Blackhawks shake off slow start to earn another point against Wild

For the third time this season, the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild finished regulation tied 3-3. And for the third time this season, the Wild earned a 4-3 victory, this time taking advantage of Tyler Bertuzzi, Ryan Greene, and Artyom Levshunov getting stuck on the ice for 2:36 to score the game-winning goal.

Tonight’s game started like Saturday’s loss, with a lousy first period. The Wild dominated the opening 20 minutes, outshooting the Blackhawks 16-7, while holding a 19-5 advantage in scoring chances, and 13-1 in high-danger chances. The Blackhawks responded with two solid periods to end the game, limiting the Wild to only 10 scoring chances over the final 40 minutes.

“Once we got going, we were real good,” head coach Jeff Blashill said. “We just have to find a way to try to get that stretched out more to 60 minutes. The lows can’t be as low as [they were] in the first.”

Artyom Levshunov Embraces Bigger Role

We are only about six weeks removed from Levshunov getting a “reset” from Blashill. He sat out the last three games before the Olympic break. Instead of going on a vacation during the downtime like many of his teammates, the young defender went to Florida to work on his game. While some fans wondered why he wasn’t going to the AHL, this plan has undoubtedly worked.

Levshunov has looked more confident in the defensive zone and has ramped up his physicality. His ice time has gone up, and he’s even been trusted with more time on the league’s top penalty kill unit. Tonight, he found himself on the top pairing with Alex Vlasic. Blashill said the move was a reward after playing what he called his best game of the season against the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday.

The rookie blueliner made three solid defensive plays in the first period. He forced Kirill Kaprizov wide and around the net to prevent a shot, used his long reach to separate Matt Boldy from the puck, and swiped the puck out of the crease, saving a goal on the penalty kill.

“He still has to do a better job at times with the puck, but overall, I thought lots of good stuff,” Blashill said. “He’s making progress in things like deception with the puck and things like that. He defended hard, he was out there a lot of times against Kaprizov, Boldy, and that crew, and I thought he defended really hard and did a good job with it.”

Blashill said that when you can combine great defense with physicality and add some offense, you have a special player. Levshunov gave us all of that tonight. In a career-high 26:29 of ice time, he an assist, two shots on goal, nine shot attempts, and a hit.

Penalty Kill Fails Tough Test

The Blackhawks entered tonight’s game with the NHL’s best penalty kill at 84.9%. They were looking to rebound after giving up two power-play goals to the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday, the league’s fourth-best power play. It was the first time they had allowed more than one power-play goal in a game since Dec. 7 against the Anaheim Ducks.

The PK unit didn’t exactly get a reprieve tonight as the Wild boasts the NHL’s fifth-ranked power play, at 24. 8%. Since Jan. 20, Kirill Kaprizov has led the league with seven power-play goals. Adding Quinn Hughes made a huge difference, as his 4:25 of power-play ice time is second among all NHL players this season.

The best way to slow down a dynamic power play is not to take penalties. The Blackhawks did a good job of that by taking only one minor penalty. However, they allowed the third goal of the opening period with just 11 seconds left on the kill. The Wild swarmed the Blackhawks late in the power play with four shots on goal, three high-danger scoring chances, and eventually the goal. With three goals allowed in the last two games, the Pittsburgh Penguins now have the top penalty kill in the league.

Nuggets & Tidbits

• Matt Grzelcyk was a healthy scratch after playing in all 66 games this season. I was a little surprised Blashill didn’t go with seven defensemen tonight as a way to get Bedard more shifts away from Hughes and Brock Faber. While he did give Bedard a few extra shifts on the fourth line, not as many as he would have if only 11 forwards had dressed.

• Speaking of Bedard, with his two assists, he now has a six-game point streak against the Wild with two goals and eight points. He had four shots on goal, eight shot attempts, and won 10 of his 19 faceoffs. The game-tying goal with 1:40 left in regulation was a thing of beauty. The play started with a grand pass by Levshunov, then an impressive speed burst by Frank Nazar before finishing off the play.

• Louis Crevier had a goal and an assist for his fourth multi-point game of the season. His goal registered at 102.54 miles per hour, the hardest shot for a goal this season in the NHL.

• One of Blashill’s biggest talking points this season has been his young team learning how to close out games. The Blackhawks have swept the Utah Mammoth, taken five out of six points from the Dallas Stars, and have gone to overtime in all three games against the Wild. Winning the season finale in Minnesota on Thursday would be a huge confidence boost for this team.

• During the first television timeout, the Blackhawks paid tribute to Nick Foligno in his first game back at the United Center. The Chicago fans gave him a nice ovation, which he graciously acknowledged from the ice.