As always, we take a look at some of the deeper numbers from last night's game at The Tank using Boxscore + Shift Charts + CORSI measures.
(Check out a breakdown of our statistical apparatus here.)
-The first thing that pops out is that Dave Bolland and his line got mauled last night. From the shift charts we see that the 'Hawks spent most of their time against the third line of San Jose, featuring star rookie Logan Couture at center, and Ryane Clowe -- who just happened to have both of the goals -- at wing.
Hmm. A -21 in CORSI in a game where neither team dominated the shot clock, meaning there wasn't one team sitting back absorbing pressure to protect a lead nor another team furiously chasing the game, is really something to behold. Bolland had been making strides the last couple games toward respectability, but last night was a step back.
-The Hawks were dominant at the face-off dot, which has not been a trend this year.
-Jonathan Toews, though he didn't have the scoring to show, had another excellent game. He saw mostly the Sharks top line with Joe Thornton, and had the better of them. Why Sharks coach Todd McLellan opted for that match up is beyond me, because Toews has digested and regurgitated Thornton before.
-Jack Skille had seven shots, which is encouraging. Mostly benefiting from Toews's work, but someone has to.
Chicago Blackhawks
-Brian Campbell and Niklas Hjalmarsson had one of their worst games in a while. They also couldn't handle Couture and Clowe, seeing most of their ice time against them.
Still almost got away with it though.
