Three Takeaways from the Blackhawks’ Ugly 7-4 Loss to Blue Jackets
Blackhawks’ Goaltending was an Issue
I’m sure a lot of you knew this would come first.
Arvid Soderblom was given the nod due to Marc-Andre Fleury earning the night off to rest for the Dallas Stars. Kevin Lankinen has been on IR with a hand injury for the last month so far right as he started to find his game, forcing Soderblom into the crease. It was obvious that Soderblom was not ready tonight to start the game, but he slowly got back into his groove. That’s all nice and dandy, but when you just placed your team in a 2-0 and a 4-2 hole in the NHL, that doesn’t cut it.
With Fleury, the ‘Hawks are certain that he can steal them a win, or at the very least keep them in the game. The same can be said of Lankinen before he injured his hand. The ‘Hawks still have two dependable goaltenders, but Soderblom will need more time in the AHL before he can hit the ice for the big club again.
The issues with Soderblom was that his positioning and fundamentals were completely off for the first and second period. For example, on the Patrik Laine goal, Soderblom was horrible positioned to the shot, and he allowed open space in his pads while in the butterfly position. The puck had no reason to make it past the goaltender, much less past the goal line where Laine shot the puck from.
Soderblom needs to make adjustments to his game and spend more time in the minors. His fundamentals and positioning still need work and he looked to jittery in the crease. Though he did play alright later in the game, his flubs lost the game for his team.
The Blackhawks Firepower Showed Up, but it Wasn’t Enough
The Blackhawks still scored 4 goals, which is amazing for a team that focused on “grinding wins” over winning with skill. Alex Debrincat scored on a follow-up play from a rebound, and Ryan Carpenter managed to score a goal on a partial breakaway. They have a great first powerplay unit, which does the most work (as they should) on the man advantage, but it was the second powerplay unit who got the job done last night.
The line of Brett Connolly, Ryan Carpenter, and Philip Kurashev was the best for the Blackhawks last night, which is weird to say and write. The line combined for 5 points and either an equal or positive plus-minus rating. The stars didn’t have a great game with a minus 3 rating for Brandon Hagel and Alex Debrincat and a minus 1 for Patrick Kane. Overall, this game would have been winnable IF the goaltending was solid starting the game.
Another point is that the Blackhawks’ defensemen rarely blocked shots. In this game, the leader in blocked shots was Caleb Jones with 4, while Seth Jones had 2, Connor Murphy had 1, and Jake McCabe had ZERO. If the Blackhawks want to win, especially with a struggling goaltender, they have to do more to defend their net rather than trust that the goalie will make a save. Marc Crawford has to realize this and emphasize on making life miserable for the guy screening the goaltender and get in the way of as many pucks as you can. It hurts obviously, but you need it to win, and the Blackhawks showed that tonight.
And now, the last takeaway.
The Blackhawks Still Didn’t Quit
Despite falling to the Blue Jackets, the Blackhawks didn’t show any quit in their game. They fought back to tie the score and were one goal away from tying the game… if Soderblom didn’t lose track of the puck and the ‘Hawks cleared the crease as they need to on a scramble. Other than that, the Blackhawks still looked to put on as much of a show as they could for the fans who toughed out a snow storm to make it to the United Center.
This is the important takeaway as the Blackhawks didn’t turtle after giving up the lead twice, but rather fought back to tie the game on one occasion. The guys still played with speed and resilience, but it wasn’t enough to cover the mistakes on the defensive side of the ice. I’m sure that they will cover this in practice at some point and that Soderblom will get more tips and mentorship from Jimmy Waite and Marc-Andre Fleury.
To Conclude…
The Chicago Blackhawks lost the game due to defensive mistakes and a goaltender who was not ready to play in the NHL. While they did manage to tie the game, their mistakes again put them two goals behind every time they got within one or tied. This has more to do with the fundamentals and positioning of the entire team rather than just the goaltender. Everyone on the Blackhawks should be willing to block shots and the defense willing to inflict pain on their guy as they clear the crease. The Blackhawks have a lot of work to do in the defensive zone, but their offensive play looks pretty good, minus the puck luck.
Next Game: vs Dallas, Friday @7:30 pm