“We played well enough to win, for sure,” was how goalie Corey Crawford felt following the Hawks’ Wednesday night loss to the Dallas Stars.  But it was déjà vu all over again for the Hawks, as they got off to another slow start and failed to defend against the power play.  

 

“We didn’t give up a lot in the second and third, but the first was touch watching…,” remarked Coach Joel Quenneville.

 

After getting into a 2-0 hole in the first period, the Hawks fought back with goals from Fernando Pisani and Tomas Kopecky in the second.  They had a chance to take the lead a short while later, as Victor Stalberg was tripped attacking the net and given a penalty shot.  But the shot that followed was unlike anything most hockey fans had ever seen.  Stalberg beat the goalie, but his shot deflected off the right post, then the crossbar, and then the left post without passing into the goal and was finally knocked back onto the ice in front of the Stars’ goaltender.  

 

But it was ultimately the Hawks’ inability to penalty kill that cost them the game.  The Stars were 3 for 3 scoring in the power play, two coming in the first period and the most crucial of which coming in the third with the score tied at 2.  Defenseman Duncan Keith was clear about what happened: “Our penalty killing wasn’t as good as it needed to be, and that was the difference tonight.”

 

Despite the Hawks’ ability to score often on the power play and a roster consisting of multiple all-stars and two of the league’s best rookies in Bryan Bickell and Jake Dowell, it is defense that wins championships and it is defense, especially in penalty killing, that the Blackhawks need to work on in order to improve on their mediocre 21-18-3 record.