Young Blackhawks defensemen make trustworthy plays against Avalanche

The Chicago Blackhawks dropped a 3-1 decision to the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Connor Bedard scored his 25th goal of the season as he continued his hot streak. He has goals in back-to-back games, and six goals and 11 points in his last 13 outings. His goal also gave the Blackhawks power-play goals in two straight games, which is a good sign.

However, while Bedard has been playing great lately, he has gotten no help in the first two games following the Olympic break. His teammates cannot keep leaving him on an island.

“We’ve got to help him,” captain Nick Foligno said. "It can’t just be on Connor. He’s doing his job. He’s getting scoring chances. He’s making plays. So, it’s on the rest of us to pick it up and find a way to help him out, give him some run support.”

While the Blackhawks will try to figure out how to help Bedard, two young defensemen made plays that stood out in the loss.

Levshunov & Korchinski Use Instincts to Succeed

The recent struggles of Artyom Levshunov have been well documented. Head coach Jeff Blashill admitted that they pushed him to be more offensive, to the point that it took away from the solid defensive play we saw earlier in the season.

Levshunov’s turnover that led to the Nashville Predators’ first goal on Thursday garnered a lot of attention. However, later in the game, he made a nice diving stick check to break out a 2-on-1 rush.

He made a similar play while the Blackhawks still owned a 1-0 lead in the second period. These are the types of plays that will make his coaching staff and this fan base gain more confidence in the rookie blueliner.

Kevin Korchinski was not supposed to play on Saturday, but he was inserted into the lineup after Sam Rinzel fell ill. It’s quite obvious that he has yet to earn the trust of Blashill, as he played less than three minutes in the first period and only 8:24 total.

As Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times pointed out, this play he made with the game tied 1-1 will earn him more trust and more playing time. He made a good read on Brock Nelson and confidently made the play to separate him from the puck.

Both Levshunov and Korchinski need to trust their instincts more in order to succeed. They are both high draft picks who are still trying to figure out how to play defense in the world’s top hockey league. That is no easy task, but these plays show they know how to handle it. Now they have to do it consistently.