The Chicago Blackhawks dropped an afternoon affair to the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers 1-5 on Saturday at Amerant Bank Arena. The defeat saw Chicago drop to 16-31-5 (37 points), while Florida improved to 31-19-3 (65 points) with the win.
The Blackhawks entered action on Saturday, losing eight of their last 10 games and having a 2-5-3 stretch. It's been another difficult season and they find themselves rock-bottom in the Central division and 31st overall in the league. Today was no different for the Hawks, as the Panthers severely outmatched them.
Chicago opened the scoring as Landon Slaggert broke free just seven seconds into the game for a breakaway goal. Unfortunately, that lead lasted five minutes as Jonah Gadjovich poked home a rebound to tie the game at one. Soon after, Sam Reinhart buried a slick feed from Aleksander Barkov to give Florida a 2-1 lead. Although the Hawks were dominated and outshot 22-3, Petr Mrazek kept things within reach down just one after the opening frame.
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The second period was relatively even. The score remained 2-1 until a Sam Reinhart shot banked in off of Matthew Tkachuk, extending the Panthers's cushion to 3-1.
It got even worse in the third period. Evan Rodrigues made it 4-1 Florida just 10 seconds into the frame, putting the nail in the coffin. Carter Verhaeghe scored a power-play goal later in the period and it was all over from there. The Panthers dismantled the Blackhawks en route to a dominant 5-1 win.
The Chicago Blackhawks will be off until next Wednesday night when they host Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers. The puck drops at 9:30 p.m. EST at the United Center.
3 least impressive players from the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 loss to the Florida Panthers
#1. Connor Murphy
It was a difficult afternoon for the Blackhawks' shutdown defenseman. In 23:30 minutes of ice time, Connor Murphy had a -3 rating.
It was Murphy's first game back in the lineup since Dec. 31 with a groin injury. He had a combined -6 rating in his three games before injury, and unfortunately, Saturday afternoon was no better.
#2. Teuvo Teravainen
It was another quiet game for Teuvo Teravainen. The Hawks' offseason signing had three shots on goal and was a -2 rating in 19:57 of action.
Teravainen has gone pointless in five of his last six games, having registered just one point (one goal, zero assists) in that span. Chicago needs more from its $4,500,000 winger.
#3. Ilya Mikheyev
Ilya Mikheyev did not make much of an impact against Florida. In 14:19 of ice time, the veteran forward was held without a shot and was a -3 rating.
His high-sticking penalty in the third period resulted in a Carter Verhaeghe goal, further putting the goal out of reach. The 30-year-old will not want to remember this performance.
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