Blackhawks top line left on an island in loss to Blue Jackets

The Chicago Blackhawks wanted to have a big response after being embarrassed by the Pittsburgh Penguins last night. Was it a better effort? Sure, but that was a very low bar to cross. Was it a good effort? Not particularly. The Columbus Blue Jackets controlled the play for the first half of the game and held on for a 4-2 victory. They are now 7-1-0 under new head coach Rick Bowness and have won six straight against the Blackhawks.

For the second straight game, the Blackhawks went into the first intermission tied 1-1. Instead of scoring first, Connor Bedard tied the game with less than three seconds left in the opening frame.

The Blackhawks were flat in the second period again and turned this around after Blashill challenged the Blue Jackets’ third goal for goaltender interference and lost. The team played much better after killing off the penalty and cut the deficit to a goal before the second frame ended. However, they could not draw even in the third period, as Charlie Coyle iced the game with his third goal and fourth point of the night. His empty-netter gave him his second career hat trick and the 31st in January, adding to the all-time NHL record for the most hat tricks in a single month.

“All we look at is what we did well and what we didn’t do well, and how we can grow and get better," head coach Jeff Blashill said. "When I look at tonight’s game, if we do more of what we did in the second half, that’s when we’re a successful team,”

Levshunov’s Reset Leads to Rinzel's Recall

Defenseman Artyom Levshunov had the worst game of his young career on Thursday night. He and his defensive partner, Wyatt Kaiser, were on the ice for five of the six Pittsburgh Penguins goals. While Levshunov has done more positive than negative throughout the course of the season, his level of play has fallen off over the past few games and hit rock bottom in the Steel City.

This afternoon, the Blackhawks recalled Sam Rinzel from the American Hockey League. Blashill confirmed that he would draw in against the Blue Jackets while Levshunov sits for a “reset.”

“We’re going to focus on some specific things in his game, rather than send him down to just play more games,” he said. “I don’t think that’s what he really needs. It’s a chance to reset some foundational things. This is a really hard league. He’s going to be a really good player, and he’s done lots of good stuff for us.”

Blashill would not confirm how long Levshunov will be out of the lineup or if he’ll play in one of the final two games before the Olympic break. He also didn’t rule out going back to the seven-defensemen, 11-forward lineup either. He mentioned that they focused on Levshunov being more aggressive offensively, and that he became too aggressive. They want to reel him in a bit and help him find a good balance between his offensive and defensive play.

Rinzel started the season in the NHL and scored a goal and eight points in 28 games before being reassigned to the Rockford IceHogs. He, much like Levshunov, had games where he looked outstanding and others where he looked in over his head. The trials and tribulations of a young blueliner.

“For Sam, it’s learning certain defensive fundamentals and getting better at those things. I think he’s getting better at those things. It’s also managing the puck and managing the game – knowing when to take chances, he’s an offensive guy, and when to limit them.

Rinzel took Levshunov’s spot on the second pairing with Kaiser and had a solid game. He looked confident with the puck and his skating, while making some nice defensive plays. He led all Blackhawks defensemen with 22:18 of ice time, but nearly three minutes of that was on the power play. He had three shots on goal, four shot attempts, a takeaway, and four blocked shots. The Blue Jackets had 10 scoring chances with Rinzel and Kaiser on the ice, but only three were considered high-danger.

“Part of it is realizing that 90% of the game is just 50/50 shifts, and it’s just about winning those 50/50 shifts,” Rinzel said. “Nothing has to be flashy or crazy. It’s just learning to play with my brain and use my brain to beat guys.”

New Lines Don’t Generate Much

The combination of Nick Foligno’s absence due to an undisclosed injury and the poor performance in Pittsburgh led Blashill to shuffle up his lines. The moves included putting Tyler Bertuzzi on the top line, Teuvo Teravainen with Ryan Greene and Andre Burakovsky, and Oliver Moore down to the fourth line.

None of the four lines really stood out through the first 30 minutes of the game. But in the second half of the middle frame, Bedard and his line took over. They became dangerous every time they hopped over the boards and cut the Columbus lead to 3-2 with this great play.

The Bedard line scored both goals and had 17 shot attempts. The other three lines combined for 20 shot attempts. The four forward lines created 11 scoring chances, with six of them coming from the top line. The Blackhawks were a one-line team tonight, and that was a big reason why they lost.

Nuggets & Tidbits

• The power play went 0-for-2 and is now 0-for-26 over the last nine games. After not producing a single shot attempt on their first opportunity, their chance late in the third period was excellent. They had seven shot attempts and four high-danger scoring chances, including Bedard just missing a wide-open cage. The problem was they didn’t get set up in the zone until the power play was already half over. Blashill hinted in his postgame press conference that they will look into changing the way they break out, so the dreaded “slingshot” strategy might be getting tossed aside.

• Burakovsky was back on the top six and instead of taking advantage of the opportunity, he became a liability. His turnover that led directly to Coyle’s second goal of the game was inexcusable. I’m not sure why he is getting top-six minutes, while Moore centers the fourth line with Landon Slaggert and Sam Lafferty. Those two should have swapped lines the second this play was made.

• Congrats to the players hitting milestones tonight. Connor Murphy and Teravainen both played in their 800th career games, while Ilya Mikheyev played in his 400th NHL game.

• Back to Bedard, Bowness had some high praise for the young Blackhawks star after the game.

• After tonight's loss, the Blackhawks are 2-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs, 1-5-2 on Fridays, and 1-3-1 in the black jerseys.