Patrick Sharp is well known for his hot streaks, highlighted by big goals in big situations. But in these Stanley Cup Playoffs, Hawks fans are left wondering: where is Patrick Sharp?
The answer is “nowhere”. Even when he is on the ice, he does not look like his normal self. Constant turning over of the puck over, errant passes, and missing wide open shots have become all to common this May, and he is almost out of time to fix it. Chicago is waiting for him to show up, especially going into game six down three games to two in the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Kings.
Thus far, he has tallied just 7 points in 17 games–far under expectations. Considering the damage he handed many opponents during the regular season, the 7 points is certainly disappointing. Not only led the team in shots on goal (313 shots on goal) through the regular season, but goals as well (34 goals). While plus-minus is hardly a perfect measure of one’s success, he was able to maintain a plus +13 rating. In these playoffs however, he is -1.
It took until the clinching game against St. Louis, game six, for him to tally his first point of the playoffs this year, a goal. He then started off the next series against Minnesota with two assists in a game in which the Blackhawks dominated. It looked like he may have finally found himself again, but those three points remain almost half of his point total through 17 games. In the second game of the Minnesota series, he didn’t even register a shot on goal and had two very clean breakaways in the series against the Wild that were stonewalled by Ilya Bryzgalov.
Sharp registered another goal in game four, and the two assists in game five of the Minnesota series, which had many thinking he found his groove. But since game five of that series, he has produced only one goal, which came in game three of the Blackhawks current series with the Kings. The goal was too little, too late as the Hawks were down 4-2 when he got the redirect with only 4.2 seconds left on the clock in the 3rd period. It was a goal with no impact.
As mentioned, his puckhandling has been quite erratic as well, turning it over far too much and making terrible passes into the skates of the opposing defensemen. His shots are off; they miss the net or else look as though he isn’t getting much power behind them as he was able to muster in the regular season.
If the Blackhawks want a legitimate chance at coming back from being down three games to one against the Kings as they did last year against Detroit, Patrick Sharp needs to step it up and find his game again. The Blackhawks are in Los Angeles for game six where they are currently down three games to two. As you know, it is another must win game for the Hawks if they are to repeat.
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