The Chicago Blackhawks had a really nice start to the 2022-23 NHL season. They won some games that nobody thought they would ever even come close to winning which turned some heads. Unfortunately, they are starting to come back down to earth.
On Wednesday, they hosted the St. Louis Blues in a rivalry game on national TV. Things went very poorly against this Blues team that has struggled to begin the year. They have a roster good enough to bounce back and they had a good start to that with a big win over the Hawks.
The Blues went out to a 2-0 lead thanks to goals from Calle Rosen and Jordan Kyrou. Andreas Athanasiou brought them to within one goal but then the Blues restored the two-goal lead just under a minute later thanks to a goal by Ryan O’Reilly.
Athanasiou scored his second of the game later in the period but it was once again responded to quickly as Tyler Pitlick scored a few minutes later. Ivan Barbashev added one in the third period and the Blues took care of business for the 5-3 victory.
The Chicago Blackhawks have not been a good hockey team in recent games.
For the last few games now, the Hawks have looked every bit as bad as we thought they were going to be before the season began. They are starting to fall well below the playoff line and are inching closer to the bottom of the Western Conference standings.
There are a lot of teams in that mix though so it will be interesting to see how it all shakes out in the end. There is no doubt that the Hawks have a roster capable of being the worst in the league.
They could potentially get even worse if they decide to make some impact trades. At this point, the futures of guys like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews are very cloudy.
It is nice to see guys like Athanasiou and Max Domi raise their trade value every day too. This team can load up with more picks and prospects if they play their cards right in the coming months before the NHL trade deadline.
The Blackhawks are off for a few days now as they will take this show on the road. They will be on the east coast to take on the Boston Bruins on Saturday night.
That is surely going to be an interesting game as the Bruins currently lead the NHL standings. It would be nice to see the Hawks at least be in the game and show the ability to keep up with the high-flying B’s.
