46-21-7), who visit the Blues (36-30-9) Tuesday night at Scottrade Center. The Blues are a desperate team, clinging to the slimmest of chances that someone ahead of them – Colorado possibly? -will collapse and provide an entry point to the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth.
The Blues are 11-5 in their last 16 games, but have little to show for it because the teams ahead of them continue to win. And with seven games left, it appears unlikely that they will be able to stage a second consecutive stretch run vault into the playoffs.
Keith Tkachuk, the hero in Sunday night’s 2-1 victory over Edmonton, said the Blues can’t worry about what others are doing. They need to win out and hope for the best.
“It’s a must-win situation…every game here coming up is,” said Tkachuk, who scored his 13th goal on his 38th birthday to provide the margin of difference against Edmonton. “Not only that, you’ve got to get some help, too. It’s a goal we can reach. We feel strong about it. We’ll see what happens.”
Chicago, meanwhile, has had to endure injuries to key veterans such as defenseman Brian Campbell and some shaky goaltending by Huet, who reportedly lost the No. 1 goaltending job to Antti Niemi after posting a poor 3.62 goals-against average in his last nine starts.
Huet has beaten the Blues three times in four starts this season and in nine career starts against them has a goals-against average of 1.90. Chicago is 3-1 against the Blues this season. Niemi defeated St. Louis 2-1 with a 36-save performance on Feb. 6 at Scottrade Center.
While the Blues have played well for the most part since just before the Olympic break, they had to stage a come-from-behind effort against the Oilers, the NHL’s worst team, Sunday night at Scottrade. They played a horrid first period, falling behind 1-0, but righted things in the second and third periods. A second-period power play goal by Erik Johnson tied the game and in the third, Tkachuk scored on a deflection to win it and send the sellout crowd of 19,150 home happy.
“I think we’re trying to do everything we can,” said goalie Chris Mason, who is 3-2-1 in his last five starts against the Blackhawks, including a pair of shutouts. “Obviously we’re aware and disappointed about the way we’ve been at home this year. This is kind of a second ditch to try and redeem ourselves a bit.”
Defenseman Carlo Colaiacovo said the Blues are mathematically still alive. Going into Monday night’s games, they were in 10th place, four points behind ninth-place Calgary and eight back of the Avalanche. To have a chance, they must win out the last seven games and hope Calgary and Colorado flounder.
“We have to,” he said. “Play right to the end…play every game like it’s our last and see what happens. We can only control what we can do out there and if we don’t win our games, then nothing else matters. So if we keep winning our games and playing the way we’re playing, it puts the pressure on the other teams, too.”
BLUE NOTES – Center Patrik Berglund apologized to his teammates for oversleeping and missing Saturday’s practice. He met with Blues Coach Davis Payne that afternoon and was benched for Sunday night’s game. Berglund said the battery in his cell phone – which also serves as his alarm clock – went dead and did not wake him in time for practice…Defenseman Roman Polak did not skate with the Blues Monday. He suffered a shoulder injury last week in New Jersey and missed two games before returning to the lineup last Thursday against Los Angeles. He seemed to labor at times during Sunday night’s game, especially after physical encounters in the corners and along the boards. He is expected to play against the Blackhawks…On Wednesday the Blues travel to Nashville for a Thursday night game against the Predators, then return for home games Saturday night against Dallas and Monday night against Columbus.
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