Chicago Blackhawks Need To Play Better On Road

The Chicago Blackhawks have been near unbeatable at home. Corey Crawford is 4-1 with 1.21 goals against average and a .953 save percentage at the United Center. The team is 5-1 at home. If they played every game at home, they would be the best team in hockey every single season.

But the Blackhawks have been terrible on the road this season. They are 1-4 when away from Chicago, and they needed overtime for that single win against the New York Islanders in Brooklyn. And those games were mostly against Eastern Conference teams, which is considered the lesser of the two conferences. The Blackhawks need to re-evaluate.

Patrick Kane, who is having a very good season after a rough offseason, has ten points at home and four points on the road. Brent Seabrook, who was pushed into the top defender spot when Duncan Keith went down for at least four weeks, is playing terribly on the road. Crawford is especially worse on the road. He’s lost two of three games with a 2.69 GAA. He’s allowed six goals in five games at home but allowed eight goals in three games on the road.

The Central Division is very good this season, so it’s feasible, though unlikely, that the Blackhawks could miss the playoffs altogether after a dominating Stanley Cup win. If the Blackhawks don’t get it together away from the United Center, then the rest of the division will pounce on them.

There are plenty of games left. It is too early to panic, but head coach Joel Quenneville needs to get this team together so they don’t behave like two different teams at home and away. This unit needs to find consistency if they want to continue their dynasty.