Not much went the Chicago Blackhawks’ way in a lopsided 5-1 loss to the Flyers as the East Coast road trip carried into Philadelphia on Thursday. For all but 48 seconds, the Blackhawks trailed for the entire game at Xfinity Mobile Arena, resulting in arguably the team’s worst loss since returning from the Olympic break one month ago.
The Blackhawks overcame a goal allowed in the opening minute en route to a 4-3 comeback win over the New York Islanders on Tuesday, but couldn’t do the same against a Flyers squad that, like the Isles, is fighting for its playoff lives in a chaotic Eastern Conference battle down the stretch. Alex Bump put Philadelphia ahead 1-0 before Sacha Boisvert could even hit the ice for the first time in his NHL debut. Then, Sean Couturier added another tally less than two minutes later to put Chicago in an early bind.
With Boisvert suiting up for the first time on Thursday, that meant that six of GM Kyle Davidson’s first-round draft picks since 2022 were in the lineup together, and it would be seven if Oliver Moore weren’t currently injured. Slowly but surely, the future of the organization is coming together. But one of the downsides of having so much youth and inexperience in the locker room now is that consistency can sometimes be an issue.
Aside from Boisvert jumping in for Sam Lafferty on the fourth line, the Blackhawks trotted out the same forward lines and defensive pairings from Tuesday’s win against the Islanders. Yet, they looked like a much different team than they had only 48 hours earlier. While there were some moments of disaster along the way to victory, particularly in the third period, it was otherwise a strong showing by the youngest group in the NHL.
As assistant coach Michael Peca said during the second intermission on the CHSN broadcast, the excuse of being so young doesn’t work when nearly the same squad just beat a fellow desperate Eastern Conference squad two days ago. The Blackhawks are much more capable of much more than what they displayed on Thursday, but
Hawks Hits vs. Philadelphia
1. Flyers Formidable at 5-on-5 — According to Natural Stat Trick, the Flyers finished the game with 5.29 expected goals at 5-on-5, while the Blackhawks were credited with 1.65 expected goals. That just about sums up the disparity between the two teams’ play on Thursday.
In the history of expected-goals tracking, which began in 2007, that’s the highest total figure the Flyers have produced in a single game. Think about that. Nearly 20 years of data, and this one is at the top of the list. The Blackhawks’ defense left much to be desired, with most of their opponent’s best chances stemming from self-inflicted errors.
The Flyers finished with 5.29 worth of expected goals at 5-on-5 tonight per Natural Stat Trick’s model.
How good is that? Check this out: it’s the highest single game total by the Flyers in the history of xG tracking, which began in 2007.
— Charlie O’Connor (@charlieo_conn) March 27, 2026
2. Blue-Line Blunders — On Alex Bump’s opening goal, a miscommunication between Artyom Levshunov and Spencer Knight led to a turnover by the Blackhawks’ netminder, with the puck winding up in the back of his net just seconds after. Knight appeared frustrated with Levshunov following the sequence, which could indicate he didn’t get a heads up from his defenseman that pressure was coming. A sloppy mistake just 48 seconds in.
Levshunov was also forced into a turnover late in the second period, giving the Flyers an insurance tally from Christian Dvorak that sunk any hopes of a Blackhawks’ comeback. The 2024 No. 2 overall pick has largely improved his play since the Olympic break, but Thursday wasn’t his best. He finished with a minus-three rating and no shots on goal in 22:20 of ice time.
However, Arty was far from being the only issue on the defensive side in Philadelphia. Wyatt Kaiser got burned by a give-and-go from Trevor Zegras and Owen Tippett in transition, leading to a goal from Denver Barkey on an odd-man rush. Sam Rinzel also had a horrendous pinch-in at center ice on Noah Cates’ breakaway tally and finished with four giveaways in just over 19 minutes.
It was a woeful performance from the Blackhawks’ blue line on Thursday, but one they must learn from. From cleaner gap control to better decisions and execution, and even improved communication, there’s plenty for the coaching staff to go over in film moving forward.
3. Bedard Buries No. 30 — One of the few bright spots, Connor Bedard tallied the Blackhawks’ lone goal of the game, making him a 30-goal scorer for the first time in the NHL. As a reminder, he’s only played in 59 games and would surely be pushing for 40, had he not gotten injured in December.
By reaching the 30-goal plateau on Thursday, Bedard became just the third player age 20 or younger in franchise history to score 30 goals in a single season, and just the second since 2000. The other two? Jonathan Toews and Eric Daze.
Bedard’s 30th goal of the 2025-26 campaign was also his 67th point, which ties the career high he produced in 82 games last year. With 10 contests remaining on the schedule, he’s well on pace to eclipse 70 points for the first time, and 80 points could still be within reach, given he has a productive finish.
4. Frondell Fitting In Nicely — One reason to believe in Bedard’s chances of hitting 80 points is Anton Frondell’s arrival, giving him a capable goal scorer on his wing for the first time in too long. No offense to Ryan Greene, who’s been a pleasant surprise as a rookie, but he doesn’t possess the same goal-scoring prowess as the 2025 No. 3 overall selection. As for Andre Burakovsky… we’ll get there momentarily.
Frondell is still settling in with his new teammates and hasn’t had an official practice with the Blackhawks yet, but his skill and strength have been obvious in his first two NHL appearances. For the second game in a row, Frondell netted a primary assist, setting up Bedard for the first of what hopes to be countless goals between the two together for years to come.
Every NHL team that’s broken through from a rebuild in recent years seems to have a lethal duo at the top of its forward group. For the Blackhawks, Frondell and Bedard could become the combination that turns the tide of the organization.
5. Bench Burakovsky? — With Frondell immediately thrust into a top-line role, Andre Burakovsky has been demoted to the third line in the last two games, both of which he was hardly noticeable in. When he was noticed, it was for the wrong reasons.
Burakovsky committed another dreadful D-zone giveaway that led to a goal early in the game, and he wasn’t very involved offensively once again. He recorded only one shot on goal and had a minus-two rating in 12:39 of ice time.
With how poorly Burakovsky has played over the last two months, with only two points (1G, 1A) in 28 games dating back to Jan. 22, one has to wonder if head coach Jeff Blashill has considered giving him a reset. Admittedly, it doesn’t seem too likely, considering how Blashill has handled Burakovsky throughout his struggles.
Regardless, Burakovsky is doing more damage to his team than anything right now, and a decision must be made in the forward group when Andrew Mangiapane returns from injury. To get Mangiapane back in the lineup, someone needs to draw out, with Burakovsky and Landon Slaggert being the main culprits.
Slaggert, only 23 years old, still has a chance to be a puzzle piece in the Blackhawks’ rebuild, while Burakovsky has no chance whatsoever. The decision on who to pull out seems fairly obvious, but will Blashill finally do what’s best for his team, rather than what’s best for Burakovsky?
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