Here are four takeaways from the Blackhawks' 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Friday:
1. Lightning pick up where they left off
The Blackhawks haven't been doing themselves any favors in the opening minutes on this road trip. After allowing a goal 54 seconds into the game against Washington on Wednesday, the Lightning one upped that by scoring in the first 29 seconds. And they didn't stop there.
Tyler Johnson scored a second one, Brayden Point and Ryan Callahan each found the back of the net for the Lighting while Artem Anisimov scored the lone goal for the Blackhawks, who have been outscored 6-1 in the first period in their past two games.
The Blackhawks gave up 19 scoring chances (10 high danger) at 5-on-5 in the first period, according to naturalstattrick.com, and all four goals came from the slot. All high-quality that came from defensive zone breakdowns.
2. A better second period
Remember what happened in the second period the last time the Blackhawks and Lightning squared off? It was on Oct. 21 when Tampa Bay set a modern NHL record by registering 33 shots on goal, a period that was deemed "embarrassing" by players.
The Blackhawks recorded only seven shots on goal in the second period in this matchup, but didn't give up nearly as much as they did last time, limiting the Lightning to only six shots on goal.
Jonathan Toews scored a rebound goal, after winning a draw, with 1:11 left in regulation to trim the Blackhawks' deficit to 4-2 and extended his point streak to six games, which ties a season-long when he had 10 points (five goals, five assists) in the first six contests of the season. He has seven points (three goals, four assists) on this current stretch.
3. Special teams makes progress
Going into this matchup, the Lightning had been 8-for-17 on the power play over their last four games. That's a 47.1 percent conversion rate. For reference, the Blackhawks have nine power play goals this season ... total.
But the Blackhawks penalty kill held down the fort, killing off all three penalties the Lightning had and gave up just three shots on goal over those six minutes.
The Blackhawks power play showed signs of progression as well. While they didn't score on their only two opportunities, they generated multiple scoring chances and had sustained offensive zone time throughout the four minutes, with 10 seconds of 5-on-3 time, in the third period. It was the best they had looked in a while.
The Blackhawks outshot the Lightning 14-4 in the final frame, but Louis Domingue came up big and finished with 30 saves on 32 shots (.938 save percentage). Crawford stopped 25 of 29 shots (.862 save percentage).
4. Lineup changes
The Blackhawks made three lineup changes for this game, with Luke Johnson and Chris Kunitz re-entering for John Hayden and Andreas Martinsen up front. But the most notable was Henri Jokiharju, who was a healthy scratch for the first time in his NHL career, for Brandon Manning on the back end.
There's no doubt Jokiharju has been one of the team's best defensemen this season. He ranked second on the Blackhawks in even strength ice time (trailing only Erik Gustafsson) going into Friday's game and had recorded at least 19 minutes of ice time in 17 of his first 19 contests.
But his ice time hasn't reached 19 minutes in his past three games and is showing signs of some growing pains under a new coach. It's debatable whether it was the right decision or not to take him out of the lineup, but the more important thing to monitor is how he responds to it.
https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/blackhawks/four-takeaways-blackhawks-end-road-losing-streak-dramatic-comeback-fashion
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