Blackhawks fall to defending champion Hurricanes 5-2

The Chicago Blackhawks started their seven-game homestand by hosting the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday, Sept. 10.

Let's look at the Blackhawk's lineup for this contest, how the game went down and what the players and head coach Jeff Blashill had to say after the game.

Roman Kantserov - Anton Frondell - Tyler Bertuzzi

Nick Lardis - Ryan Greene - Patrick Kane

Cole Smith - Oliver Moore - Jordan Greenway

Ryan Donato - Dominic Toninato - Teuvo Teravainen

Bowen Byram - Artyom Levshunov

Alex Vlasic - Ian Cole

Wyatt Kaiser - Sam Rinzel

Spencer Knight/Arvid Soderblom

Scratches: Kevin Korchinski, Ethan Del Mastro, Andrew Mangiapane (lower body),
Frank Nazar (suspended), Connor Bedard (IR)

Teuvo Teravainen drew back into the lineup after missing the last game with an ankle injury. Frank Nazar, suspended two games for an illegal check to the head, was replaced by Ryan Greene on the top line. Oliver Moore centered the third line in Greene's stead.

The defensive pairings remained the same as previous contest, and Spencer Knight got the nod in net (Arvid Soderblom started the last game against the New York Islanders).

Power Play Units

PP1: Bertuzzi, Kane - Kantserov - Frondell, Byram

PP2: Donato, Moore - Greene - Lardis, Rinzel

Penalty Kill Contributors

Vlasic, Smith, Greene, Cole, Frondell, Teravainen, Byram, Levshunov, Greenway, Kaiser

Blackhawks Game Notes

• The game's first real action was when Wyatt Kaiser was hit with a bit of a questionable tripping call. The Blackhawk's penalty kill unit did a good job of killing it, and Alex Vlasic sprung Kaiser for a breakaway chance just as he got out of the box. Unfortunately, Canes' netminder Brandon Bussi stopped the shot.

• The Blackhawks were awarded a power play of their own when Andrei Svechnikov ran into Spencer Knight. After the top PP unit used the drop pass what seemed like 87 times, they finally got the puck into the zone. Tyler Bertuzzi had a decent shot at the net but passed it to Roman Kantserov, who missed the pass.

• Chicago seemed to be holding their own against a heavy team with a strong forecheck, but the Hurricanes are relentless. With less than a minute remaining in the first, after a great chance by Nick Lardis on a 3-on-1 mind you, Mark Jankowski got one past Knight on a breakaway. 1-0 Canes at the end of the first, with Carolina leading 16-7 in shots on goal.

• The second frame did not start out well for the Blackhawks. They received a power play, where they actually abandoned the drop pass and got some shots on goal! But it went downhill from there. Bowen Byram broke his stick on one of those said shots, leading to a shorthanded goal for Sebastian Aho. Then a little over a minute later, Jackson Blake scored to make it 3-1 for the Hurricanes.

• There was a bright spot amidst all the scoring by the Canes. Kantserov stole the puck and took it all the way in for his first NHL goal. It's safe to say he and his teammates were super happy for him to finally break through.

• But Carolina ruined all the fun when former Blackhawk Taylor Hall released a one-timer from the middle of the ice that made it past Knight. Just like that, it was 4-1 for the visiting team.

• It didn't take the Hurricanes much time to score again in the third period, this time courtesy of Jordan Martinook. By this point it seemed like the powerhouse visiting team was just toying with the Blackhawks.

• Just a everyone was dozing off and waiting for the game to end, Oliver Moore decided the Blackhawks still had some life in them. He scored a nifty goal he somehow batted out of mid-air to cut the Hurricane's lead to 5-2.

• The Blackhawks pulled their goalie with 2:29 to go in the game, but they weren't able to find the back of the net. Final score, 5-2 for the Hurricanes.

Quotable Quotes

The atmosphere was obviously rather subdued in the locker room after the game. Vlasic didn't pull any punches on how the team felt rather overwhelmed by the defending champions. "They're obviously a good team that just kind of capitalizes on our mistakes. They play a simple brand of hockey, man-on-man all over the ice."

He did admit that they could learn something from the Hurricanes. "It's good to see these teams that are having success and what it takes to win. They're all bought in to the same system. They're all bought in to getting back for each other, getting open for each other, blocking shots, taking hits to make a play...so we're gonna have to try to replicate that into our own (team)."

Romanov said it was an "amazing" feeling to score his first NHL goal, but obviously he was disappointed they didn't win. He was asked if he's seen such a tough team to play against in the KHL, to which he immediately said, "No." But he also tried to take the positive out of it. "It's great experience to play against champions. I think in the future we can play with confidence and feel more comfortable."

Patrick Kane was showing some frustration on the ice in the third period, and he put on his coaches hat after the game. "I think we put a lot of pressure on ourselves because we haven't been good with the puck. And we turn it over, and then you got to play D-zone, and then you're a little bit tired because you're back-checking, you're coming back into your end when you should be going the other way. So I think we can make it a little bit easier on ourselves. I mean, obviously we gave up a lot in the D-zone tonight, so need to get better with that. But I think it starts with being better with the puck too."

Coach Blashill wasn't too interested in discussing a loss to one of the best teams in the league when his team is down wo of it's best players in Nazar and Connor Bedard. Instead, he reiterated his belief that this team can eventually get to the same level as the Hurricanes.

"I'm going to tell you right now, like I have absolute 100% belief in this group. 100% that this group is going to win. I can't tell if we're going to start winning Tuesday, next week, or a year from now. I have no idea when it's going to be. But this group's going to win 100%. So, do we got to fight frustration? Yes. I talked about that before. Like frustration ultimately is a waste of human emotion. There's not much that comes from it, and so we're gonna have to fight that frustration. Meaning, you can get frustrated, but then we got to show up tomorrow and get better, and that's gonna be our focus."

The Blackhawks next host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday (Oct. 13) and the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday (Oct. 15). We'll see if they can fight their frustration and keep focusing on the end goal of getting better.

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