Blackhawks Postgame Musings: Blown call overshadows another positive outing

The Chicago Blackhawks left the United Center with a sour taste in their mouths after a 3-2 shootout loss to the Vancouver Canucks. The frustrating night started with a Ryan Donato power-play goal and Tyler Bertuzzi banging home a rebound to build a 2-0 lead. However, the Canucks battled back for two goals in the middle frame to draw even.

Bertuzzi appeared to have scored his second goal of the night with about five minutes left in regulation. The goal was waived off for goaltender interference. The call was upheld after a lengthy review despite no interference occurring.

After the game, Bertuzzi did not want to comment on the play because he didn’t want to pay the fine.

Head coach Jeff Blashill didn’t want to focus on the blown call. He zoomed out to the big picture with his postgame summation.

"They're on the back half of a back-to-back,” he said. “When we go up 2-0, that’s when you just can’t give them life. I thought we got passive in the second period. Way too passive as the period went on. We gave them life when we didn’t need to."

Far Less Frustration for Connor Bedard

The last time Bedard played his hometown Canucks, it was the lowest point of his season and young career. He was a minus-2, had multiple turnovers, and his night ended early with a game misconduct late in the third period. This was the second straight game in which he received a misconduct, leading to the national narratives that he’s frustrated in Chicago.

What a difference a few months make, as Bedard entered tonight’s game on a high note. After Wednesday night’s 8-3 blowout of the St. Louis Blues, the story surrounding the Blackhawks and their young star is the exact opposite of what it was back in March.

Bedard had an active night with four shots on goal on seven shot attempts. He led all Blackhawks with 25:01 of ice time and was a plus-1. He did have four penalty minutes, even though the second penalty was ticky-tack, at best. He failed to score on his shootout attempt, and those are the plays he needs to convert on if he truly wants to hit superstardom in the NHL.

No Bell to Answer for Jason Dickinson

Speaking of the last time these two teams met, Dickinson drilled Canucks forward Filip Chytil into the boards from behind. Chytil, who had a history of concussions, missed the rest of the season after this play.

The incident occurred late in the third period, so Dickinson was kept off the ice for the rest of the game, despite not getting a penalty. That didn’t sit well with the Canucks, especially with forward Kiefer Sherwood, who made these comments after the game:

“He is going to have to answer the bell. That was a dirty hit. He doesn’t have the, whatever, to step on the ice afterwards. We’ll get him next year.”

Dickinson’s line started that game, but no bell was rung on the opening shift. Sherwood did mix it with Tyler Bertuzzi midway through the opening period. Dickinson was the target of a questionable hit from Conor Garland in the second period. He went to the locker room after the hit, but shortly returned to action.

Dickinson and his line with Donato and Mikheyev were fantastic again. At 5-on-5, they held big advantages in shot attempts (15-4), shots on goal (10-1), scoring chances (4-1), and high-danger scoring chances (3-0). Whenever Blashill needed to settle things down and get the ice tilted back in his favor, that line hopped over the boards.

Nuggets & Tidbits

• Midway through the game, Bertuzzi was promoted to the top with Bedard and Andre Burakovsky. Colton Dach started the game on the top line but ended with the least amount of ice time on the team. He did make the most of his time, with four shots on goal and three hits in his 8:41.

• Lukas Reichel’s stat line is not great. Just two shot attempts, and he was in the penalty box for an irresponsible high-sticking penalty when the Canucks scored their first goal. But Blashill used him a lot on 4-on-4 to try to take advantage of his speed. He got to play with some talented forwards, such as Bertuzzi, Bedard, Nazar, and Teravainen, all of whom took shifts with him and Ryan Greene. You want to see more than two shot attempts after the big game he had in St. Louis. Unfortunately, this is typical.

• Sometimes I feel that we are overly critical of Artyom Levshunov, which is fair considering the high expectations the organization has for him. However, we need to remember he’s a 19-year-old defenseman with 15 games of NHL experience. I do want to give him credit for two nice plays. First, during a 4-on-4 sequence, he battled with Evander Kane in front of the net and tied up his stick perfectly to break up a scoring chance. Then, later in the first period, Donato’s power-play goal never happens without his keep at the blue line.

• The bogus goaltender interference call overshadowed a lot of positives. The Blackhawks won the 5-on-5 battle. They outshot the Canucks 26-15 at 5-on-5, and finished the night with 33 shots total. They scored a power-play goal for the fourth straight game. And, for the second straight game, they won the faceoff battle, winning 58% tonight. It’s a frustrating loss. However, it stings more because the start to the season has raised the fanbase’s expectations, and that’s a good thing.