WINNIPEG — Had this exact game been played in this exact fashion with this exact result a year ago, it might not have been any easier to swallow, but it would have been easier not to wallow.
For the last two seasons, the Blackhawks have been underwater night after night, frantically looking for something to grab onto — one good power play, one impressive goal, one strong period. And there was so much to like in this one. A team structure heretofore unseen in Luke Richardson’s two-plus seasons. A penalty kill that was aggressive and ruthlessly efficient. An outstanding performance in goal from Arvid Söderblom. Pat Maroon making dynamic passes, Andreas Athanasiou backchecking with abandon to break up a two-on-one, Ilya Mikheyev making hustle plays along the boards, sturdy defensemen clearing the crease.
It was a nearly perfect game by the Blackhawks. But only nearly.
“We played 59 great minutes of hockey,” Seth Jones said “It’s not going to be good enough. We expect to play a 60-minute game and that’s what it’s going to take for us to win.”
No, the Blackhawks didn’t win this one. Mark Scheifele muscled in a rebound with 64 seconds left with the goalie pulled and then got the game-winner 38 seconds into overtime after an ill-advised soft wrist shot by Teuvo Teräväinen yielded possession, giving the Winnipeg Jets a 2-1 victory over the Blackhawks. Another Blackhawks game. Another loss. The beats go on.
For a team that’s not expected to contend for a playoff spot, the result shouldn’t matter as much as the process. And the process was excellent.
But the era of silver linings is over. The Blackhawks want gold.
“We’re tired of taking moral victories at this point,” Jones said. “We need to win hockey games.”
Here are five (mostly positive) observations as the Blackhawks head to Edmonton for another game on Saturday night:
1. This might have been the most structured game the Blackhawks have played since …
“… since I’ve been here,” Jones interrupted.
He was laughing. But he wasn’t really joking.
This is the season we get to see what a Richardson-coached team actually looks like. Or, at least, we’d better, for his job’s sake. The last two years were both essentially tank seasons, and Richardson didn’t have much to work with. The proof was on the ice. That’s no longer an excuse, not with a handful of veteran forwards and two veteran defensemen added to the mix. And since a terribly sloppy first period in the opener in Utah, the Blackhawks have looked, well, quite competent for five straight periods.
They’re not running around chasing the puck in all zones, running into each other, coughing up the puck, giving up odd-man rush after odd-man rush the other way. They’re not abandoning their posts and making the wrong reads. They’re not getting lost in coverage, failing to properly sort the oncoming forwards.
Richardson’s 1-2-2 was working exactly as it’s supposed to, as the Blackhawks repeatedly slowed the Jets up in the neutral zone. That more often than not either forced a turnover, or prompted the Jets to dump the puck without any momentum, allowing Söderblom or a defenseman to easily retrieve the puck and exit the zone with speed.
It took an extra attacker for the Jets to finally solve Chicago’s team defense.
“We were above the other team most of the night and frustrated them,” Richardson said. “We were pretty much even on five-on-five chances against a really good team, and that’s what we want.”
Jones said that the Blackhawks “weren’t on our own page,” but instead were playing like a five-man unit.
“Every team’s got a style that they can play to win,” Jones said. “It’s obviously (just) two games into the season, but we’ve maybe found something in our game that we want to stick with and get better at. We’ve got a lot of work to do but it’s good to see that everyone’s buying into one system.”
2. Söderblom was not auditioning for an NHL roster spot on Friday night. There isn’t one available. As soon as Laurent Brossoit is ready — and he’s been skating back home while he and his wife await the birth of their child — Söderblom is headed for Rockford. Nothing he could do on Friday night, likely his only NHL start for a while, could change that.
But he surely left a good impression the next time an NHL opportunity arises. And he surely will bring some confidence back with him to Rockford.
He was calm and square to the puck at all times, with none of the rebound issues that plagued him so much last season. And he came agonizingly close to his first NHL shutout. Jones said he played “unreal.”
“He did everything that he should have to earn (a shutout), right?” Ryan Donato said. “Played a heck of a game and you feel sorry for him.”
Söderblom started 32 games last year. In only five of them did he allow two or fewer goals. In only two of those did he allow just one goal. In none of them did he have a shutout. Fifteen times, he gave up at least four goals.
3. Pat Maroon was brought to Chicago for his net-front presence, physicality and veteran savvy. But he flashed some serious skill on Friday night. He found Andreas Athanasiou for a breakaway that Connor Hellebuyck stopped with a pretty pass in the first period, and sprung Donato for the only Chicago goal with a crafty chip off the boards from his own end in the second period.
WHOAAAAA RYAN DONATOOOOO🚨 pic.twitter.com/PlEDTcRCUz
— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 12, 2024
The Blackhawks had an expected goals percentage of more than 70 percent with Donato and Maroon on the ice together.
“Patty’s definitely a guy that can make plays,” Donato said. “Any time I’m out there with him, I’m trying to let him know where I am. He’s pretty good at finding guys.”
4. Perhaps the most impressive two minutes of the game for the Blackhawks was their first penalty kill, midway through the first period. They held Winnipeg without a shot, and kept them out of the offensive zone nearly the entire time. The forward duos of Nick Foligno with Jason Dickinson and Mikheyev with Joey Anderson were hyper-aggressive, constantly going on the attack against the Jets and forcing turnovers in the neutral zone and high in the offensive zone.
The Blackhawks’ other kill wasn’t quite as dominant, but was still quite effective.
“That was really good, good pressure,” Jones said. “We’ve always had our aggressive cues. When they bobble pucks, when they’re backspacing to us, when they don’t have full possession, we always want to go. Off faceoffs (too), little things like that. Especially against good players, we don’t want to give them time and space. I thought it was excellent. The up-ice pressure was good from the forwards. Just not making anything easy.”
5. The Blackhawks added five forwards this offseason, and also bring back a healthy Taylor Hall and Athanasiou. That’s good for giving Connor Bedard more experience and skill around him, but it certainly creates a logjam at forward. Even to get the veteran Athanasiou into the lineup on Friday night, Richardson had to scratch veteran Craig Smith, who had a solid camp and preseason. And Lukas Reichel was a healthy scratch for the second straight game to open the season.
Barring injuries, if the Blackhawks are going to integrate younger players into the lineup at some point — think Frank Nazar, Colton Dach and Landon Slaggert, among others — it’s going to mean scratching some proud veterans who didn’t sign with Chicago just to sit in the press box. Richardson is ready for those hard conversations, though.
“I talked to (Smith) and he understands, he’s a good veteran,” Richardson said. “I told him we’ll try to get him right back in, and that could be as fast as (Saturday in Edmonton). Things change quick. The veterans, they don’t have to like it but they accept it in a professional manner. We’re a big team here.”
(Photo of Gabriel Vilardi and Arvid Söderblom: Terrence Lee / Imagn Images)
