Blackhawks vs. Hurricanes Breakdown: Film & Zone Entry Tracking

The Chicago Blackhawks are now 1-5-0 through their first six games. I decided to track zone entries for the Hawks in their 5-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina was the best possession team last season, and so far, they're in second in the league with a 60.71 percent Corsi. I knew their forecheck and strong defensive play was going to make it difficult for Chicago, who've struggled with breakouts and generating meaningful offense. This proved to be true.

All stats are from NaturalStatTrick.com and are at 5-on-5, unless otherwise annotated. Zone entries are all hand tracked and the method is still being refined.

The Hawks continue to have a hard time in their end with breakouts. One might be quick to forgive Chicago against a forechecking menace like Carolina, but the clip below shows that a lot of their mistakes are self-imposed.

At 0:02, Artyom Levshunov (CHI 55) makes a poor pass to Ryan Greene (CHI 20), who's the outlet option on the breakout. CAR 48 pressures Levshunov, and the puck is rimmed behind the net for Bowen Byram (CHI 24) to lead the breakout. Byram loses the puck, which is swiped to Carolina's point. Following a Carolina shot on goal, Chicago continues to struggle along the boards, and Byram makes another errant pass to the opposition.

A smart first pass from Levshunov would have prevented this long shift in the defensive zone.

But Chicago struggled in the neutral zone, too. I counted 10 failed offensive zone entries, down from their 17 against the Islanders. But that's because failed zone entries are tracked only if the player crosses the blue line. The Hurricanes killed the Blackhawks before they could even enter the offensive zone.

In the clip above, Wyatt Kaiser (CHI 44) attempts to chip the puck up towards Dominic Toninato (CHI 25). The Hurricanes' defense is there at the blueline to keep the puck in the neutral zone. Kaiser battles for the puck with support from Teuvo Teravainen (CHI 86), but Chicago loses the board battle, and Carolina takes advantage to score, 3-0.

Chicago had 40 successful entries (down from 57 against New York). Of those 40, only 18 were carries, a slight increase in terms of percentage from their last game: 45 percent of their entries against Carolina were carries, compared to 39 percent against New York. Chicago's high danger chances also increased from nine to 12, despite Carolina's tough blue line.

But still, only 45 percent of their entries being carries isn't optimal. The best scoring chances in the NHL are generated when the puck is carried into the offensive zone with possession.

The Blackhawks also utilized the flip-pass in hopes of generating offensive zone entries. Below is a clip of Alex Vlasic (CHI 72) executing the flip pass. Offensive zone time follows, but there aren't any meaningful chances generated.

Vlasic is hoping to get Roman Kantserov (CHI 80) on a breakaway, but that never really materializes. Once in the zone, Chicago cycles the puck down low and then moves the puck around the perimeter rather than taking the puck inside the slot, where real chances are generated. The Blackhawks' 42.43 percent expected goals share isn't their worst mark, but it's not ideal either. Below is a flip pass that led to Carolina possession.

It's not that the flip pass is a poor tactic; the Hurricanes were masters of the flip pass last season. It's just that when the Blackhawks executed it, the flip pass didn't generate the offense they hoped to get.

So far this season, the breakout continues to hinder this team. A struggle that has carried over from the previous season. Another trend that was evident last season (espiecially towards the end) is their inability to create chances from the slot.

We'll close with a clip that shows what right looks like (mostly).

Byram passes wide to Nick Lardis (CHI 76) for a controlled offensive zone entry. Byram skates towards the cornor, which spreads Carolina's man-on-man defense. Lardis passes to Byram, who works the puck up high to Vlasic at the point (0:05). A Vlasic point shot rebounds and creates an opportunity for Roman Kantserov.

Is it sexy? No. But the point is that a controlled carry led to an opportunity from a dangerous part of the ice. The Hawks didn't dump the puck in and they didn't pass the puck around the perimeter waiting for perfect seams. And there's sitll a lot to clean up.