Chicago Blackhawks
Blackhawks Flat Against Columbus 5-2; Suffer Sixth Straight Loss
CHICAGO – Just when the Blackhawks thought it couldn’t get worse, it did. Hosting the lowly Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday night, Chicago looked listless in a 5-2 loss at the United Center.
It’s the Blackhawks’ sixth straight loss. Philipp Kurashev and Ryan Donato had the goals for Chicago.
It wasn’t that they lost–it’s how they looked throughout the game. Seth Jones had a brutal stretch on the Blackhawks power play. The team started leaving the ice with three seconds left in the first and nearly saw Columbus get a chance off–while on the power play.
Arvid Soderblom gave up a couple soft goals, and surrendered a goal on Columbus’ first shot of the game.
All of this without their rookie phenom Adam Fantilli. This is the part of the rebuild where it hits critical level–a team just buried in by losing and now beginning to go through the motions.
This one, though, is worse because of who they played. The Avalanche could be understood, a Stanley Cup contender. But Columbus–who is hoping for lottery luck to draft Macklin Celebrini, too? It’s a tough one to stomach.
This one should really gnaw at them, especially since it was a winnable game against a beatable team.
Now they head to the road for a pair of games with hopefully better results than the last six.
Blackhawks Powered by New Look Bedard Line in Loss
Donato and Kurashev scored the goals, and also had an assist on the respective’s tally. But the hard driving to the net and continued push paced a Blackhawks team that looked absolutely listless and disengaged at times. The combination is likely worth another look for a team that is desperate for goal scoring and has been outscored 10-2 in its last two games.
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