It’s hard to imagine that it would take one-third of the season for the Chicago Blackhawks to win two games in a row, but low-and-behold, the Blackhawks finally did it, beating the Anaheim Ducks 1-0 on Dec. 7, then defeating their divisional rival, the St. Louis Blues, on Dec. 9 by a score of 3-1.
Even with their 4-2 loss against the Washington Capitals on Dec. 10, the last string of games has been a massive confidence boost for a Blackhawks squad with a 9-17-1 record, last in the Western Conference’s Central Division and tied for last in the entire conference with the San Jose Sharks.
Let’s take a look at some of the things that’s helped the Blackhawks get on track, and what to keep an eye on as we get closer to the end of the 2023 calendar.
Petr Mrazek Looks Like a No. 1 Goalie
Let’s get this out of the way: Petr Mrazek isn’t a No. 1 goalie. At least, not much of one. But in his two starts against the Ducks and Blues, Mrazek has looked every bit of a Veznia Trophy-caliber goaltender, sample size be damned.
Mrazek was able to help a Chicago team that could only score one goal — on the power play — against the Ducks, stopping all 37 shots he faced and recording his first shutout of the season. In comparison, his Ducks counterpart, Lukas Dostal, only faced 25 shots.
Two days later, head coach Luke Richardson went to Mrazek for a second consecutive start, this time against the Blues. The 31-year-old netminder had plenty of goal support, with forward Anthony Beauvillier scoring his first goal as a Blackhawk just five minutes into the game (more on him later), then five minutes later, defenseman Alex Vlasic getting his first goal of the season to make it 2-0.
That would be all the offense Mrazek needed, stopping 38 of 39 shots on their way to a 3-1 win over the Blues. As mentioned earlier, this would mark the first moment of the season where the team won two straight games.
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What do the Blackhawks do now? No one’s expecting this team to make any sort of playoff run in the latter half of the 2023-24 campaign, but it would sure be nice to have consistency in goal. Mrazek has a 7-8-0 record in 14 starts and 16 appearances, with a .912 save percentage (SV%): should Richardson stick with the hot hand?
The Blackhawks should also consider that as teams start to get more desperate for goaltending, someone like Mrazek, with an expiring contract and veteran experience, could be very valuable. It’s up to general manager Kyle Davidson to determine whether teams will overpay now, or if the best value will be closer to the trade deadline.
Should Anthony Beauvillier Stay on First Line?
As mentioned earlier, the recently acquired Beauvillier scored his first with the Blackhawks on a goal that was originally awarded to defenseman Nikita Zaitsev.
Regardless of who scored, the Blackhawks’ coaching staff may have finally found someone to keep on a line with 2023 No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard and Philipp Kurashev. Acquired because of a desperate need for wingers after Taylor Hall had season-ending surgery, Andreas Athanasiou was placed on injury reserve (IR) and Corey Perry’s contract was terminated, the 26-year-old Beauvillier has gone from the Vancouver Canucks’ fourth line to the Blackhawks’ first.
Beauvillier, who’s on his third team in less than one calendar year, settled in nicely, creating opportunities with Bedard in his first game with the club against the Winnipeg Jets on Dec. 2, adding a jolt of energy to a Blackhawks’ lineup in desperate need of scoring beyond Bedard.
His sneaky speed has helped draw a few penalties in his five games with the team, and there’s value in having someone in a rebuilding lineup who has over 500 career NHL games played.
“In Vancouver, they just loaded up — they have a lot of players, and ice time wasn’t there for him. Some of their big players are really doing well early in the season, so there was really no power-play time for him there.”
Luke Richardson on Anthony Beauvillier, via Brian Sandalow of the Chicago Sun-Times
But in their 4-2 loss to the Capitals, the Beauvillier-Bedard-Kurashev line struggled to generate opportunities. In fact, the one instance where Bedard and Kurashev were able to generate offense was when fourth-liner MacKenzie Entwistle was last to change; before he got off the ice, Entwistle helped cycle the puck in the Capitals’ end, where Bedard fed Seth Jones, who found Kurashev’s stick in front of the net, opening the scoring.
With one point in five games with his new team, Beauvillier needs to find ways to create production if he wants to stay on the first line. Lukas Reichel, who was a healthy scratch for the Blackhawks’ 4-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 3, has been on the team’s fourth line for the past week. If Beauvillier isn’t able to generate any scoring with Bedard and Kurashev, Richardson may have no choice but to put the 21-year-old Reichel back on the top line.
Blackhawks’ West Coast Road Trip
Do two games constitute a road trip? I guess it depends on how many days you spend sleeping in hotels. Either way, the Blackhawks will have two games outside their Central Standard Timezone when they fly to Alberta to face the Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 12, then follow it up two days later to face the NHL’s newest franchise, the Seattle Kraken.
Speaking of Seattle, has anyone seen the Frasier reboot? If so, let me know in the comments below if it’s worth starting. I loved the original show, but am afraid the newer version won’t be funny. Alright, back to hockey…
The Blackhawks spent all of last week in Chicago, with their last four games being played in the United Center. Going 2-1-1 in that span and collecting five out of a possible eight points, there’s a case to be made that it was the team’s best four-game span of the 2023-24 regular season.
Related: Blackhawks Bytes: Vlasic, Foligno, Beauvillier, Reichel & More
No, that’s not saying much, but in a situation like the Blackhawks find themselves in, you try to find your moments. And with all the distractions and injuries the team has had in the last few weeks, it doesn’t hurt to get out of the house, even when you have to play the best player in the world.
The Blackhawks will get the Jekyll and Hyde treatment this week, facing an Oilers team that’s won seven straight games and surging in the standings, followed by a Kraken lineup that’s lost eight straight and look nothing like the pesky squad that made it to the second round of the post-season last spring.
Coming off this moderately successful homestand, the Blackhawks hope to come out with at least a point or two, or dare I say three or four. They’ve gotten a taste of what it’s like to have some success, but they’re tied for last in the entire league with the Sharks (as of Dec. 11) with 19 points.
The bottom of the barrel. I don’t know how the players take their coffee, but everyone knows the cream always rises to the top. It’s up to the team to rise with the cream.
