sportsjabber.net

The last two Stanley Cup champions met at the United Center on Saturday night, but it was Tim Thomas and the Boston Bruins who had the last laugh as they beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in a shootout. Bryan Bickell and Patrick Kane scored goals for the Hawks, and Tim Thomas made 27 saves and stopped all three Chicago shootout attempts to grab the victory for the defending champs.

Following what has been a pattern for the club in the early going this season, the Blackhawks’ effort Saturday was more about a great offensive attack and some lackluster defense. They looked good in spurts, especially toward the end of the first period, but there were plenty of times, including a large chunk of the third period, when they started chasing the puck more than staying in smart positions, and they gave up a goal because of it. Nathan Horton caught a beautiful pass from Johnny Boychuk just inside the circles and fired it past Corey Crawford, leaving the Blackhawks’ defenders looking foolish for watching the puck instead of keeping the front of the net clear.

Another worrying sign for the Hawks was that they had to once again rely on Duncan Keith to play a lot of minutes. Last year, big minutes and a short summer equaled a rough campaign for the Norris Trophy winner, and this off-season GM Stan Bowman made it a point to add veteran defensive depth to help Keith and Brent Seabrook keep their minutes down. They’ve been largely successful in doing so for the first three games, but Keith ended up playing nearly 29 minutes and Seabrook nearly 26. Obviously the overtime had something to do with that, but it’s a trend that this team cannot afford to keep going.

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