Throughout the last few years, the Blackhawks have been able to win three Stanley Cups thanks to their strong puck possession. When the Hawks won each of their Stanley Cups, they were never below fourth in the statistic known as Corsi For percentage, which measures the percentage of shot attempts a given team has compared to its opponent during 5-on-5 play.
This season, the Hawks have been middling at best when it comes to puck possession. They rank 14th in the NHL in Corsi For percentage at 50.61, according to the website naturalstattrick.com
But in what might be a positive sign for the Hawks going forward, they had one of their best puck possession nights of the season against the Stars in a 5-3 victory on Saturday.
The Hawks’ Corsi For percentage of 55.3 percent was their sixth-best output of the season. They had 59 overall shot attempts during 5-on-5 play compared to the Stars’ 42. The 35 shots the Hawks put on goal was their most all season during 5-on-5 play.
“I think (the four lines) have been better,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “I think we’ve been better progressing in the offensive zone game and possession game, whether it’s checking better so we end up with the puck more or protecting the puck. … I think it’s all because we had net presence.”
Of particular interest was the play of Ryan Hartman and Tanner Kero, each of whom had a Corsi differential of plus-13 during 5-on-5 play, meaning they helped create 13 more shot attempts for the Hawks than the Stars had when both were on the ice. That resulted in a goal during the second period when Kero made a nice play to snatch the puck away from a pair of Stars defenders and find Hartman with a bouncing pass near the net.
Photos from the Blackhawks-Stars game on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2017, in Dallas.
“I may not have gotten all of it but it ended up working out well,” Hartman said.
Of course, Corsi numbers are not foolproof in their analysis of a game. Gustav Forsling was the top Hawks defenseman when it came to possession numbers 5-on-5 (he had a Corsi For percentage of 67.5 percent), and he even scored his second goal of the season, but Forsling had a costly giveaway in the Hawks zone that led to a Tyler Seguin goal for the Stars, a goal that gave the Stars a temporary 3-2 lead.
“Whether it was coverage or getting beat, defensively he wasn’t like he was the last couple of games,” Quenneville said. “Things happen, growing pains with a young defenseman, but he does some good things.”
Luckily for the Hawks, they generated enough puck possession and high-quality scoring chances to overcome the deficit.
De-pantsed: Quenneville laughed when asked if the first Stars goal from Radek Faksa was a result of Corey Crawford wearing the new NHL-mandated slimmer goalie pants. The puck appeared to get stuck in Crawford’s equipment and then glided off his pants and into the net.
“We talked about it a little bit. We’ll find out if it was or not,” Quenneville said.
Said Crawford: “I just didn’t pick it up, plain and simple.
chine@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @ChristopherHine
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