Joel Quenneville's Line Changes Perplex Many
(CBS) Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville's line shuffling in a Game 3 loss to the Ducks after a Game 2 win has left most everyone perplexed.
That includes NBC Sports Network analyst Keith Jones, who joined the Mully and Hanley Show on Friday morning. He didn't understand why talented rookie forward Teuvo Teravainen was a healthy scratch after recent solid play.
"Teravainen was excellent in Game 1," Jones said. "I thought he provided a lot of offensive looks for the Blackhawks and gave Anaheim something to think about when he was on the ice. Game 2, he wasn't as noticeable, but that wasn't enough in my mind to take him out of the lineup."
Quenneville also broke up his final two lines, moving Andrew Shaw from the fourth line to center the third line while being flanked by Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg, who had been a healthy scratch in the previous six playoff games. He also added the little-used Joakim Nordstrom to the fourth line.
In Game 2, Shaw had played at wing on the fourth line alongside Marcus Kruger and Andrew Desjardins. Teravainen, Sharp and Antonine Vermette comprised the third line. Vermette was also scratched in Game 3.
"I didn't like splitting up Andrew Shaw's line from Game 2," Jones said. "That was the one thing that really stood out to me. Desjardins along with Kruger and Shaw was the most effective for the Blackhawks throughout that triple-overtime game and were on the ice for the game-winning goal scored by Kruger. Shaw picked up the power-play goal early in that game. I would not have done that if I was Joel. You asked if I was surprised. Yes, I was surprised that there were changes at all based upon that fact that the team won that triple-overtime game.
"There's a special bond that comes with winning that type of game within the room. Normally players that are outside the room don't feel the same connection. So I thought looking at it, I was really surprised."
Fellow NBC analyst Eddie Olczyk echoed Jones' sentiments in an interview on the Spiegel and Goff Show on Friday. He didn't agree with benching Teravainen and fellow forward Antoine Vermette.
"For me, I was surprised," Olczyk said.
"I never thought those two guys would come out after a win ... I thought that line of Sharp, Vermette and Teravainen were the best line from the end of the second period, third period, all the way through the triple overtime."
Listen to the full interview with Jones below.