The Blackhawks boarded the flight home to Chicago on Thursday night without a win in their pockets from the quick two-game mom’s trip. Instead, the moms were in attendance for two disappointing defeats, and each hit hard for different reasons.
On Tuesday in Minnesota, the Blackhawks blew a 3-0 lead, which included allowing the game-tying goal with 2:01 remaining in regulation, en route to a 4-3 shootout loss to the Wild. It was an unacceptable result, but the underlying statistics, plus the eye test, suggest they deserved a better outcome. After all, they outshot the Wild 32-23 and limited them to only eight high-danger scoring chances in 65 minutes. Even head coach Jeff Blashill mentioned during a postgame interview that he thought his team played well enough to win.
Despite not finishing the job, the Blackhawks still had grounds to hold their heads high coming out of the Twin Cities. However, there weren’t many positives whatsoever to take away from Thursday’s pitiful 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The game quickly spiraled in the second period, as the Blackhawks’ defense lost its structure and suffered countless breakdowns. Artyom Levshunov and Wyatt Kaiser, in particular, had forgettable performances; not that many other players were much better. The Kaiser-Levshunov pairing was on the ice for all four Penguins’ goals in the period and five of their six in the game.
Blashill wasn’t singing the same tune after the lopsided loss to Pittsburgh, where Chicago was outshot 44-20 in the game, and 36-11 over the final 40 minutes. In fact, he seemed as frustrated as he’s been in a while after what transpired during the last two periods.
Let’s breakdown Blashill’s reaction, and what went wrong for the Blackhawks at PPG Paints Arena.
Hawks Hits
1. Blashill calls out effort level — Blashill has often gone to bat for his guys this season after some of their tougher performances, but that wasn’t the case following Thursday’s game. He spoke like a parent that had just caught their child getting into the dessert before dinner. He wasn’t angry, he was just disappointed.
“We didn’t compete hard enough, to be honest with you,” Blashill said. “We just ended up defense way, way too much. When you lose stick battles and stick races, and you turn pucks over at the blue line, you defend a bunch. They spread us out and won battles in front. Too many guys weren’t good enough.”
No lies detected. Far too many players didn’t bring their best stuff with them to the Steel City. Outside of Connor Bedard and the top line, it was a forgettable performance from the rest of the team.
2. Levshunov’s loose coverage — The Levshunov-Kaiser pairing was certainly who Blashill was talking about postgame, among others. Both players finished with a minus-five rating and combined for just one shot on goal. According to hockeystats.com, Kaiser and Levshunov had the worst analytics of any NHL pairing in the entire 2025-26 season on Thursday. Pittsburgh led 16-3 in shots on goal and 2.3-0.7 in expected goals when they were on the ice. The duo was also outchanced 16-5 at even strength.
Individually, Levshunov might have had his worst game of the year. He had a brutal failed clearing attempt that led to the Penguins’ second goal, got burned in a 1-on-1 by Egor Chinakhov on their third goal, and failed to recognize a potential breakaway developing for Anthony Mantha on the fourth tally. He was out of position far too frequently and didn’t have any structure defensively.
Blashill didn’t mince words when discussing Levshunov’s performance.
“I didn’t think he played good. The pairing [Kaiser and Levshunov] had a tough night. He’s got to rebound and play better than that. That’s part of the rollercoaster that we expected to see from a young defenseman. It’s a hard position in this league. He’s going to have to continue to learn through these experiences. He’s played a lot of good hockey, but tonight wasn’t good.”
The New Year hasn’t treated the 20-year-old very kindly so far, as he’s tallied just three points (1G, 2A) and has a minus-14 rating in 15 appearances. Levshunov also doesn’t have a point in his last nine games, and it’s no surprise the Blackhawks’ power play has been ice cold during that stretch.
Given his recent struggles, it’s possible the Blackhawks and GM Kyle Davidson are considering sending Levshunov down to the AHL to get his legs back under him. The team likes to carry a “thrive, not survive” mentality with their prospects, and it sure seems like Levshunov is fighting an uphill battle right now. With the NHL’s Olympic break starting in just five days, there’s a chance the former second overall pick spends February trying to get right with the Rockford IceHogs.
3. Power Play Skid Continues — Before things got ugly in the final two periods, the Blackhawks were off to a fine start. Connor Murphy scored the opening goal to give the visitors an early 1-0 advantage, and then they received two power-play chances to build on a strong first period.
But just like Tuesday in Minnesota, the man advantage couldn’t come up with a clutch goal that could have changed the direction of the game. It was another scoreless night for the Blackhawks’ power play against the Penguins, and an 0-for-2 effort now has them without a goal in their last 24 attempts. Make that nine games with a PPG.
4. Foligno Exits Early — The first meeting with the Penguins in late December saw captain Nick Foligno make his return to the lineup after missing nearly two months with a hand injury. Well, in Thursday’s matchup, Foligno seemingly got banged up and was forced to exit late in the first period. He did not return for the rest of the game and is questionable to play on Friday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
One cannot help but wonder if things would have spiraled so quickly had Chicago’s chief leader been on the bench. They probably still would have, but Foligno’s veteran presence potentially could have calmed the young group down in the midst of turmoil.
Blashill didn’t offer much of an update on Foligno’s status during his postgame media availability. He’s set to speak once again at 6:00 p.m. CT on Friday, before the Hawks battle Columbus at the United Center.
5. Bedard Passes Edzo — Lost in the shuffle with how poorly the Blackhawks performed to close out Thursday was Connor Bedard surpassing the great Eddie Olczyk for the most goals among all Blackhawks players in franchise history before turning 21 years old. Bedard scored his 66th career NHL tally late in the third period on Thursday, putting him one ahead of Olczyk.
While the goal didn’t impact the outcome, it was still great to see Bedard finally find the back of the net against a goaltender. His only goal since returning from a shoulder injury on Jan. 9 was an empty-netter that sealed a win over Jonathan Toews and the Winnipeg Jets nearly two weeks ago now. Bedard’s had plenty of prime-time chances in recent games, and it was nice to see him finally bury one.
For the second game in a row, Bedard and the new-look top line with Frank Nazar and Teuvo Teravainen was the most effective trio for Blashill. Bedard was the one who drove play for the line throughout the night, registering a team-high four shots on goal and seven shot attempts. He’s looked much more like pre-injury Bedard in the last two outings.
For more Blackhawks news, visit Chicago Hockey Now and like our Facebook Page.
Follow us on X: