Blackhawks suffer blowout 9-2 loss to Hurricanes and something has to give

All it took was a 1:34 minutes.

It took 1:34 for Seth Jarvis of the Carolina Hurricanes to make it 1-0.

The Chicago Blackhawks never recovered after that.

Going into the game, the big change in the lineup was putting Oliver Moore, Frank Nazar, and Anton Frondell on the second line in an effort to try to get a "spark," per head coach Jeff Blashill.

The team wasn't able to find a spark all night. They left the first period already down 4-0.

With that, the game was pretty much over.

Old habits haunted the Blackhawks

When the Blackhawks lost 4-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Nov. 5, Cole Smith talked about the team giving up late goals in crucial times of a period.

It happened again with the late-period goals against Carolina. They gave up the fourth goal with 33 seconds left in the period. Alexander Nikishin made it 7-0 with two minutes remaining in the second period. Andrei Svechnikov made it 9-2 with 13 seconds left in the game. Granted, when a game hits seven goals, it's out of reach. But the sentiment still stands that late goals in a period hurt.

It certainly made the end result uglier with nine goals against.

Goaltender Spencer Knight got pulled after the Hurricanes' sixth goal, and Arvid Söderblom came in the second period. Usually, goaltender changes can bring a different pace to a game going awry, but the Blackhawks just couldn't find that extra gear. It felt like Carolina scored on almost every odd-man rush they got. They didn't give themselves or their goalies a chance.

The only positives in that game were that Roman Kantserov extended his point streak to eight games, and captain Connor Bedard had two points. The Blackhawks took one penalty, but their penalty kill was at least able to stop the Hurricanes from adding yet another goal at that moment.

But it's hard to focus on any sliver of a positive when the result was a 9-2 loss.

What will come of this low point?

Overall, that game was the lowest point of the season for the Blackhawks. It was frustrating and hard to comprehend. It felt like the game couldn't get worse... and then it did.

I don't know what's next for the Blackhawks, but this can't stay like this. Their losing streak has now hit six games, and their record is 4-13-1. It's hard not to assume the players are feeling the weight of the losses.

Their next game is at home on Nov. 12 against the Buffalo Sabres, and something needs to give. This can't keep snowballing further.

According to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, the players had a players-only meeting after the game, and he shared, "Wyatt Kaiser said guys were “getting the frustration out, speaking their mind and trying to get to the reality of it: This is the spot we’re in. How do we get better? How do we get out of it?”

They say things sometimes get worse before they get better. These next four days until their next game will be big for them to make the adjustments they need to help them get out of this.

But the sting of this loss will linger in those four days, no doubt.

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