Duncan Keith should lead Adam Boqvist as Blackhawks’ most sensible pair

The pairing of Duncan Keith and Adam Boqvist has been a staple atop the Blackhawks’ defensive intensity chart since December. Despite their radically other personalities — Keith is deadpan at his very best and prickly at his worst, whilst Boqvist radiates goofiness — and much more other ages, they’ve advanced robust chemistry off the ice, too. But up towards the deadly Oilers duo of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl — and with simplest two, possibly 3, video games left to unravel them — the Keith-Boqvist pairing is being examined greater than ever. “Experience is important, but those two guys are a big part of our team and we need to get them going,” trainer Jeremy Colliton mentioned Tuesday. “We addressed

Blackhawks rating: Hawks collapse after Duncan Keith scores

ST. LOUIS — Duncan Keith has sacrificed loads of his offensive inclinations this season for the sake of the Blackhawks’ protection. On Tuesday, Keith lastly hit the 100-career-goal milestone he’s sat on the cusp of for months, however the Hawks protection correspondingly collapsed in a 6-5 loss to the Blues. Keith’s power-play rocket previous Blues goalie Jordan Binnington within the first interval made him simply the fourth Hawks defenseman and, fittingly, 100th NHL defenseman all-time to attain 100 targets. The aim prolonged the 36-year-old blue-liner’s level streak to 4 consecutive video games — a streak that already included his 500th profession help and 600th profession level on Friday. It additionally jumpstarted the Hawks’ energy play, which

Connor Murphy settles in as Duncan Keith’s associate on

Defensemen Connor Murphy and Duncan Keith had performed only one profession sport collectively — and it was in February 2018 — earlier than coach Jeremy Colliton elevated them to the highest pairing per week in the past. Thanks to an eternity as locker-room and bench-seating companions, nevertheless, the pair has meshed seamlessly. “I like to just mess with Duncs from time to time when I can, and he’s good at getting on me for things,” Murphy stated. “When you sit next to each other, you end up talking a lot during the game about each period, and we’ll just go back and forth and small talk.” Murphy and Keith, 10 years his elder, have been first

Defenseman Duncan Keith the Blackhawks’ unlikely hero in OT

Duncan Keith turned out to be the Blackhawks’ unlikely hero Sunday in extra time. Keith carried the puck from his personal finish, beating Avalanche ahead Nathan MacKinnon within the course of, and lifted the Hawks to a 2-1 victory in opposition to Colorado on the United Center to maintain their playoff hopes alive. After falling onto his facet, the 35-year-old defenseman jumped again onto his skates and celebrated by elevating his arms above his head and screaming together with his eyes broad open. “I don’t score too many overtime goals, but MacKinnon was coming down, and I’m just trying to not get embarrassed there,” mentioned Keith, who has scored solely 17 game-winning targets in 14 seasons. “I just