Considering the circumstances, the Chicago Blackhawks should be vastly disappointed with Friday’s 4-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at the United Center.
Coming off a five-day break and facing a Canadiens team without captain Nick Suzuki and rising-star winger Ivan Demidov, the Blackhawks had a prime opportunity to get back in the win column, but let two key points slip away on home ice.
Captain Connor Bedard scored less than five minutes in to give the Blackhawks an early 1-0 advantage, but that was all the offense generated against Montreal’s defense, which ranked 29th in the NHL in goals against through their first nine games. Over the last 120 minutes of game play, the Hawks have scored only one goal.
Through ten games in the 2026-27 regular season, the Blackhawks are now 3-7-0 after Friday’s loss, with the Vancouver Canucks currently as the only team with fewer points and a worse points percentage. Yikes.
Given the internal and external expectations for the Blackhawks entering year five of general manager Kyle Davidson’s rebuild, winning only three of the first ten games this season simply isn’t good enough. Even if Bedard has only suited up four times. The fans at the United Center let the team hear it during a lifeless third-period comeback effort on Friday, with boos raining down from the stands for the first time this season. The patrons were justified in their frustration.
The Blackhawks now rank 30th in the NHL in goals per game (2.20), 30th in goals against (4.00), 30th in hits per game (16.0), 31st in shots on goal per game (21.4%), 31st in power-play percentage (10.3 percent), and 32nd in face-off win percentage (42.3%). To say it’s been a concerning start to the season would be a drastic understatement. There isn’t one particular area where they’ve looked like a Stanley Cup Playoff team.
Yet, head coach Jeff Blashill, who admittedly seemed more frustrated than ever during his postgame media availability, still doesn’t think the Blackhawks are far from playing the brand of hockey that will make them successful.
“We’re not far off from playing the way we want to play at all,” Blashill said. “We’re shorthanded with a big piece out… I think we’ve been very close to the way we want to play.”
Curiously, Blashill also thought the Blackhawks outchanced the Canadiens on Friday, even though his team was credited with only 12 shots on goal over the final 45 minutes. According to Natural Stat Trick, Montreal led 27-23 in scoring chances, 13-6 in high-danger chances, and 3.69-1.87 in expected goals in Friday’s game.
“We didn’t give up much, and we created more than they did… The reality of the game is they outscored us; that’s a fact. And we out-chanced them; that’s a fact. And by enough margin that we should be in position to win the game.”
What’s truly factual is that Montreal has been one of the worst defensive teams this season, yet they limited the Blackhawks to only 40 shot attempts and 21 shots on goal. Additionally, the Habs had blown a lead in four straight games entering Friday, so the lack of a third-period pushback was even more discouraging. The Hawks had only four shots on goal in the final 20 minutes.
Veteran defenseman Ian Cole, who played in his 1,000th NHL game on Friday, was much more blunt with his postgame comments.
“We like to think of ourselves as a fast, skilled team and that’s all well and good, but we need to win battles,” Cole said. “Hockey’s about winning puck battles. It’s winning the puck. It’s about keeping the puck. We’ve got to do a much better job of that for sure. All of us, all the way around… We need to take some hard looks in the mirror and make some very conscious decisions to figure out how we need to be better as a collective and certainly individually.”
Hawks Hits vs. Montreal
Missed Chances Early
While Blashill might be wrong about the Blackhawks outchancing the Canadiens over 60 minutes on Friday, his team was certainly the more dangerous bunch in the opening 15 minutes.
The Blackhawks were sharp in the early going, stringing together clean breakout passes from the defensive zone and using their speed in transition and on the forecheck to create havoc. After Bedard’s goal, Patrick Kane, Roman Kantserov, Jordan Greenway, and Ethan Del Mastro had quality chances to extend the lead in the first period. Greenway’s shot beat Canadiens’ goaltender Jacob Fowler, but the puck glanced off the post.
Looking back, the Blackhawks will kick themselves for not piling on more in the opening 15 minutes, as they let the Canadiens hang around and trail by only one goal. As the period wore on, Montreal found its game and eventually tied the score 1-1 with 2:31 to go before intermission.
