Playing on back-to-back nights is routine in the NHL and something the Blackhawks are usually quite good at. Inconvenient things, like weather, sometimes get in the way – like they last weekend.

Back-to-back games are a part of life in the NHL. Usually two games over the course of two days are something players take in stride, but the circumstances surrounding last Friday and Saturday's games were certainly outside the norm for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Their schedule called for a Friday night home game followed by a road game Saturday night in Nashville, but Mother Nature stepped in and created a surprise third opponent for the Blackhawks on their busy weekend.

A mid-January snowstorm dropped between five and nine inches of snow in Chicago Friday. The heavy snowfall made travel around the Windy City quite difficult, and the Blackhawks had to push back the start of their game against the Panthers by 30 minutes, after Florida had a hard time making the short bus trip from their hotel to the United Center.

After defeating the Panthers 3-1, the Blackhawks set out for the airport not long after the 10:28 (CT) conclusion of the game. Once their charter flight to Nashville left the ground in Chicago, all appeared to be well as they set out for the approximately one-hour long flight.

Weather-related difficulties followed them south to Music City though, as unseasonably warm temperatures in Tennessee contributed to a series of strong thunderstorms in the area just as the Blackhawks were set to land. Their plane circled for approximately an hour waiting for the opportunity to land. At one point there was even talk of diverting the flight to Louisville, Kentucky, but the rough weather cleared and the team landed in Nashville at 2:30 a.m. and arrived at their hotel close to 3:00.

In Saturday night's game against the Predators, Chicago got off to an understandably slow start, mustering just two shots on goal in the first period. They picked it up in the second and third, but still lost 5-2.

To their credit, the team did not use their travel weariness as an excuse for their performance in the game.

"That shouldn't be an excuse at all," said Marian Hossa, who had both of Chicago's goals. "They had more shots than us, and we have to learn from this one and get back in a couple of days."

Entering that game, the Blackhawks were 7-2-1 in the second game of back-to-backs this season. Since Joel Quenneville took over as coach in Chicago, the Blackhawks are an impressive 42-12-8 in the second half of back-to-back games.

"In back-to-back settings, we have been pretty good as a group," Quenneville said following the Nashville game.

Chicago's 17 sets of back-to-back games this season are tied with St. Louis for the most in the Western Conference. The Blackhawks and the Blues trail only Buffalo, which leads the NHL with 21 back-to-backs this season.

Notes

Chicago C Dave Bolland scored his 15^th goal of the season in Tuesday night's 3-1 loss to Nashville. He is just four goals shy of his career high of 19. Bolland won 17 of 20 faceoffs in Tuesday's game, including nine of 10 in the offensive zone. ... In a season filled with mostly bad news, the return of Columbus C R.J. Umberger to the Blue Jackets' lineup Monday night was definitely positive news. He had missed five games after absorbing a hit to the head from Anaheim's J.F. Jacques on Jan. 8. When Columbus placed Umberger on injured reserve, they listed his status as "week-to-week," so the quick return was faster than many had anticipated. ... With Monday's 3-1 win over St. Louis, the Red Wings extended their franchise-best home winning streak to 17 games. Their last loss at Joe Louis Arena came Nov. 3 the hands of the Calgary Flames. ... After defeating Chicago 3-1 Tuesday night, the Nashville Predators improved their record within the Central Division to 11-2-2. After sitting fourth in the Central for a majority of the season, the victory advanced the Predators ahead of the Blackhawks into third in the division heading into the All-Star break. ... St. Louis G  Jaroslav Halak is 11-1-3 in his last 15 starts and has set a new personal best with seven consecutive victories. Three of those wins were shutouts, including a 3-0 blanking in Montreal.

Photos by Getty Images

Set as favorite

Bookmark

Email this

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/hide comments

Write comment

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment