Paul Bissonnette rips Blackhawks, then Lightning win 4-1

Biz didn't hold back on the TNT desk Wednesday night. Chicago had just lost 5-3 to Florida, and he went to the whiteboard and pulled the Blackhawks apart.

Barstool Sports

@barstoolsports

Biz absolutely killed the Blackhawks last night on TNT

The quote that stuck was the identity one. "I don't see a lot of identity. I see a soft team. They don't check well; they don't forecheck well. They don't really do anything well." The Athletic's Mark Lazerus kept a running list of the words the broadcast used on Chicago: pathetic, soft, brutal, Mickey Mouse, AHL-level and horrible. It's tough to hear, and Chicago went into that Florida game 4-11-1, having lost 6 of its last 7 and sitting last in the Central, so it's tough to argue with too.

Then they had to play again the very next night in Tampa, against a Lightning team that hadn't lost at home all year. Early on, it looked like at least some of the message had landed.

Chief

@BarstoolChief

The effort on the forecheck is better so far tonight

The forecheck got better. The scoreboard didn't. Chicago trailed after 1 and still came out of the period feeling like it had played a real one. That's the bar this season, and it's not a high one. Arvid Soderblom made his 4th start of the year and finished with 31 saves on 35 shots, and a couple of the goals were ones you'd want back.

The night's best moment came early in the 2nd with Chicago down 2-0. Fourth-liner Dillon Boucher dropped the gloves with Jeff Viel at center ice in the first NHL fight of his career. It was an actual heavyweight scrap. Boucher put Viel down briefly, and he also skated off with a bloody cut over his right eye. A team that just got called soft on national TV shouldn't have to answer it with a fight, but Boucher did anyway.

Chief

@BarstoolChief

This was one hell of a scrap

Neither the fight nor the better effort changed the result. Ilya Mikheyev scored twice and Tampa won 4-1, which made it 8-0 at home. Roman Kantserov got Chicago's only goal, his team-leading 8th of the year, and stretched his point streak. That's 5 straight losses, and the Blackhawks are now 4-12-1.

Chief

@BarstoolChief

When do the Blackhawks get their next win?

That's what every Hawks fan is asking right now. Biz said they have no identity, and one night of better forechecking plus a fight from a fourth-liner doesn't fix that. Jeff Blashill is getting more heat behind the bench, and Connor Bedard has already come out publicly to back his coach. The road trip ends Saturday in Carolina, which doesn't look like where a 5-game skid usually ends. If Chicago wants to prove Biz wrong, it has to start putting up wins, because winning periods and fights isn't enough.