Fatigued, fragile Blackhawks can't find a way to finish off the Blues

The Chicago Blackhawks had another frustrating night at the United Center, this time in a 5-3 loss to the St. Louis Blues. Having to play shorthanded didn’t help much either. Head coach Jeff Blashill only had five defensemen at his disposal and lost two forwards in the second half of the game.

The bottom line is this is a team that has hit a wall, both mentally and physically. It’s a locker room full of first-year or second-year pros who aren’t used to playing this much hockey in one season, let alone a compressed schedule like we have this year. You also have a lot of new faces, some who have never played in the NHL before, trying to get adjusted to a new team with very little practice time. Those all sound like excuses, but they are facts. That is why you are seeing disjointed, unstructured play on the ice. That is why you are seeing poor decisions

“I would say there is a fragility to our team right now, more than even fatigued,” an honest Blashill said. “Some guys are really starting to struggle a little bit. The issue with where we’re at is we don’t have enough guys to lean on to pick you up when you’re struggling. We’re grinding through it. These are hard, hard lessons. But we’ve got to go through it, and as I said to the guys after the game, we have to find a way to get our swagger back.”

When you look at the numbers, this game was pretty even. The biggest difference was that the Blues scored their best chances and had a goaltender who made more big stops when they were needed the most.

“We outchanced them 8-5,” Blashill said. “It’s funny how the score dictates our view of things. They scored, and we didn’t. And we had some pretty good chances from some pretty good players. We just didn’t score.”

Sam Lafferty, NHL Defenseman

When the Blackhawks took the ice for warmups, defenseman Ethan Del Mastro was nowhere to be seen. With only six defensemen currently on the roster, that meant Sam Lafferty would take to the blue line. To the naked eye, this would be a strange choice. However, Lafferty had played the position early in his career. Blashill used him as a blueliner at the 2022 World Championships, and he’s played a lot of defense in practice this season. He felt that Lafferty was capable of playing defense as much as any of the options for a last-minute call-up.

“Laff’s been committed to this team all year,” Blashill said. "We’re asking a lot of him, I get that, but we’d be asking a lot of anyone who comes up at this point. I thought he did a fine job. Maybe there’s one mistake there. It’s a hard thing. But other guys made mistakes, too.”

Blashill didn’t waste any time getting Lafferty on the ice, as he and Korchinski started the game with the fourth line. It wasn’t a great day for the duo, especially Korchinski. They were on the ice for the first two Blues goals. On the first, Jimmy Snuggerud got an inside position on Korchinski and scored on a deflection. They both got caught flatfooted on the offensive blueline after Lafferty turned over the puck, leading to Alexey Toropchenko’s breakaway goal. Korchinski skating backward halfway down the ice was not a great look either.

Lafferty’s overall night was terrible in his 9:33 of ice time. The Blackhawks actually had a 7-4 advantage in shot attempts with him on the ice, and led 3-2 in scoring chances. The problem was that the Blues scored on both of those scoring chances. Korchinski’s individual night was far worse, as he was on the ice for four of the five goals against.

After the game, Blashill said Del Mastro suffered a minor injury in the last game and is day-to-day. You might want to call up an actual defenseman….just in case.

A Typical Soderblom Night

Arvid Soderblom made his 24th start of the season, and 101st of his NHL career. He’s had another season where he’s had moments, but overall the numbers aren’t impressive with a .882 save percentage (SV%) and 3.74 goals-against average (GAA). With Adam Gajan now in the organization, the Blackhawks could be looking to promote Drew Commesso to the NHL next season, but Soderblom has one more year left on his contract. Blashill has thought the Swedish netminder has done well embracing the backup role.

“I look at more of a game-by-game thing,” he said. Sometimes, as a goaltender, your numbers can get crushed by a few starts. And in his case, we had a couple of really, really bad games where he was in the net. So, there is a deeper look into the numbers. Statistically speaking, you want to get the biggest sample size you can, and when you play 25 games, that’s not a big sample size. Maybe if you take out his best and worst games, what does that leave you with? I’ve liked his game. I think he’s done a good job. The job of a backup is a difficult one. You have to have a certain mental makeup for it. He’s someone that I know can thrive in that role.”

Soderblom got the start today, despite bad career numbers against the Blues. His lone win against them in six career starts came in that big 8-3 blowout back in October. While he wasn’t tested early in the game, he had to make some big saves in the first period. His first big sequence came about seven minutes into the game by stopping defenseman Tyler Tucker, then staying strong during a scramble in front of the crease.

However, the rest of the day was more of the same from Soderblom: some good, some bad. The third and fourth Blues’ goals looked like plays where a save could have been made. Sure, he was hung out to dry by the team in front of him, but come up with that extra big save. His expected goals against on the night were 3.11. So, he gave up two more goals than he should have, and the Blackhawks lost by two. He’s not the sole reason they lost, but if this team wants to play meaningful games at the end of next season, an upgrade at the backup goaltender spot should be in order.

Nuggets & Tidbits

• Frank Nazar had a rough night. The first Blues goal came shortly after he tried to skate through a defender just inside his own blue line instead of moving to one of his wingers. This turnover has been far too common on this team this season. These are the “lessons” we keep hearing about, and they must be learned if this team wants to move ahead next season. Then, late in the second period, Nazar was hit in the face with a puck again. He immediately threw down his stick and gloves in frustration and headed off the ice. Thankfully, Blashill said that he avoided the “worst-case scenario” and just needed some dental work. According to the Blackhawks’ bench boss, Nazar “will be alright.”

• Nazar wasn’t the only player to leave injured. Late in the game, Andrew Mangiapane crashed into the net feet first and needed to be helped back to the locker room. Blashill said he’ll know more tomorrow, but the veteran forward is considered day-to-day.

• Ilya Mikheyev’s two-goal night gave him new career-highs with 18 goals and 35 points. He also now has 200 career NHL points. With such a weak free agent class, this is the perfect time for a player like Mikheyev to have a career year and cash in this summer.

• Sacha Boisvert, who finally made his United Center debut tonight, picked up his first NHL assist on Mikheyev’s first goal.

• Anton Frondell recorded his first assist on home ice on the Blackhawks third goal to wrap up another impressive night. He had six shots on goal, 10 shot attempts, and two blocked shots. However, it’s the little things he does that continue to impress me the most. He should teach a course this summer to the rest of his teammates on the art of using your body to protect the puck. He is already so good at that. His hockey IQ is off the charts. In the second period, he went below the goal line to help out his defenseman. He found himself directly behind the net with two white jerseys bearing down on him. Instead of panicking and forcing the puck into a dangerous area, he calmly flipped the puck high over the net and safely out of the zone. That play doesn’t show up on a stat sheet, but it is a winning hockey play. If he already knows how to live to fight another day at 18, this kid’s future is extremely bright. He’s got elite talent to go with an elite brain.

• The most frustrating part of how this season is ending is that it is causing some fans to forget much of the good accomplished earlier in the season. There is a lot of work left to do before this team hits the next level, but there was still significant progress and positive steps taken over the course of 82 games. This is the opposite of last season, when most of the year was terrible, but it ended on a high note, making everyone feel good heading into the offseason.

• Even with the win, the Blues were officially eliminated from playoff contention with the Los Angeles Kings' win today.