Chicago Blackhawks: Big Names Coming Up Way Short vs Phoenix Coyotes' Depth

The stars of the Chicago Blackhawks have failed to take center stage through four games of playoff hockey. Time is quickly running out for some big names to make a difference in the form of goals.

A quick look at the box score of Game 4's overtime loss to Phoenix tells a familiar tale in this series. Chicago's goals were scored by Brendan Morrison and Michael Frolik, two players who have been squirreled away in the team box most of the spring.

The checking line was the most consistent and potent offensive threat, as it has been for most of this Western Conference quarterfinal. The only two Blackhawks with multiple goals have been on either side of Dave Bolland the last two games.

Checking the stat sheet for this series is revealing. The 'Hawks have scored 10 goals so far in the four games.

Four of those goals are from Frolik and Bryan Bickell, who have two apiece.

One of those goals is from Morrison, who replaced Jamal Mayers in the lineup and had not played in almost two weeks.

Another is from Brandon Bollig, who averages about four or five minutes a night.

Chicago's top four regular season scorers, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp, have combined for two goals. Gazing to the Coyotes side of the ledger, the picture becomes still harder to look at.

Antoine Vermette, he of 11 regular season goals, is suddenly the most prolific scorer on the ice. His three goals tops all skaters in the series. Mikkel Boedker (11 regular season goals) had both game-winners at the United Center this week. Taylor Pyatt (nine regular season goals) also has two key tallies.

Boedker's goal Thursday night came after Chicago's big guns pounded away at Mike Smith, only to be turned away. The big names on the power play came up with a doughnut hole in six attempts in the two games in Chicago.

At the onset of the series, I wrote that I believed that the Blackhawks superior talent at the top of the lineup would eventually dictate the outcome. That has not come to fruition. Phoenix has prevented that from happening behind Mike Smith's patrolling of the net and a team effort that blocks shots.

Regardless how you explain the lack of scoring at the top for Chicago, it adds up to an early exit for the second year in a row. Any hopes of a rally sit squarely on the highest-profile players.