McKnight: Keith's Bad Play Key To Hawks' Loss
By Connor McKnight--
It's tough to look at the Blackhawks' Wednesday night loss to the Coyotes and focus on anything but the benching of Duncan Keith. Keith's play (two turnovers really) led directly to the two Coyote goals that ended up winning the game.
Keith was sat down during the second period and finished up with just under 21 minutes of ice time--a season low by a wide margin. Thursday, as the Hawks had their quarterly individual player meetings, Keith told reporters just what message he took from his time on the pine.
"Well I think it was pretty simple," Keith said, "I mean obviously, you know, I was out for a couple goals there and I left my partner for a couple two-on-one's. That turned out to be the two goals that cost us the game, unfortunately. I think it just comes down to me needing to play better."
Joel Quenneville had his own way of looking at it.
"Sometimes messages are sent in different fashions or different ways," Quenneville said. "He's not the first guy that sat there. I don't know if that's the first time he's ever done that before either. I think everybody has that moment where you get a chance to catch your breath or observe knowing that we expect more."
Undoubtedly more is expected from Duncan Keith. He's been on the ice for the last four goals the Hawks have surrendered and that's not what a Norris Trophy winner is supposed to do. Keith, however, may be suffering from the symptoms of a malady affecting the entire team. They're holding on too tight.
More often than not, the Hawks are looking to make fancy plays instead of driving the puck into the net and going to tough areas to secure rebounds and second-chance shots. It's a malady that isn't exclusive to this year's team. Last year's Stanley Cup winner dealt with the same issue at times. In fact, every hockey team in the history of the game has fallen victim at some point.
"I think that when we put the work first and the skill second we're going to be a better team and we showed signs of that last night," Quenneville said.
Work first, skill second. That seems to be the mantra Coach Q was handing players in their meetings today and we'll see if they hold to it.
