Blackhawks' disastrous third period capped off by controversial officiating

Thursday’s 3-2 loss to the Seattle Kraken was quite the roller coaster. The Chicago Blackhawks built a 2-0 lead with a pair of goals in the second period. Tyler Bertuzzi started his amazing middle frame with the opening goal, then set up Teuvo Teravainen’s power-play tally later in the frame.

Unfortunately, the Kraken took over in the third period, scoring three goals, including the game-winner on a controversial power play. This was a game the Blackhawks should have won and left with two big points. Many factors contributed to their collapse: playing shorthanded, bad officiating, and poor play. Thankfully, they are right back at it tomorrow night against the Buffalo Sabres. They won’t have long to sit and stew about tonight’s ending, just right back to business.

Let’s get to the details.

Another Key Injury

Just when you think the Blackhawks are getting back to full health, another key player goes down. Bertuzzi returned to the lineup, but the Blackhawks lost Andre Burakovsky after he was hit in the head by Ryan Lindgren.

The fact that no penalty was called was surprising, to say the least. Burakovsky was put in a vulnerable position, and Lindgren pounced on it, drilling him right in the head. What was more surprising was that Lindgren never had to answer for the hit. He was never challenged for the rest of the night. Considering how this team has stuck up for each other all season, it was disappointing not to see anyone step up.

Head coach Jeff Blashill did not have any details on Burakovsky’s condition but did rule him out for Friday night’s game. Without speculating, you hope the injury isn’t too severe, as he’s been a great fit with Connor Bedard all season.

The Turning Point

The Blackhawks have struggled in the second period a lot this season, only to rebound and play great over the final 20 minutes. They flipped the script on Thursday, playing their best second period of the season, and followed up with a disaster of a third period.

In the middle stanza, the Blackhawks were dominant at 5-on-5. They outshot Seattle 12-3, had an 11-1 advantage in scoring chances, and had four high-danger scoring chances while allowing only one. After 25 shot attempts in the second period, they had only two in the third period. They stopped skating hard and barely possessed the puck, a complete 180 from the previous 20 minutes.

Then, with just over four minutes to play, Bedard got in behind the defense and was slashed on the hand by Lindgren. He was then hit with a two-minute misconduct penalty for pleading his case with referee Justin Kea.

Jaden Schwartz scored Seattle’s third goal of the period with only two seconds left in the ensuing power play. The slash on Lindgren should have been called, and we can all read lips. It did not appear that Bedard crossed any lines with anything he said.

“When you don’t have position on a guy, you put your stick in there and you hit his glove...it’s a penalty,” Blashill said about the sequence. “Yes, he got the stick, but the first contact was on his glove. Then, I don’t know what was said, but it better have been really, really personal to be that sensitive about it. Because you’re deciding games. It better have been really, really personal if you’re not going to have enough thick skin to just keep playing through it.”

Between no call on the Burakovsky hit earlier in the game and a missed icing that led to the Kraken’s second goal, frustration boiled over.

“Obviously, in the moment, you think it’s a penalty,” Bedard said. “But I have to control my emotions in a better way. I put our team in a vulnerable spot there, so [I’ve] just got to be better.”

Two things can be true. The Blackhawks stopped doing what was so successful in the second period, and they got screwed by bad officiating. These were two of the factors that led to a blown opportunity for two points against a Western Conference opponent.

Welcome Back, Bert

Bertuzzi returned to the Blackhawks lineup after missing the last two games from getting “banged up” against the New Jersey Devils last week. The 30-year-old forward has been a key component of the team’s success to start the season. He leads the team in power-play goals and provides a spark on and off the ice.

Before the game, head coach Jeff Blashill talked about how important Bertuzzi is to his squad. He provides a presence in front of the net, which was missing on the man-advantage. But Blashill also praised him for his effort and willingness to battle, contagious qualities, especially with a young team.

“Having Tyler back is important for a lot of things,” he said. “He wins tons of puck battles, he’s a really smart player, but certainly getting to the net is an important piece of it.”

We saw the full Bertuzzi effect in the second period. He opened the scoring before the period was a minute old with his 10th goal of the season, finishing off a beautiful passing play with Teravainen and Frank Nazar.

Later in the frame, after drawing a tripping penalty on goaltender Joey Daccord, he won a race to the puck, then made a ridiculous one-handed play across the ice to Teravainen.

It’s too bad that the events of the third period overshadowed Bertuzzi’s night. He picked up right where he left off before getting hurt.

Nuggets & Tidbits

• There was a lot of criticism of Blashill’s use of seven defensemen tonight. Obviously, playing with only 10 forwards for 40 minutes is not ideal. And this isn’t the first time they’ve lost a forward when dressing only 11. It’s the risk you take, but overall, the system has been very successful when it comes to handling the young defensemen. Even with Burakovsky missing the final two periods, the ice times were not too strenuous.  Landon Slaggert is likely to draw back in tomorrow, unless Jason Dickinson is ready to return.

• The Blackhawks have scored the first goal in seven straight games, and in 15 of their 20 games. All 10 of their wins have come in games in which they scored first, tying them with the Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets for the most in the NHL.

• Tonight was Native American Heritage Night and the Blackhawks paid tribute to Fred Sasakamoose.