The Chicago Blackhawks knew that they had an incredibly tough task ahead of them before they were able to enjoy Thanksgiving. That test came in the form of the Dallas Stars who are one of the best teams in the entire National Hockey League.
Things started off somewhat poorly for the Hawks as Dallas got out to a 1-0 lead. However, Seth Jones scored his first of the season coming back from injury and that was the first of four unanswered goals.
You read that right. The Hawks led the Stars 4-1. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to hold it as the Stars ended up scoring five unanswered goals themselves and they won the game by a final score of 6-4. It was just another example of the Hawks being one of the worst teams in the league.
It was nice that they were able to have a good showing for a stretch against a really good team. They play a solid system that the players are bought into. With that in mind, they are just not a very talented hockey team so the Stars were never truly out of it.
The Chicago Blackhawks blew a big lead on Saturday night in Dallas.
Jones coming back from injury certainly helped out but that clearly wasn’t enough for them to pull through and win. They need a lot more than a good defenseman to help this team actually play well. As of right now, the Hawks are what we thought they were.
Now, they head into Thanksgiving with a record of 6-10-3 and 15 standings points. That is good for the second-worst record in the Western Conference and they only have one more point than the Anaheim Ducks who defeated the New York Rangers.
American Thanksgiving is a big milestone on the NHL calendar as the teams in a playoff spot are much more likely to make it into the postseason if they are there on this day. The Hawks are five points back so it is not looking good. It doesn’t help that they are likely to be sellers soon.
Following the holiday, the Hawks have a Black Friday afternoon match with the Montreal Canadiens. They aren’t a great team but they have been much improved this year as opposed to last year. It should be a very entertaining Original Six matchup.
