(Sports Network) - The Chicago Blackhawks will have a full week off after Thursday's 2-1 home defeat to the Detroit Red Wings. That could be a good thing, considering the myriad of injury problems the team has gone through over the season's first month. On the other hand, the rest also lets the bitter taste of another loss, the Blackhawks' seventh in a row, linger in the mouth's of Chicago players.
A startling lack of offensive punch has been the primary factor in the Blackhawks' current slide. Chicago has mustered only three goals over its last five games and was shut out in three consecutive losses to Vancouver, Anaheim and Philadelphia over a recent five-day span.
When Jassen Cullimore lit the lamp late in the second period of Tuesday's 5-2 setback to the Islanders, it stopped a 240-minute scoreless drought since Michal Handzus' tally against St. Louis on October 21.
That was the same game Handzus, Chicago's top-line centerman, suffered a season-ending knee injury. The team clearly misses both the gritty Czech and left wing Martin Havlat, who remains the Blackhawks' leading scorer despite missing the last six games with a badly sprained right ankle.
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A startling lack of offensive punch has been the primary factor in the Blackhawks' current slide. Chicago has mustered only three goals over its last five games and was shut out in three consecutive losses to Vancouver, Anaheim and Philadelphia over a recent five-day span.
When Jassen Cullimore lit the lamp late in the second period of Tuesday's 5-2 setback to the Islanders, it stopped a 240-minute scoreless drought since Michal Handzus' tally against St. Louis on October 21.
That was the same game Handzus, Chicago's top-line centerman, suffered a season-ending knee injury. The team clearly misses both the gritty Czech and left wing Martin Havlat, who remains the Blackhawks' leading scorer despite missing the last six games with a badly sprained right ankle.
FULL STORY
