For the second time in as many nights, the Chicago Blackhawks were on the wrong end of a one-sided affair, getting throttled 7-1 by the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center on Sunday. The Blackhawks finished their four-game road trip by getting outscored 13-1 in the weekend back-to-back against the Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings.
“When you get your butt kicked on the scoreboard two nights in a row like that — and tonight was a total whooping — your confidence slips. But this is a big-boy league, man,” head coach Jeff Blashill said after the game. “You’ve got to have mental toughness, and you’ve got to find a way to get back at it.”
The Blackhawks picked up where they left off in the final 40 minutes of Saturday’s lopsided loss, as they were on their heels right from the opening faceoff in Anaheim. The Ducks piled up 17 shots on goal in the first period and were dominating play, but the score was only 1-0 going into the intermission thanks to a strong start from Arvid Soderblom in net.
Chicago’s backup goaltender could only hold off the inevitable for so long, however, and the contest quickly got out of hand in the second stanza. Mason McTavish, Beckett Sennecke, Alex Killorn, and Troy Terry scored four unanswered goals to put the Blackhawks in a 5-0 hole. Soderblom was constantly under siege and didn’t stand a chance against the Ducks’ surge, with a whopping 27 shots and 23 scoring chances faced in the period. The 27 shots were the most the Ducks have ever recorded in a single period in franchise history.
Soderblom was hung out to dry by his teammates on Sunday, with constant giveaways and lackluster defense being the theme of the night, while the Ducks applied constant pressure from start to finish. Despite getting beaten seven times, the 26-year-old netminder made a career-high 46 saves and had 0.26 goals saved above expected. He received next to no support from his forwards and defensemen.
On the other side of the coin, the Blackhawks’ offense couldn’t get anything going against the Ducks whatsoever. They finished with a measly 12.0 expected goals for percentage at 5-on-5, the second-lowest of any NHL club in a single game this season. Chicago also recorded only three high-danger chances in all situations.
This weekend was only the second time the Blackhawks have played in a back-to-back this season, but both have now ended in disaster. The back end of their first set of two games in two days resulted in a grotesque 9-3 defeat to the lowly Buffalo Sabres on Nov. 21. The young roster let both games get away from them in a hurry, resulting in two of their worst losses of the year.
“Both of them, we were really bad,” Blashill said, referring to the two games to close out back-to-backs this season. “Our two worst games of the year, and that’s inexcusable. Neither one of them was that hard of a travel, and we have more coming. We have to figure out a way to be better… the two games I was most disappointed in our team were this game, and the Buffalo game.”
Here are the highlights from a second consecutive blowout loss, dropping the Blackhawks’ record to 12-11-6 through 29 games.
FIRST PERIOD
The Ducks were firmly in control right from the jump, and the Blackhawks only recorded two shots on goal through the front half of the first period. Soderblom made a few quality saves early, but Jacob Trouba finally got a shot past him for the first time with some help from one of Chicago’s forwards. Ilya Mikheyev committed a dreadful giveaway by throwing an errant pass in the defensive zone, and Trouba clapped a one-timer off the boards past Soderblom. 1-0 Anaheim.
The Ducks nearly doubled their lead only a few moments later, but Soderblom robbed Frank Vatrano in tight with a left-pad save to keep the score at 1-0. Only eight minutes into the game, and the Ducks already had 13 shots fired on cage.
One of the few chances mustered up by the visitors in the period came from defenseman Artyom Levshunov, but his shot from the right circle barely caught Ville Husso’s stick and was directed wide of the net.
The scoreboard read 1-0 as the two teams headed into their respective dressing rooms, and that felt like a miracle. Anaheim led 17-6 in shots on goal, 13-5 in scoring chances, 8-1 in high-danger chances, and 1.62-0.40 in expected goals for in all situations.
SECOND PERIOD
The Blackhawks didn’t fare any better in the early stages of the second period, as the Ducks kept their foot on the pedal to try and add to their lead. After Connor Murphy was sent to the penalty box for high-sticking, the home squad successfully extended its advantage to 2-0 with a power-play tally from Mason McTavish. Soderblom made the initial stop on a shot from the blue line, but the puck worked its way over to a wide-open McTavish at the far post.
The stretch of play following McTavish’s goal is when the game started to get out of hand. Near the midway point of the period, Beckett Sennecke skated in the offensive zone and snapped a shot past Soderblom to suddenly make it 3-0. This was the only goal of the night where Soderblom was at fault.
With under four minutes remaining, the Ducks struck once again on a partial breakaway from Alex Killorn to go ahead 4-0. Killorn received a spectacular flip pass from Ryan Strome, shielded off young defenseman Sam Rinzel, and snuck a shot under Soderblom’s glove. Rinzel didn’t provide nearly enough back pressure on Killorn as he drove to the net.
Unfortunately for the visitors, the scoring in the second stanza had not yet concluded. Off the rush, Troy Terry deflected a centering feed from Leo Carlsson over Soderblom to extend the lead to 5-0. That marked four goals in under 11 minutes for Anaheim.
The stats through 40 minutes were as lopsided as could be. The Ducks were ahead 44-13 in shots on goal, 28-9 in scoring chances, 22-2 in high-danger chances, and 4.87-0.68 in all situations.
THIRD PERIOD
The final frame felt like a formality, and the Blackhawks treated it like one. The home squad added insult to injury with their sixth goal of the game just 15 seconds into the period, as Carlsson was left all alone in front of Soderblom and buried a pass from Chris Kreider.
The lone goal of the game for the Blackhawks came on a power play of their own just over a minute later. Tyler Bertuzzi’s feed to the slot changed direction and snuck into the net for his 15th goal of the season and eighth power-play tally. Ville Husso’s shutout bid was no more.
Because of course, the Ducks added the extra point with under two minutes remaining in the contest. After having several threatening opportunities earlier in the game, Vatrano finally found the back of the net to make it 7-1 for good measure.
The final horn sounded to conclude one of the worst performances of the season. Not only by the Blackhawks, but from any NHL team. Chicago surrendered seven goals, 53 shots on goal, 50 scoring chances, and 28 high-danger chances. There’s plenty to clean up before they return to play next on Wednesday against the New York Rangers at the United Center.
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