Blackhawks Lose to Devils, But Big Story is Behind the Bench

The Chicago Blackhawks didn’t lose 5-3 to the New Jersey Devils Wednesday night because of a lack of effort or energy. They lost because they couldn’t close the talent gap between the two teams. Every mistake seemed to cost the Blackhawks, while they failed to capitalize on the few breaks that went their way. In other words, a fairly typical game for the 2024-25 season.

In a dismal stretch of hockey, the Blackhawks sandwiched a penalty between two New Jersey goals in just 27 seconds. Nathan Bastian was left alone in front of the net and tapped the first Devils’ goal home. Dawson Mercer quickly doubled their lead on the power play by driving the net, where Timo Meier slipped the puck under Spencer Knight. The Blackhawks’ play in front of the crease on both goals was atrocious.

Two minutes later, Tyler Bertuzzi drew an interference penalty on Simon Nemec and then got the Blackhawks on the scoreboard seconds later. Artyom Levshunov made the play by diving to keep the puck in the zone, then Ryan Donato found Bertuzzi in his patented spot at the side of the net.

The Blackhawks got another power play early in the second period, but things did not go as well this time around. Ondrej Palat used Pat Maroon as a screen to give the Devils a 3-1 lead with a shorthanded tally.

Ilya Mikheyev responded quickly, scoring off a nice centering pass from Teuvo Teravainen. Donato thought he tied the game on the next shift, but it was determined that his stick was above the crossbar when he deflected the puck. A few minutes later, Mercer scored a goal while on a controversial power play.

The Blackhawks got to within a goal with just under three minutes to play. With Knight on the bench for the extra attacker, Frank Nazar swiped home a rebound to get some life back into the building. Unfortunately, that was as close as they got. Stefan Noesen iced the game with an empty-net goal in the final seconds.

No Pulse Behind the Bench

The game’s turning point came midway through the second period, with not even a whimper from the Blackhawks’ bench. Connor Bedard got tangled up with Nemec and received some shots while holding onto the defenseman’s stick. Landon Slaggert intervened to stick up for Bedard and was given a roughing penalty, the only minor dished during the entire sequence.

The Devils scored the eventual game-winning goal on the ensuing power play. So, in just a matter of minutes, the Blackhawks went from thinking the game was tied to down two goals. My issue isn’t that Nemec didn’t receive a penalty. The problem is that not a word came from the coaching staff about it. I watched the bench from across the way while all this was going on, and there was never a motion to request an explanation from an official, nor was there any protest. This is unacceptable.

Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times asked interim head coach Anders Sorensen after the game about why he wasn’t more vocal.

“I just don’t know what to gain out of it,” he replied. “They’ve made their call; they’re probably not going to change it. You can try to talk to them in TV timeouts to get an explanation that way instead. Coming across yelling is probably not going to help the situation, right? Try to build a relationship and talk to them — I think that will go a longer way down the road.”

Nobody wants you to scream to get a call changed. But it would be nice to see you fight for your team. There have been multiple instances where the Blackhawks received unfavorable calls from the officials, and the coaching staff did not attempt to influence the next call in their favor. We’ve seen mysterious game misconducts on Bedard, an obvious slash on a Donato breakaway that wasn’t called, and Alec Martinez getting injured on a hit from behind with no reaction from Sorensen or his staff.

I’m not saying Sorensen needs to be John Tortorella or Don Cherry. That’s not who he is. However, if you expect your players to fight for one another, you must fight for them. This is why general manager Kyle Davidson must get the coaching hire right this summer. This team needs a head coach with a proven track record of success who garners instant respect from both players and officials. Not another first-time coach who has to spend valuable time trying to earn that respect.