Sloppy Start Dooms Blackhawks in Loss to Wild

The Chicago Blackhawks organization did great with their Hockey Fights Cancer festivities. Unfortunately, all the emotion in the building didn’t transfer to the 20 guys wearing red sweaters on Sunday night. The Blackhawks played a disengaged and lifeless 40 minutes before finally showing up in the third period. Ultimately, the Minnesota Wild continued their dominance in the rivalry with a 4-2 win. They are now 15-0-1 in their last 16 games against Chicago.

The Blackhawks got off to a sloppy start with poor puck management. Less than six minutes into the game, Jared Spurgeon scored from the slot while on a 4v2 rush. It was the defenseman’s fifth goal of the season and fourth against the Blackhawks. Just over a minute later, Frederick Gaudreau doubled the lead on a flukey goal. His shot from the bottom of the right circle ticked off Ryan Donato’s stick and was flat-out missed by Petr Mrazek.

Minnesota extended their lead to 3-0 with a power-play goal midway through the second period. Near the end of a four-minute man advantage, Joel Eriksson Ek redirected a Kirill Kaprizov pass into the net.

After only five shots on goal through 40 minutes, the Blackhawks came out firing in the third period. Seth Jones struck on the power play in the opening minute of the frame by going bar down with a nasty wrist shot. Less than four minutes later, Frank Nazar scored off a rebound to bring the Blackhawks to within a goal. Ethan Del Mastro picked up his first NHL point with the primary assist. Even though he didn’t get a point on the play, Donato receives some credit for taking Zach Bogosian out of the play.

The Blackhawks pressed for the remainder of the game but could not get the equalizer. Marcus Foligno iced the game with a late empty net goal.

No Excuses for Another Slow Start

The third period against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Friday was about as lopsided as possible, with the Blackhawks getting outshot 17-1. That energy, or lack thereof, carried over into Sunday’s opening frame, as the Wild had an 11-1 shot advantage. You won’t win many hockey games getting outshot 28-2 over 40 minutes of play.

The Blackhawks have had many bad puck-management periods this season, but that first period might have been the worst of all. There was no awareness on the ice at any point during the frame. Among the most egregious turnovers were a Jason Dickinson giveaway just inside the offensive blue line and an Alex Vlasic blind backhand pass in front of his own net. The Blackhawks were officially credited with 10 giveaways, but that was some generous home cooking.

“It’s another game where we didn’t come out good enough,” Tyler Bertuzzi said. “We made a late push, but it’s hard in this league to come back from three goals. We need to up our shot volume and get more guys to the net.”

Things didn’t improve in the second period, as they only managed four shots of goal for a grand total of five through 40 minutes. A team with veteran leaders on Hockey Fights Cancer night shouldn’t have to wait until the third period to start playing.

“For whatever reason, they were on top of us, and we weren’t ready to battle through some of that,” interim head coach Anders Sorensen said. “We spent too much time in our own zone. Then, we had opportunities to shoot, and we miss the net, or it gets blocked, so it’s hard to sustain any pressure.”

Penalty Kill Lets in Another One

The last time out against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Blackhawks allowed three power-play goals. They went from the fifth-best penalty-kill in the NHL down to 11th after the performance. Sorensen quickly pointed out that it was a strange night because they had to face a 6v4 and 4v3 kill, which are different from the standard 5v4 kill. He added that the unit is at its best when their structure has been good, and they have sticks in the lanes.

They nearly killed off Nick Foligno’s double minor, but Eriksson Ek scored the eventual game-winning goal. If you watch Vlasic on this play, it’s an example of what Sorensen talked about when he said sticks being good. If Vlasic has his stick on the ice toward the slot, the pass never gets to Eriksson Ek. Instead, his stick is off the ice, not in the lane, and the puck is behind his goalie.

The Blackhawks will hit the road for the next three games, starting Tuesday night with a rematch against the Lightning.