It’s easy to look at last night’s loss and dismiss it because there were so many penalties.  And while the calls, many of them questionable, did definitely disrupt the flow of the game, the fact is that the Blackhawks had more penalties than we did.

So what happened?  How did we lose 7-2 to a team that had just come off an 8-2 loss an hour and a half earlier?

A lot of it is obviously due to the fact that more than half of our bench (8 of 15) are  from other teams or subs, which created some chaos during changes (no one knew who to change for or when, and there was very little communication on or off the ice).  These are things that should naturally improve over the next three games (hopefully.)

Another major issue we had was being a little too patient, both with and without the puck.

A lot of the times we got the puck on our stick, we took one or two seconds to stick-handle and think about our next move, and then simply fired it at their feet or right to their sticks.  Most of our passes and shots were blocked because of this.  We’ve got to keep our heads up when passing and not be afraid to use the boards when we don’t have a clear option.  A lot of this is chemistry, but most of it is simply focus.

Away from the puck, same thing - we gave them time and space to make their move rather than attacking them.  We knew they would be tired going in, but we still hesitated, and it cost us.  The point was made on the bench near the end of the game (by Dan, I think), “Closest man to the puck, attack it.”

Two games tonight - First at 5:45 pm against the Shoot Em In The Face, and then at 8:45 pm against the Saints.

See you then!