Entering Monday night’s game, Lukas Reichel had gone nine games without a point. In fact, he had just one goal to show for his previous 13 games — since he had two points at the Flyers on Nov. 23. That game in Philly snapped a seven-game pointless skid for Reichel, who had shown a lot of promise since he was slotted as the Blackhawks’ fourth line center between Pat Maroon and Craig Smith. Reichel snapped his pointless skid with an assist on Jason Dickinson‘s goal inside the final minute of the Blackhawks’ 4-3 loss in Minnesota.
Chicago goal!Scored by Jason Dickinson with 00:33 remaining in the 3rd period.Assisted by Lukas Reichel and Taylor Hall.Minnesota: 4Chicago: 3#CHIvsMIN #mnwild #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/JDzD7anZpE
So what to do? There’s no question Reichel’s speed game plays in the NHL. And he’s seen more time on penalty killing duty under interim head coach Anders Sorensen. But the Blackhawks are still desperately trying to figure out how to consistently unlock his offensive capabilities. Ben Pope wrote about it being time to give him a bump up the lineup. And I can see his speed playing well on the wing with Frank Nazar on the second line.
Here’s the problem: we’re right back in the situation where Reichel fans are pointing out his fantastic ability while failing to recognize the box scores. Reichel has six shots on goal in 12 games in the month of December — and has been credited with zero shots on net in 8 of the 12 contests. Heck, it’s been two weeks (six games) since Reichel was credited with a shot on net. At some point he needs to start popping again so the coaches can justify a conversation about moving him up.
Lukas Reichel will be on the Blackhawks' fourth line again tonight.But he never made sense there long-term, and now that his success there has faded, it's about time to give him a bigger opportunity.New column: t.co/f1r7Ig4dVW
— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) December 23, 2024 During the first intermission last night, Maroon said he is bringing Reichel with him to St. Louis to spend Christmas with his family. The Big Rig is a legit class dude. On the opposite end of the spectrum last night was Frank Nazar, who really stood out after a few so-so games. He had four primary scoring chances, led the team in shot attempts, 1.2 expected Goals For and a team-high 75.35 expected Goals For percentage. After the game, Nazar said he wasn’t happy with his performance in Calgary and wanted to be better. Last night we saw the Nazar who can impact a game in all three zones. He was dangerous — and responsible.#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Chicago Blackhawks on 2024-12-23 #Blackhawks[image or embed]
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards.com) December 23, 2024 at 9:34 PM Taylor Hall had a second consecutive two-assist game last night. He now has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in 12 games in December. What’s more, he’s been credited with 20 shots on goal this month and has as many multi-point games as he does games without a credited shot on net (three). Hall wasn’t credited with a shot in Calgary but had two helpers. He’s elevated his game since the coaching change and the combination of Hall and Ryan Donato has certainly helped Nazar. I mentioned Blackhawks prospect Roman Kantserov in my bullets yesterday. He’s been good this season in the KHL. I probably could have waited with my praise until after he scored twice in his game yesterday, including this OT GWG.Roman Kantserov's 2nd of the night is… OT-winner! pic.twitter.com/lOIO7ClWDG
— KHL (@khl_eng) December 23, 2024 The Devils dumped on the Rangers yesterday and then their social media team got out their blowtorch. I’m all in for a little smack on social.Safe travels across the Hudson. pic.twitter.com/0zgZbQ47E1
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) December 23, 2024There won’t be any bullets tomorrow, so Merry Christmas, Blackhawks fans!
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