This is not good.  But you didn't need me to tell you that(who am I kidding?  You're dumb as toast.  You couldn't put your shoes on in the morning without Hockeenight's help).  The Hawks have now lost 7 straight games, and have registered exactly 1 point on their current road trip.  Two of their top 6 defensemen are out of the lineup with injury, Patrick Sharp is playing with a broken bone in his wrist, and it's become obvious at this point that something is not right with Jonathan Toews.  

I wish I could coherently express everything I feel is wrong with this team right now, but I'm too drunk and tired to bother.  

Marcus Kruger - Kruger's been busting his ass, with little to show for it until this evening.  Kruger scored two goals by being a pain in the ass in front of the net.  It doesn't matter how big the guy in front of the net is if he's in the right position.

The Dreaded Six-Hole - Corey Crawford has apparently discovered the six-hole - a mystical spot where opposing forwards can simply score by shooting the puck through the back of the net.  At least, that's the only reason I can think of for Crawford to be following guys behind the net like that.

The Penalty Kill/Dumbass Penalties - At this point, we all realize that the penalty kill sucks, and it sucked again tonight, giving up 3 goals in 5 chances.  But the Hawks know this, and they have to stop taking such stupid penalties.  It's one thing for O'Donell and and Keith to take penalties in a scrum after Jonathan Toews is attacked, but Michael Frolik can't take 4:00 high sticking penalties and Andrew Shaw can't take any penalties if they're going to be of use to the team.

Power Play - The Hawks don't have many crushers or fighters.  The only way they're going to prevent teams from taking liberties with their best players is to score on the power play.  The problem is, the power play has been a complete clusterfuck on this road trip, and the Sharks felt like they could run Jonathan Toews with impunity as a result.

Jonathan Toews - this is not a criticism of Toews.  The Captain is clearly playing with an injury at this point - the ugly came in that the Sharks ran Toews at ever opportunity and the Blackhawks had no answer.  This is where the power play needs to be the enforcer, but the Hawks haven't been able to score a PP goal on this road trip.  The end result is that Joel Quenneville felt he had to skate Jamal Mayers on Toews line for almost half the game.  While I like Jamal, he shouldn't be playing on a line with Toews and Hossa.

The other problem is, Toews appears to be playing hurt.  He went down several times clutching his arm, and he's been losing faceoffs at an alarming rate.  There's a good chance that Toews has joined Patrick Sharp in the injured wrist club, and he's probably not going to be right for the rest of the season.  You know what?  I don't even want to talk about it anymore.

Up Next - Chicago at Phoenix tomorrow night.