The Chicago Blackhawks just cannot win whenever Arvid Soderblom starts in goal.
Although this latest 3-1 defeat to the Philadelphia Flyers was not entirely on him, oh sure, the Flyers' third goal is on Soderblom as he struggles with his rebound control. Otherwise, the young netminder was solid in goal.
Keep the pressure on. #PHIvsCHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/LgnvLk5taT
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) February 22, 2024
Philadelphia's first goal was a shot that not even Corey Crawford or Ed Belfour would have stopped. Arvid looked much better than what we have seen all season since he is statistically one of the worst goalies in the NHL.
The Hawks have not won a Soderblom start since November. A lot of that is because Arvid allows way too many goals in those defeats. He also fails to make key bailout saves to keep Chicago in games. In this instance, the Hawks lost the game not because Soderblom could not make a critical save.
They lost much like they do every night with an offense that could not muster much offense and defensemen getting beat in critical situations.
Here are three takeaways from this latest Chicago Blackhawks defeat...
Jarred Tinordi was awful.
The veteran defenseman is having a terrible season. He got beaten badly on what turned out to be the game-winning goal in the second period.
Too quicK. #PHIvsCHI | #LetsGoFlyers pic.twitter.com/ymB3p13zU9
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) February 22, 2024
Although to be fair to Tinordi, everyone on the ice got beaten by Travis Konecny as he took the puck from the defensive zone to the net for the unassisted goal.
Tinordi was a -2 and he was rated as the worst Hawks player in the game according to HockeyStatCards.
#NHL GameScore Impact Card for Chicago Blackhawks on 2024-02-21:#Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/1nDLpsoiw1
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) February 22, 2024
As you can see Isaak Phillips was bad as well. The only reason he was out there was because Louis Crevier took a puck to the mouth in practice the day before. It is not like Crevier was playing great either.
The Blackhawks desperately need Connor Murphy and Nikita Zaitsev back from injured reserve as Tinodi's awful season along with Phillips' and Crevier's young mistakes are killing the Hawks.
I never thought I would say this, but the #Blackhawks are really missing Connor Murphy and Nikita Zaitsev. Isaak Phillips, Louis Crevier, and Jarred Tinordi have not been good enough.
— Wally Mazurek (@WallMaz35) February 22, 2024
Samuel Ersson was a wall in goal.
The Flyers netminder absolutely stonewalled the Hawks. He stopped 21 of 22 shots.
The Blackhawks had about four breakaways early in the game but only came away with one goal. However, on one of those rushes, Anthony Beauvillier passed up a shot that led to Konecny taking the puck for that infamous goal.
Still, Ersson was bailing out his teammates for those early mistakes. He even made a nice save on a nifty shot attempt by Connor Bedard.
Man is Connor Bedard fun to watch. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/605X0rsf8Q
— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 22, 2024
Colin Blackwell's goal was a thing of beauty.
The one time the Blackhawks cashed in on a breakaway was an absolute gem of a goal. Joey Anderson made an outstanding pass to the charging Blackwell who made a brilliant toe-drag move to set up an opening for a shot to get into the net.
What a FILTHY toe-drag from Colin Blackwell 😳 pic.twitter.com/Ozj73FWkY8
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 22, 2024
Something that beautiful should be hung in the Chicago Art Museum.