Blackhawks Postgame Chatter: ‘It’s disappointing. We had some opportunities’

CHICAGO – It wasn’t as if they didn’t put the effort forward. But in what became a ho-hum game until the late stages of the third period, the Blackhawks struggled to beat Philadelphia’s smothering attack and once again, found themselves in the wrong column of standings. Chicago lost to the Flyers 3-1 Wednesday night.

Colin Blackwell, who had the Blackhawks’ lone goal, couldn’t help but wonder if things could have gone a different way.

“It’s disappointing–we had some opportunities,” Blackwell said.  “Ultimately, it came down to I think they kind of outworked us in some of the different aspects of the game. I thought it was up for grabs for a little bit. It’s been a little while now, we’ve been unable to get a couple games in a row, stringing some wins together. For me, I hope the other guys feel the same way, too, it’s frustrating. Just doing the little things being able to get the ship moving in the right direction.”

Those little things haven’t added up many times this season, another tough loss that saw Arvid Soderblom post 30 saves but have another win elude him–which now makes it just short of three months since he picked up a victory.

Head coach Luke Richardson said there really isn’t much more his netminder can do to get that win–other than the obvious: get more goals from his teammates and keep playing well between the pipes.

“I think he should just continue to keep playing the same way–I think he’s been solid,” Richardson said.  “There’s not much more he can do. He can’t score the goals to help himself. He does his job. We’ve just got to do our job a little bit better in front of him.”

Blackhawks Had Chances but They Didn’t Find the Back of the Net

Pick several points in the game where Chicago had some great chances. Tyler Johnson hits iron. Connor Bedard makes a nifty move but it’s kicked away. Blackwell’s chance at a second goal is stuffed. That desire is present but the Blackhawks are unable to find that extra gear to keep pace and take a lead.

The Flyers had a two-goal lead heading into the second, more than enough for a team that sits 12th in the league in goal against. Samuel Ersson did the rest, having a few deft saves that kept Chicago off the board as they pressured late. But that’s the point from forward Joey Anderson, who assisted on Blackwell’s goal.

The pressure was too late.

“I think so much of the game we let the other team start off dictating–we’ve gotta find a way to get four lines into it–get four lines rolling–gonna lead to more success,” Anderson said.  “Guys are going to build off that. Getting in the third period and start doing that [then], it’s too late.”

As has been the motif for most of the season.  To hell with moral victories and repeating many of the same things as they have. Putting that effort in for a full sixty minutes will transfer over–but it will require some of the talent to also fill out around Bedard and company.

Yes, the effort is there. But a team with just 15 wins in 57 games has obviously seen the same results due to many of the same issues. But chief among them is scoring multiple goals in a game.

“We created as many good chances as them, but unfortunately, they got a couple through and we couldn’t find a rebound at the end,” Richardson said.  “There were one or two that got to the net and just seemed to bounce on the other side of us. We’re back at that stage where we’re having trouble getting that second goal again.”

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