10 observations: Blackhawks' losing skid hits three games originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
The Blackhawks lost to Florida Panthers 5-2 on Sunday at BB&T Center, falling to 0-3-0 on the season.
Here are 10 observations from the loss:
1. Head coach Jeremy Colliton rolled with the same lineup as Friday, including the starting goaltender in Collin Delia. It's going to be a balancing act all season between tinkering and keeping the group together long enough to allow chemistry to form.
2. Delia was really solid in the first period for the second straight contest. He stopped all 12 shots he faced, including three on the power play. And, overall, he turned in a more consistent performance but the Blackhawks didn't do him many favors. Delia's final stat line: 24 saves on 29 shots for a save percentage of .828.
3. The Blackhawks gave up the first (and second) goal for the third consecutive game after Carter Verhaeghe scored 12 seconds into the middle frame. They were 20-7-5 last season when scoring first and 12-23-3 when trailing first. The Blackhawks have yet to play with a lead through 180 minutes of play.
4. Despite falling behind 2-0, the Blackhawks clawed back to even the score at 2-2 in the third period. But it took only 22 seconds for the Panthers to retake the lead, tallying two goals in a span of 1:18 in the third period that turned the game upside down. Multiple strikes in a short period of time have really cost the Blackhawks in the early part of this season.
5. The Blackhawks' power play has gotten off to a strong start, at least from a statistical standpoint. Alex DeBrincat scored in back-to-back games after Dylan Strome scored in the opener, making it three straight games with a goal on the man advantage for the Blackhawks.
6. Adam Boqvist has had an up-and-down start to the season and is still working through growing pains. He didn't record a shift in the final eight minutes of the second period and was replaced on the power play by Duncan Keith, who recorded a secondary assist on DeBrincat's goal. Boqvist finished with 13:11 of ice time after logging 17:51 and 16:49, respectively, in the first two games.
7. For the third straight game, Colliton started his fourth line of Ryan Carpenter, Matthew Highmore and David Kampf. As the road team, the Blackhawks submit their starting lineup first and the home team counters. Colliton clearly trusts that trio in defensive matchups against opponents' top line.
8. Pius Suter had arguably the best first career NHL assist that never counted in the first period after pulling off an incredible spin-o-rama pass to Patrick Kane. The goal, unfortunately, was overturned because Kane was ruled offside. Suter eventually did get his first assist on Murphy's goal.
9. Dominik Kubalik was at 2:17 of ice time after the first period; his line with Philipp Kurashev and Strome didn't see the ice much, although they did take six shifts. The problem is, they were quick shifts. Kubalik's first-period shift times were: 14, 18, 38, 18, 23 and 26 seconds, respectively. He finished with 13:13 of ice time.
10. A big story out of Florida's training camp was the fact Keith Yandle was skating with the second group and not the NHL group, for whatever reason. He led Panthers defensemen last season with 45 points. It was a significant deal because he has the fourth-longest consecutive games streak in NHL history at 866 games and signs were pointing towards him being a healthy scratch for the season opener. But Yandle drew into the lineup and scored his 100th career goal, which was cool to see.
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