Desperate times call for nuclear measures.
The Chicago Blackhawks will have a bit of a new look to their lineup with their season on the line in Game 5 against the St. Louis Blues Thursday night. Head coach Joel Quenneville is going with the so-called “Nuclear Option” of putting Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane on the same line.
The team’s top two players have played together plenty of times in the past, but spent much of this season apart. A lot of that had to do with how well Kane played alongside Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov en route to winning the league’s scoring title.
However, after the first four games of the series, neither Toews nor Kane has scored a goal. Kane has four assists and Toews has two as Chicago trails in the series, 3-1. The duo is expected to have Richard Panik on their line as well. Here is what the forward lineup looked like in the morning skate via Eric Lear of the Blackhawks TV:
#Blackhawks lines: Panik-Toews-Kane, Panarin-Anisimov-Teravainen, Ladd-Kruger-Hossa, Mashinter-Desjardins-Weise.
— Eric Lear (@BHTVeric) April 21, 2016
According to stats.hockeyanalysis.com, Kane and Toews played only 158 minutes of even-strength time together this season. Kane had seven of his 106 points over that span, while Toews had six points. Unsurprisingly, the duo saw an uptick in puck possession numbers when together as opposed to with their regular lines.
The Blackhawks had to do something because the Blues have been shutting them down offensively.
A lot of Chicago’s problems remain on defense, however. There’s no question their forward lineup isn’t as deep this year as it has been in year’s past, but they’re really struggling on the back end. Michal Rozsival is being replaced in the lineup with David Rundblad, who spent a portion of this season playing in Switzerland.
Forward depth will be taking a hit in Game 5 as well, however. Andrew Shaw was suspended for his use of a homophobic slur in Game 5. He is tied with Kane and Duncan Keith for the team lead with four points so far in the series including a pair of goals.
Chicago tends to keep Kane and Toews apart for offensive balance, but they don't have that luxury now. They need goals because unless Corey Crawford stands on his head, they're going to concede a few with how well the Blues have managed to play over the last two games in particular.
We’ll have to see how long Quenneville keeps Toews and Kane together as he is prone to throwing the lines in the blender more often than your average coach it seems. If the nuclear option doesn’t work, it could spell the end of Chicago’s title defense as they continue searching for answers to generate enough offensively to stave off elimination.
