Saturday wasn’t a good night for the Blackhawks when it came to staying out of the penalty box. They finished their disastrous 7-0 loss to the Panthers with 10 penalties.
It was also unusual for the Hawks given the type of penalties they drew.
Ryan Hartman and Marcus Kruger each drew an unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty for arguing calls.
“We took two mouthing penalties or whatever you want to call it; it’s how you earn them,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “But you can’t take either one of them.”
Hartman’s was especially damaging considering it came after he received a hooking penalty, leading to a four-minute power play for the Panthers. After Kruger was whistled for interference, the Panthers had a five-on-three power play, which they converted to make the score 2-0. Then the Panthers scored just after Kruger’s penalty expired, and the rout was on.
Hartman drew two penalties in the second period for the second game in a row. He received tripping and fighting penalties Thursday against the Stars.
“Just saying something to the ref,” Hartman said of the unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty. “An extra two minutes. Bad play by me; won’t happen again.”
Quenneville sat Kruger and Hartman for an extended period after their unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties.
“We’re pretty good discipline-wise, we don’t take mental penalties,” Quenneville said. “We haven’t seen that flavor. I’m not sure we’ve taken any of those kind of penalties all year. You can’t take that kind of penalty.”
Shutout: Saturday marked the sixth time the Hawks didn’t score a goal in a game this season and their second in March after a 1-0 loss to the Ducks on March 9. By comparison, teams shut out the Hawks seven times last season and eight times two seasons ago. Their 25 shots were the least they had in a shutout this season.
“We didn’t do much to generate anything,” Quenneville said. “We didn’t have any puck possession or opportunities. It was one of those bad games.”
