Spencer Knight came in hot to the Chicago Blackhawks after being acquired and looked like the franchise goalie the team needed. After winning his first two starts with his new team, the 23-year-old has now lost seven of eight games.
This isn't just on Knight, but he has struggled. The Blackhawks are not a good team this season and it is impacting nearly everybody on the roster. Knight is just one of the latest.
Since Knight's first two wins with the Blackhawks where he posted a .976 SV% and a .923 SV%, it has been a much different stretch since. He is 1-6-1 with 27 goals against and a .869 SV%. He has had as many games with a SV% of .810 or below as he has had .900 or better over the last eight games.
I still believe that Knight is the answer in net and in Florida we've seen what he can do with a capable team in front of him. The Blackhawks are very young, especially the defense with additions like Artyom Levshunov and Sam Rinzel recently joining the team. Not only will all of the talented young players get better, Knight has lots of runway to improve as well. He isn't even in his prime yet.
Blackhawks Blow Multi-Goal Lead, Lose To Avalanche In Shootout The Chicago Blackhawks came into Wednesday's game against the Colorado Avalanche 1-9-0 in their last 10 games. Since the trade deadline, they have been much more worried about developing young players than winning hockey games.
This also isn't just a Knight problem in net. Arvid Soderblom, who was very impressive in earning his spot on the team with a strong start to the season, is 0-3-2 with 22 goals against and a .841 SV% since Knight joined the team.
The hope is that the Blackhawks show some encouraging things before the end of the season as they aren't going to really change in the standings. There will be another top pick added to the group and the expectation is that the team at least improves for next season.
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