Great start erased in Blackhawks shootout loss to Wild

If I had told you last week that the Chicago Blackhawks would get four points out of their four-game stretch against the Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers, and Minnesota Wild, you probably would been satisfied with that. Even though that’s exactly what the Blackhawks did, losing in a shootout to the Wild after building a 3-0 leaves a really bad taste in your mouth.

The worst part about this loss was that this was the best game the Blackhawks played during this four-game stretch. They looked like the team that went 5-1-1 after the holiday break, playing fast, simple hockey. They used clean breakouts and a relentless forecheck to dominate the opening frame and build a 2-0 lead. Teuvo Teravainen and Ryan Donato scored in the first period before Ilya Mikheyev made it 3-3-0 early in the second period.

To his credit, Jasper Wallstedt rebounded nicely after giving up that rather weak goal to Mikheyev. He locked it down and let his team chip away, eventually forcing overtime. He was fantastic during the final 1:56 of extra time with his team down a man.

"When you take the emotion out of it — which is, obviously, we're frustrated — the chances were 23-14, us,” head coach Jeff Blashill said. “You're going to win that game 98% of the time. We just didn't win it tonight. I thought that's the best we've played in a while, to be honest."

New Top Line Shines in Debut

The new first line of Frank Nazar, Connor Bedard, and Teravainen wasted no time making an impact on the game. They scored the game’s opening goal on their first shift of the night. The key to the play was Louis Crevier getting the puck at the blue line and quickly firing it towards the net. That led to the chaotic scramble in the crease and Teravainen’s 10th goal of the season just 1:19 into the game.

The trio combined for seven of the Blackhawks’ 14 shots on goal in the first period. They were dangerous all night long. Midway through the second period, Nazar set up Bedard, who snuck the puck under Wallstedt’s pad, but it somehow stayed out of the net. That would have made it a 4-0 game, instead Yakov Trenin got the Wild on the scoreboard and made it 3-1 just over three minutes later. Who knows what happens if that puck makes it through his legs?

Early in the third period, Bedard chipped the puck ahead to Nazar, but Wallstedt was there to make another big stop.

The line was great at 5-on-5, holding a 16-6 shot attempt advantage in 11:46 of ice time. They outshot the Wild 11-3, led 9-3 in scoring chances, and 6-1 in high-danger scoring chances. Bedard has his most dangerous night since returning from injury. He had a game-high eight shots on goal on 11 shot attempts. However, not getting a shot off in the shootout was not a good look. A bad ending to an otherwise good night.

Power Play Lets Down Again

The Blackhawks have now gone eight straight games without a power-play goal, going 0-for-22 during this stretch. Getting five power plays against the third-least penalized team in the league was quite the accomplishment, but not scoring on any of those opportunities ultimately cost them two points.

Blashill changed up the units with Teravainen back in the lineup. Oliver Moore joined him on the top unit, while Bedard moved to the left side of the ice. During their four regulation power plays, they produced 12 shot attempts, six shots on goal, and four high-danger chances. In an interesting move, Blashill swapped out Artyom Levshunov with Matt Grezelyck on the top unit during their late third-period power play.

"I thought it was better,” Blashill said. “We've walked away from other days where I just didn't feel it was dangerous at all, and I thought we had a good number of chances."

The Blackhawks got a 4-on-3 power play for the final 1:56 of overtime. Blashill went with four forwards and no defensemen, and they kept the puck in the offensive zone for most of the time. They produced five shots on goal, on eight shot attempts, with six scoring chances. Both Bedard and Nazar had prime chances to end the game, but could not bury it.

"But when you have a 4-on-3 in overtime, a full two minutes, you've got to find a way to score,” Blashill said. “Those are differences in winning and losing games."

Oliver Moore Comes Home

Moore had more than just his mom with him tonight, with this being his first regular-season game in his home state. The rookie forward said he was going to have over 50 people in the stands, including family, friends, and former teammates. That large group got to see Moore move back to the middle of the ice, where he’s had his most success this season.

“That’s where I’ve been the most comfortable,” he said. "When I’ve been at center I’ve been at my best this season. That’s where I can help the team to win the most, right now.”

Moore’s line with Andre Burkovsky and Ryan Greene was even at 5-on-5, with eight shot attempts taken and eight shot attempts allowed. They had a 4-3 advantage in scoring chances, and 2-1 in high-danger scoring chances, but they were outscored 1-0. Moore finished with three shots on goal and went 4-for-8 at the faceoff dot.

Nuggets & Tidbits

• The Wild extended their point streak against the Blackhawks to 18 games, going 17-0-1 since Feb. 3, 2020. The Blackhawks have not beaten Minnesota in regulation since Dec. 15, 2019, behind a Patrick Kane hat trick and 23 saves by Robin Lehner.

• While the power play has struggled, the penalty kill remains atop the NHL. They kill off the Wild’s lone power play at a critical time of the game. Grzelcyk was called for a rather weak tripping penalty less than 90 seconds after the Wild cut the Blackhawks’ lead to 3-2. They allowed only two shot attempts and one scoring chance in the two minutes.

• It was good to see Donato get a goal tonight. We’ve talked a lot about his offensive struggles this season, so it had to feel good to snap his 11-game goal drought. This was a great fourth-line goal, as Brock Faber folded under the pressure of the forecheck, and Donato wasted no time getting off a shot.

The Foligno brothers, Nick and Marcus, are doing the Foligno Face-Off all season long to raise funds for breast cancer in memory of their mother, Janis. Before the game, Marcus snuck into the Blackhawks’ locker room to let his older brother know he was there.

• The Foligno family wasn’t done there. A group of the team’s moms read the starting lineup in the Blackhawks locker room before the game. Then Nick and Marcus’ aunt Paula got the boys all fired up. And it worked! They probably should have had her back in the room between the second and third period.