Generating chances in the first period is one of the few areas the Blackhawks haven’t struggled with this season, but converting on those opportunities remains a struggle. Going back to last Saturday’s 4-0 shutout loss to the Dallas Stars, the Hawks had several chances to strike first and take an early lead, but couldn’t get the puck past Jake Oettinger.
After Bedard’s early goal, the story was similar against Fowler on Friday.
Turning Point in 2nd Period
Despite an irritating finish to the first period, the Blackhawks had chances to regain the lead early in the second, as the Canadiens committed two quick penalties.
But not only did the Hawks’ power play come up empty on both opportunities, but they also allowed Montreal to score the eventual game-winning goal while shorthanded. With the five-forward top unit on the ice, the group allowed two odd-man rushes in roughly 30 seconds, and the second one ended up in the back of their net.
During Bowen Byram’s absence, Blashill has used Teuvo Teravainen as the top unit’s quarterback, but that should probably be changed before next time out on Sunday against Florida. With five forwards on the ice, the Blackhawks have been susceptible to counterattacks, as Teravainen has been put in many awkward defending situations.
Plus, the Blackhawks have now negated four power plays in the last two games by committing penalties on shorthanded rushes from their opponent. Blashill didn’t seem to believe the five-forward unit is what’s caused the recent issues, but he will look into all options to improve the man advantage moving forward.
Going 0-for-9 on the power play in the last two games hasn’t helped the Blackhawks’ offensive issues.
No Depth Scoring
What also hasn’t helped the Blackhawks find the back of the net more often is the lack of depth scoring recently. The first line of Bedard, Kane, and Kantserov combined for 10 individual scoring chances and the team’s only goal on Friday, but the rest of the lineup didn’t provide much offensive threat.
The fourth line of Greenway, Ryan Greene, and Cole Smith were responsible for nine of the 13 scoring chances created outside of the top line, with most coming in the game’s first 30 minutes. The three gritty forwards have worked well together this season, but like most of the team, converting on their looks has been a consistent issue. The fourth line hasn’t contributed a goal since opening night on Sept. 29.
The second line of Anton Frondell, Tyler Bertuzzi, and Teuvo Teravainen was also stymied at 5v5 for the second straight game, with Montreal leading 7-0 in shot attempts and 5-0 in shots on goal with that trio on the ice for Chicago. After a red-hot start to his rookie season, Frondell has now gone without a point in five of the last six games.
Frondell’s Faceoff Woes
Speaking of Frondell, he’s also fared horribly at the faceoff dot during the mini two-game losing streak, having won only three of 25 draws. Ouch. The 19-year-old held up well at the faceoff circle through his first eight appearances this season, having been at or above 50 percent five times. The last two games… not so much.
With the Blackhawks using such a young group down the middle to start this season, it’s not necessarily surprising to see the team having issues with faceoffs. However, the level to which they’ve struggled, being dead-last in the NHL at face-off win percentage by a wide margin, is somewhat concerning.
Only five teams are below 47.0 percent as a team at the faceoff circle this year, and the Blackhawks aren’t even close to that figure at 42.3 percent. Bedard, who’s taken only 48 faceoffs, is the only true center above 44.0 percent through ten games.
No Physicality
Another jarring aspect of the Blackhawks’ style of play early this season is the lack of physicality up and down the lineup. The Hawks have been credited with over 20 hits only once in ten games and recorded a season-low 11 hits against Montreal on Friday.
With no momentum on their side throughout the third period, it would have been nice to see the Blackhawks ramp up their physicality and show some fire and passion late in Friday’s game. There was one moment during a post-whistle skirmish where Artyom Levshunov was knocked to the ice by Kirby Dach, and only one of the other four players on the ice came to his defense. It was their 5-foot-10 captain.
Blashill was asked after the game if he believes he has the proper guys to play a more physical brand of hockey, which he laughed off and answered with a resounding “yes”. However, actions speak louder than words, and his team hasn’t shown the desire to play with more ruggedness or a more apparent mean streak.
The Blackhawks have been pushed around on the ice far too easily this season, and it’s an aspect the team and coaching staff must address to improve the group’s all-around performance.
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