Power outage linked to losses

DENVER – The puck hit the back of the net Wednesday and, from the point, Patrick Sharp let out a whoop that echoed throughout the University of Denver’s Magness Arena. The Blackhawks forward threw both arms in the air and pumped them triumphantly.

Moments later, Jonathan Toews scored and raised his stick on a victory lap. It was practice, and the moments did nothing to alter the reality of a six-game losing streak, but any discernible pulse in the team’s comatose power-play unit was worth celebrating.

“It really has been letting us down and could be a key part of us winning games,” winger Patrick Kane said. “We got some different setups and things to be excited about. Hopefully it starts clicking because it’s a big part of us losing.”

For all the teeth-gnashing over the team’s defense, a suddenly punchless offense has compounded matters. The Hawks have scored more than two goals just once during their current losing skid. And compounding that is a power play that is just 1-for-15 over that six-game span.

It’s stunning that it should fail so consistently, given the Hawks’ firepower. Consider its effect in the loss Tuesday night to the Avalanche: The Hawks didn’t muster a single shot on three power plays, two of which popped up in the third period with the Avalanche up just one goal.

“We feel we can win games with the power play and we’re not scoring any goals, so we tried to keep things simple,” winger Marian Hossa said.

“It’s frustrating, definitely it is, because we know in [Tuesday] night’s game, if we scored a power-play goal it would be a different game. But we didn’t and that’s why you practice the power play. You try to make things simple.”

Indeed, Hawks coach Joel Quenneville bemoaned a state of affairs in which the man advantage actually has stunted momentum.

Much like the detail-oriented approach he’s seeking defensively, it seems baby steps – like an emphasis on simply possessing the puck – are re-emphasized. As Hossa suggested, it’s difficult to muster offensive momentum at even strength if the power play is on an outage.