Soderblom, Blackhawks find a way to earn a point against Lightning

For the second straight night, the Chicago Blackhawks were outplayed by a superior team and found a way to get the game past regulation. Unfortunately, they dropped tonight’s game 2-1 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a shootout. While you can’t be happy about getting dominated at 5-on-5, finding a way to get a point against one of the elite teams in the league is a huge positive for this growing team.

The Lightning extended their point streak to 15 games by holding a 72-40 shot attempt advantage. The Blackhawks had only six shots on goal through the first two periods. They played better in the third period and were mere inches away from winning the game in overtime before losing in a five-round shootout. Getting three points on back-to-back nights from the two Eastern Conference division leaders is quite the learning experience for a young squad still learning how to play consistent winning hockey.

“I think it says a lot about us when we’re playing the right way and playing good hockey,” Ryan Greene said. “I think we’re a tough team to handle, and we’re just trying to keep that going moving forward.”

Rookies Continue to Step Up

The Blackhawks knew they would have an influx of young talent this season, but the first-year players' performance has exceeded expectations. Greene was set to start the season in the AHL, but Landon Slaggert’s injury in training camp opened the door to the NHL, and he’s never looked back. Oliver Moore and Nick Lardis have consistently progressed since their respective call-ups and have worked well together. Even Slaggert, who technically isn’t a rookie anymore, has excelled in his second stint with the NHL club.

The Blackhawks entered the night leading the league with 55 assists and 77 points from rookie skaters, while their 22 rookie goals rank third. A league-leading 21.2% of their overall points have come from rookies. With a recent run of illnesses in the Blackhawks' locker room, including last night in Carolina, head coach Jeff Blashill has had to lean on his young players more than ever.

“I think they’ve done a good job of it,” he said. “Greener’s done it all year, Slags has gotten more and more time here lately, and Moorsy last night got more time because of the absence of Dickinson. They did a good job.”

The Blackhawks got three more rookie points on the first goal of the game, scored by Greene and assisted by Lardis and Moore. The Lightning challenged the play for being offside, but Moore’s awareness to not touch the puck until Nick Foligno left the zone was incredible.

Rookie defenseman Artyon Levhsunov played better after struggling on Thursday. Although he looked extra cautious at times with the puck, made some outstanding defensive plays. In the last five minutes of regulation, he made two diving stick checks that prevented golden scoring chances for the Lightning. The trust from Blashill was back as he gave the young blueliner 21:59 of ice time.

“I thought Arty played better, for sure,” Blashill said. “I thought he was noticing better, made some really good defensive plays late in the game. I thought overall he had a better game, for sure, it was back in the right direction.”

 Penalty Kill Does Its Job

After going a perfect 5-for-5 against the Carolina Hurricanes last night, the Blackhawks have the NHL’s top penalty kill at 85.1%. Early on in the season, Blashill said it might take about a month for the team to fully grasp the new system, but once they did, they would be a solid unit. He’s been proven right.

“I’ve said this before, we have really good killers, and you don’t have a good system without really good players within that, and we have really good killers,” he said before the game. “Our D are long, they anticipate well, they can strike, we want to strike in certain areas. Our forwards: I think Greener’s done a good job winning face-offs; Dickey’s done a good job on the left side; and Mickey’s a one-man wrecking crew as a penalty killer, with his tenacity and reads.

“All those things equate to success. Whether you’re first, fifth, or even 10th, you want to be in that top tier somewhere to help put yourself in position. Special teams matter in this league. It’ll be another really, really tough test tonight. Probably the best, I think the best power-play player I’ve ever seen is on the other side, so we’re going to have to do a good job.”

Blashill, of course, was referring to Lightning star forward Nikita Kucherov. The Lightning’s top power-play was feasting during their first-period chance. They spent nearly the entire two minutes in the Blackhawks' zone, produced six shot attempts and five scoring chances, but did not score. The penalty-kill unit shored things up on their second two opportunities, allowing five shot attempts and three scoring chances in four minutes. They increased their success rate to 85.4%, nearly a full percentage point ahead of the Lightning for the league lead.

Nuggets & Tidbits

• Blashill tried out some new line combinations with Jason Dickinson returning to the lineup. However, by the third period, he went back to more familiar combinations. He admitted that Jon Cooper does such a good job of match-ups that he wanted to go with trios that have played together recently.

• The Blackhawks went 0-for-3 on the power play to make it 15 straight opportunities without a goal. Tonight was particularly bad, with only two shot attempts and two scoring chances in six minutes, all coming in the first period. The Blackhawks' lone goal came seconds after their second power play expired.

• Arvid Soderblom was terrific tonight. He allowed just the one goal despite the Lightning having 3.99 expected goals against, which came on a brilliant passing play between Brandon Hagel and Kucherov. He stopped 11 of the 12 high-danger shots he faced. He was helped out by Tampa Bay missing 26 shots on the night, but Spencer Knight benefited from 22 missed shots by the Hurricanes last night. Soderblom needed a performance like this, as he’s been struggling of late.

"It was a busy night. It was fun to play and see a lot of shots. Personally, it felt good. Sucks we didn’t get both points. I think we played our best in the third and made our push. Obviously not enough."

Arvid Soderblom

• Early in the first period, Nick Foligno slammed defenseman Max Crozier into the boards, causing his teammate, Jack Finley, to come to his defense. Despite giving up six inches, 27 pounds, and 15 years to Finley, the Blackhawks captain decisively won the fight.

• The Blackhawks earned their 50th point of the season by getting their 51st game to overtime. They didn’t earn their 50th point last season until their 71st game on March 23.