5 Positives From the Blackhawks’ 7-3 Loss to the Penguins

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The Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, Dec. 28, and it was one of the strangest games I’ve ever attended. To start with, it was warm and rainy when I entered the United Center, and then cold and windy when I left. Just like the fickle weather, the Blackhawks flashed moments of growth and improvement while still managing to lose the game 7-3. Without Connor Bedard and Frank Nazar, this is a team that’s having trouble finding their offense. They’ve lost seven of their last eight games. Yet somehow, there’s still a sense of hope in the room.

Related – Penguins Season-High 7 Goals Sinks Blackhawks in 7-3 Win

I know, I know. You’re all just thinking I’m some crazy lady spinning tales of positivity. But even with a loss, a trouncing actually, there are still things to feel good about with this team. Please allow me to explain.

Rough Night for Goaltending

Bear with me here, because this doesn’t exactly come across as a positive for this game. But it was a bit of a story for the night, and one of the things that added to the strangeness. The Penguins were coming off their holiday break, so they were fresh. Whereas the Blackhawks traveled to Dallas the night before and played a long and hard game against a very good opponent, coming out on top in the shootout, 4-3.

No excuses, but that probably took a lot out of the team. They fought their uphill battle on Friday night (Dec. 27), with Arvid Soderblom in net. Spencer Knight started in this contest, but he just plain and simple had a bad start. The Penguins got all the bounces and capitalized on all their chances. Before you knew it, the Blackhawks were down 4-0. After allowing four goals on seven shots, Knight was pulled and Soderblom replaced him.

Spencer Knight Chicago Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks’ goaltender Spencer Knight had a bad start to the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 28. (Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images)

Soderblom didn’t fare much better. He allowed three goals, albeit on 15 shots and with one of them being a power play goal. Which is why it seemed strange when Knight took the net for the third period. Head coach Jeff Blashill explained it like this,

I took him out (Knight) because I didn’t think he quite had it. And so it’s just one of those nights where, let’s get Sodey (Soderblom) in there. At that point we called a time out. You’re kind of exhausting your opportunities to change the momentum of the game.

Putting him back in was, we had the Christmas break, and I wanted to just get him more game time there getting ready for the next one.

Knight only had to stop two shots in the third after the game was already out of hand. But it still gave him the game reps and a chance to redeem himself a little bit.

Now both goaltenders can put this one behind them as they move forward with one more game in December and a busy schedule of 16 games in January. Onward.

Captain Foligno Returns

After missing 19 games with a hand injury, Blackhawks’ captain Nick Foligno was activated from injured reserve and returned for this contest. He was deployed on the fourth line with Colton Dach and Sam Lafferty, and he actually logged the second lowest ice time on the team (13:02 minutes).

But the veteran made the most of his ice time, registering the first goal of the game (and his first of the season) along with three shots on goal and two hits.

It was even a nifty between the legs goal to add to the drama! But seriously folks, not only did the Blackhawks miss Foligno’s presence on the ice, but he is a man of many words that have been missed for over a month! He put the Blackhawks’ woes in good perspective.

This is an encouraging group. As weird as that is to say, it is. It’s a team that you get down on because, you see when it’s there and what it can be, and then you have these moments where it, not frustrates you, but it just disappoints you a little bit. But that’s where we’re at right now, right? We’re learning how to win, and now we’re finally a team that’s kind of past the trying to figure out who we are, and now we’re trying to learn how to win with what we have. And this is the unfortunate part sometimes, where you just hit a little hiccups along the way, and we have to be better.

Ah, growing pains. But Foligno is right. This team has an identity now. They’re a young team with a lot of speed that wants to be hard to play against. One step forward, two steps back. But if you look at the big picture, they really do seem to be moving forward.

The “Kid Line” Gets Some Run

Speaking of which, the kids are the future! Bedard and Nazar are on the sidelines right now. But there is this “kid line” of Oliver Moore, Ryan Greene and Nick Lardis that has been trying to show their potential, as well as earn more minutes and a bigger role in the lineup.

Nick Lardis Chicago Blackhawks
Nick Lardis of the Chicago Blackhawks. (Jamie Sabau-USA TODAY Sports)

22-year-old Greene has been with the team since the beginning of the season, and he almost scored on this night but the puck hit the post instead. He’s basically already proven he’s a strong two-way forward that can win faceoffs and hold his own within the top-six forward group.

But Moore and Lardis are a little bit newer to the team, and are trying to prove their way. Before this game, both players were averaging right around 12 minutes of ice time per night. But in this contest, Lardis logged 16:03 minutes and Moore registered 15:05 minutes.

Sure, the contest was out of hand. So why not give the kids some run to see what they’ve got?! According to Natural Stat Trick, this line of Moore-Greene-Lardis generated six shots for to five against, and 15 scoring chances for to eight against in 10:51 minutes of ice time versus the Penguins. Said Blashill, “I thought that’s probably the best overall game that’s line’s played.” Oh, and this goal by defenseman Wyatt Kaiser happened when they were on the ice.

All three of these young players have a strong future ahead of them, and seeing them getting valuable minutes and opportunities is something we should be excited about.

Good Underlying Analytics for the Blackhawks

We already touched on the “Kid Line’s” analytics. But despite a 7-3 loss, this entire Blackhawks’ team is doing a lot of good things. Shots on goal in this game were tied, 24-24. But the Hawks led in shot attempts by a whopping 64-37. Scoring chances were 37-18 for Chicago and they led 15-10 in high-danger chances.

Since we’re getting to the end of this article, it seems like the perfect time to highlight the Blackhawks’ third goal of the game, scored in the last second.

Bertuzzi gave his all in this game, registering two shots on goal, three shot attempts, one hit and one blocked shot in 20:03 minutes of ice time. The younger players are finding their way, but the veterans are also contributing.

If the Blackhawks keep playing this way, they’re going to start winning more games. Especially when Bedard and Nazar come back. All this adversity is only going to make them stronger in the long run.

Blashill’s Encouraged

Coach Blashill doesn’t give excuses for the Blackhawks’ losses. But he’s also realistic about the process, the current injuries and the relative inexperience of this young team. He’s said this before, but he reiterated it again on this night about how to work through this tough stretch.

I just told them, listen, for sure it’s hard. Is it hard? 100% we’re going through a little hard stretch right now. But I actually really like this group, and I like who they are as people. I like who they are as competitors. I like who they are as hockey players and I like the potential in the group. Even for the rest of this season. We got to grind through this. Yes, is this what any of us want to go through? No, but that’s, I was gonna say, that’s F-in life. But that’s life, man. You know, you gotta grind, and it’s not doesn’t always go the way you want. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We got to continue to work together. But I am pumped to go work with this group tomorrow and try to get better for the next game.

The Blackhawks are going through adversity right now, with Bedard and Nazar out and the team doing more losing than winning. But are they on the cusp of something better? Or will they continue to lose?

Related – 4 Blackhawks Who Could Gain From Elevated Roles With Bedard & Nazar Out

The Blackhawks will host the New York Islanders on Dec. 30 and the Dallas Stars on Jan. 1 before another set of back-to-back contests next weekend. It seems like the progress is there, but it hasn’t shown in the way of wins yet. Can they find a way to win some more games? We’ll find out soon enough.

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