For the fourth straight season, the Blackhawks have hit the halfway mark in very bad shape.
That’s an exact copy — except for one word — of the opening sentence of this same exercise last season. Analyzing the Hawks’ team statistics at the midpoint of each season has actually felt repetitive for years now, because the team has lived in the NHL’s basement for so long.
General manager Kyle Davidson convinced fans to expect a bit more than this season, but they’ve been disappointed. Perhaps next season will finally bring that first noticeable step out of the cellar, but that’s a subject for another day.
Through 41 games, the Hawks are 14-25-2 with 30 points, up slightly from 26 points at this juncture last season. But whereas they sat in second-to-last place above the Sharks last season, they’re in outright last place this season, two points behind the Sharks.
Before starting the second half with game No. 42 against the Red Wings on Friday, here’s a glance through the Hawks’ first-half team statistics:
Even strength
Identically to last year, the Hawks rank 29th in the NHL with 2.06 goals per 60 minutes of five-on-five play, ahead of only the Flames, Wings and disastrous Predators (1.68). The surprising Capitals lead the league at 3.03.
In 15 games since Anders Sorensen replaced Luke Richardson as coach, however, the Hawks are a more respectable tied-for-18th with 2.28 goals per 60 minutes.
Their offensive analytics are all predictably among the league’s worst. They rank 32nd in shot attempts, 30th in shots on goal and 32nd in scoring chances. Under Sorensen, they’ve improved slightly to 25th in the latter two categories.
Defensively, the Hawks rank 28th with an average of 2.92 goals allowed per 60 minutes of five-on-five play, ahead of only the Sharks, Flyers, Canadiens and Penguins (3.15). The Jets lead the league at 1.85.
In every analytical category, the Hawks rank between 26th and 28th. They’ve been extremely leaky under Sorensen, though, allowing 3.75 goals per 60 minutes — much worse than anyone else during that span. They’ve allowed fewer shot attempts under Sorensen, but a larger percentage of those have made it on-goal.
Special teams
In contrast to the even-strength struggles, the Hawks’ special teams are the best they’ve been in years.
On the power play, they rank 12th in the NHL in goals per 60 minutes. That’s a dramatic improvement from last season, when they ranked 29th at the midpoint.
Their power-play analytics suggest that productivity might be unsustainable, though. They rank 31st in shot attempts, 25th in shots on goal and 24th in scoring chances.
On the penalty kill, the Hawks have remarkably allowed the very fewest goals per minute — an eye-popping stat. This unit has been the team’s biggest relative strength for several years now, and they’ve been downright dominant at times this season.
Their penalty-kill analytics aren’t as impressive but are still decent: eighth in shot attempts allowed, 15th in shots on goal allowed and 16th in scoring chances allowed.
All the special-teams numbers are basically the same under Richardson and Sorensen, which makes sense because Sorensen’s system changes have largely focused on even strength.
Goaltending
There are two huge, inexplicable splits in the Hawks’ goaltending efficiency this season.
Their .900 five-on-five save percentage ranks a subpar 25th in the league, but their .894 shorthanded save percentage is the league’s best. Moreover, Richardson benefited from much more reliable goaltending (.909 overall save percentage) than Sorensen has (.882). It’s worth noting the NHL’s overall save percentage is just .900 this season, its lowest since 1995-96.
Out of 63 qualifying goalies league-wide, Petr Mrazek’s .897 save percentage ranks 40th and minus-2.5 GSAA ranks 42nd, while Arvid Soderblom’s .905 save percentage ranks 21st and plus-2.3 GSAA ranks 23rd.