SUNRISE, Fla. — The Blackhawks worked in practice Friday on retrieving dumped-in pucks and orchestrating breakouts across the blue line cleanly.
The practice didn’t help much, though. After struggling Thursday against the Hurricanes’ ultra-aggressive forecheck, they struggled arguably even more Saturday against the Panthers’ well-organized forecheck in their 5-1 loss.
There were several shifts during the first period especially in which the Hawks couldn’t clear the zone to save their lives, much less coordinate a tape-to-tape breakout. Embattled veteran defenseman T.J. Brodie failed to get the puck out in a critical situation shortly before the Panthers’ go-ahead goal.
And in the opening seconds of the third period, Alex Vlasic flubbed a retrieval that bounced off the end-boards and the Panthers scored seconds later.
“We got jammed up on the walls again,” interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “And honestly, it was [due to a lack of] execution. We weren’t firm enough on those plays.”
Breakouts have actually been one of the Hawks’ few team strengths overall this season. They rank sixth in the NHL in exits per 60 minutes, according to All Three Zones. That stat doesn’t include their most recent games, though, so it will probably worsen soon.
“[It helps to have] a little reliability, knowing where guys are going to be and knowing somebody’s going to be there so you can put it to a spot or an area,” defenseman Alec Martinez said. “All you can do is try to get the reps in.”
As Martinez referenced, the forwards have as much responsibility as the defensemen. Sorensen mentioned the Hawks adjusted to running breakouts through their center (who swoops lower in the defensive zone) rather up the walls to their wingers as Saturday’s game progressed, and that helped.
“The biggest thing is you want to stay connected,” Sorensen said. “If you’re watching the TV screen, you want to see five guys in the picture. That’s usually when we’re at our best.”
Defensive shuffle
Defenseman Connor Murphy returned to the Hawks’ lineup Saturday after missing all of January due to his groin condition. The Hawks will monitor how his body reacts to and feels after playing more than 23 minutes.
“Physically, [I feel] good,” Murphy said. “Obviously, the game result and everything [else is] a different story.”
Murphy needed to play that much because Louis Crevier was injured on a hit into the boards in the first period and did not return, leaving the Hawks with just five dressed defensemen.
Fans were upset that two young defensemen — Nolan Allan and Ethan Del Mastro — were scratched while Murphy and Brodie played. There’s a good chance one of them re-enters the lineup Wednesday against the Oilers, which is the Hawks’ third-to-last game before the international break.
History made
Landon Slaggert scored the fastest goal in Hawks history seven seconds into the game Saturday. The rookie forward raced past every Panther to get to a puck Ryan Donato had poked ahead off the opening faceoff, then he slid it between Sergei Bobrovsky’s legs.
“I was just focused on getting some pressure on their defensemen,” Slaggert said. “The puck squared to an area, and I saw that I could get on it first and just caught a break.”
Slaggert’s constant hustle has been noticeable. He made an impressive individual play while shorthanded Thursday that nearly tied the Hurricanes game late, and he has now scored in his other two NHL appearances so far. Sorensen rewarded him by bumping him up to play with Connor Bedard, who had a quiet day.