Scott Powers, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Jonathan Toews calls out Blackhawks after loss to Avalanche

CHICAGO -- Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews witnessed one team fighting for its playoff life on Friday, and it wasn’t wearing the same sweater he had on.

Toews called out the Blackhawks for their lack of effort and mental toughness as they folded in the third period Friday and lost 4-1 to the Colorado Avalanche at the United Center. The loss dropped the Blackhawks to 2-1-3 on their eight-game homestand and kept them nine points behind the Nashville Predators and five points from the St. Louis Blues in the Central Division.

“We should expect every team’s best game,” Toews said. “Not to blow any smoke in our favor, but it’s what we expect every game, especially against a division team that’s chasing a playoff spot and it’s on its last legs and has to win to survive. We’re in that position, too. We have to think much the same. I don’t know why we’re so comfortable playing a team like that tonight.”

The game quickly turned in the third period on Friday. The teams were tied 1-1 when the Blackhawks’ Patrick Sharp and Niklas Hjalmarsson were each called for interference on the same shift at 10:44, giving the Avalanche two minutes of a 5-on-3 power play. Forty-five seconds later, the Avalanche had scored two power-play goals and led 3-1.

Toews questioned his team’s fortitude during that sequence.

“It was a frustrating situation, but we got to deal with it quickly and just move on and get past the call we don’t agree with,” Toews said. “So what? It is what it is. They’re not taking a guy or two out of the box. We’re going to have to kill two minutes of 5-on-3.

“I don’t know if we were too frustrated or too ticked off at the call we didn’t focus on the job. Even giving up one goal on the 5-on-3, that’s one thing. We got to move on and get the kill 5-on-4. We weren’t even close to doing that.”

Goaltender Corey Crawford echoed that sentiment, saying the Blackhawks let the interference in question get to them.

“You got to keep playing," he said. "Obviously pretty frustrated with that call. You can’t let it affect your game, and obviously it did.”

What also frustrated the Blackhawks was how they were coming off a solid game during which they battled for more than minutes against the Detroit Red Wings, another playoff-caliber team. A game later, the Blackhawks didn’t show up with that same drive against the Avalanche, a team further down the standings.

Toews didn’t have an answer for why, but he put the onus on the entire team.

“I don’t know what the reason is,” Toews said. “There’s not really any excuse for it, if you can find one. It’s up to us to be prepared. I don’t care who it is across our lineup. Everyone needs to bring something. Not delegating, not share the responsibility, it’s up to every individual to bring a little bit more. Tonight, we didn’t have anyone give us that spark.

“I think we’ve got enough experience in this locker room to not fall into those traps. But obviously that was the case tonight. We played a great game the other night. We lost in a shootout to a good team in Detroit. It was a hard-fought game both ways. Tonight we just fell off the horse.”

The bigger picture for the Blackhawks is they are running out of time to catch up to the Predators and Blues. The Blackhawks were hopeful their eight-game homestand would allow for that, but they have picked up seven points of a possible 12 so far.

“It’s that stretch,” Toews said. “We always say after the All-Star break it gets more and more like a playoff game every day. We’re feeling it right now. We’re not answering. No more time, like you said, no more excuses.”

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