Weekend Hawks: Looking at the lack of 5v5 offense

The Chicago Blackhawks resumed the regular season last Thursday with a 4-2 loss against the Nashville Predators. They followed that up with a 3-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. On Sunday afternoon, they finally got a win—a 4-0 shutout over the Utah Mammoth. And there's a common theme across all three games: lack of offense.

Yes, the win over Utah is a positive mark for the Hawks, who had struggled on the backend of back-to-backs earlier in the season. Yes, it was mostly depth scoring that carried Chicago to the four-goal victory. But let's earmark this game and circle back in a moment.

Connor Bedard willed Chicago's offense in their first two games back. And I expected more from the Hawks against the Predators. You could argue that the Hawks were getting back into the swing of playing a game after three weeks of no hockey, but that's a weak excuse... isn't it? Rested and facing an aging team that's teetering on a wild-card spot should have made this much more competitive than it was. The Hawks finished that one with a 43.94 percent shot attempt share and a 37.01 percent expected goals share at 5v5. Sticking to 5v5, Bedard had four shot attempts and four shots on goal. The player who's supposed to be second in production after Bedard (Frank Nazar) had one shot attempt and one shot on goal.

The Avalanche are a much better team than Nashville. So I wouldn't have been surprised to see a total brain bash. The Hawks finished this one with a 35.71 percent shot attempt share and a 40.49 percent expected goals share at 5v5. Bedard had four shot attempts and one shot on goal. Nazar had just the one shot attempt.

Sunday's game against Utah saw their 5v5 production from the fourth line with a goal from Nick Foligno and Landon Slaggert. Teuvo Teravainen scored a goal on the power play and the penalty kill. At 5v5, Bedard had four shot attempts and three shots on goal (as did linemate Ryan Greene). Nazar had one shot attempt. The Blackhawks as a whole finished with a 45.12 percent shot attempt share and a 40.19 expected goals share at 5v5.

Bedard cannot be the only one not scoring. And it greatly concerns me that with the injury in the rear-view mirror, Frank Nazar's production is garbage. It's not like Nazar is shooting at everything that moves and is having bad luck—with three shot attempts and one shot on goal in his last three games, Nazar isn't shooting, period.

Scoring depth doesn't end at Nazar's production. So I'm not saying that if Nazar starts creating goals, the Blackhawks offense will be fixed (although it'll help). Scoring from the bottom-six and the veterans (like on Sunday) are a big factor. But right now, for offense, the Blackhawks don't really have two lines that punch. It's literally just Bedard.

I know, I know. I'm being Mister Negativity following two Bedard goals and a four-goal victory. But the questions being asked of Nazar are worth asking, because with every game that passes and he doesn't prove to be the player Kyle Davidson signed him to an extension for... well, more questions need to be asked. Questions pointed at Davidson.