Arvid Soderblom provides solid goaltending in one of the Blackhawks’ worst five-on-five games this season, Seth Jones shares his thoughts following the 2-1 loss in Utah.

Here we go again. The Chicago Blackhawks lost 2-1 against the Utah Hockey Club on Feb. 25. I’m frustrated. And so is Seth Jones. the lone Blackhawk to score. 

I hate having to put out the “rebuild disclaimer” any time I get critical about this team. You can, and should, be frustrated when this team loses like they did against Utah. There is a part of the fanbase that absolves this team of any criticism just because they’re in a rebuild. 

No one needs negativity all the time, so I’ll start with a positive from this game:

Arvid Soderblom had a .944 SV% and stopped 34 of 36 shots on goal.

The Blackhawks Offense Problem

There have been three times this season when I look at a stat and think, “Man, that’s the worst I’ve seen it.” Last night was the third time. The Blackhawks finished this game, owning 22% of 5-on-5 shot attempts (Corsi). It gets worse. The Blackhawks expected goal share was 18% (xG%). The Hawks had six scoring chances and faced 40 scoring chances at 5-on-5. They were outshot 12-26 at 5-on-5. Look at the heat map below. This isn’t funny.

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Connor Bedard played with new linemates again (something I wanted), and Anders Sorensen put Tyler Bertuzzi and Frank Nazar on his wing. This line had a 25 Corsi, a 19 xG%, four shots on goal, and four shot attempts. My issue is Nazar was coming off of an excellent game at center. Why move him? Don’t we want to see if he can be a center? And if Sorensen put him there because Nazar is great on the forecheck, why not Teuvo Tereavainen? Bertuzzi doesn’t have business being up there right now. The problem is, if Sorensen changes things around again, we’ll slide back to the whole line-shuffle dance we all cried about in November. 

Bedard had another quiet night. He had a 16 Corsi and a second straight game where he posted zero shots, shot attempts, or scoring chances at 5-on-5. Bedard did draw nearly all of Utah on the powerplay, which Seth Jones scored, but that was the only thing I noticed from him.

Blackhawks Defense Isn’t Much Better

The first goal against had the Landon Slaggert-Nick Foligno-Ryan Donato line in the defensive zone. Foligno doesn’t do much of anything to win a puck battle, which I take a problem with since he wears the “C” and was very vocal last season about this kind of stuff. Before the goal was scored, the Hawks struggled to break out, a problem since day one of this season.

But I highlight the veterans, again, because they’re the ones not helping.

On Utah’s game-winner, this is laziness on the vet’s part. Phillip Kurashev pressured the puck carrier in the right corner. Alec Martinez is supposed to support Kurashev but stays in front of Arvid Soderblom. He’s most likely focused on Utah’s screen, but I doubt that because he doesn’t do much of anything. Craig Smith, the forward in the high slot, doesn’t do anything to prevent Lawson Crouse from skating toward the net and scoring on a very screened goal.

Darren Pang brought up the Swedish forechecking system, the “torpedo”, which isn’t widely used in North America. This team can’t forecheck. They’re horrible at it. Frank Nazar is the exception, and Landon Slaggert isn’t bad. But this team still relies on a 1-2-2 forecheck most of the time. 

Seth Jones Is Not Wrong

Whether Seth Jones should be traded before the Mar. 7 trade deadline or not is a topic for another article. And let me be clear about where I stand on Jones. He’s a good defenseman. But he is not perfect. He had one of the worst expected goals against with 1.14 and made his fair share of mistakes yesterday; he had three giveaways, a team-high. 

But this team is the same as it was before the coaching change. You can read about it here, where we compared Sorensen’s numbers with Luke Richardson’s. Other than being ok with a defenseman joining the rush or having more leeway with a rookie (which isn’t much), this is the same team. 

Closing Thoughts

A big part of the Blackhawks’ problem this season is the roster. Coaching is also becoming a different kind of problem. We don’t have the talent to win most games, but this team doesn’t have to be this bad. The lines aren’t making sense. Veterans are getting away with a lot of garbage plays. Tuevo Teravainen doesn’t need to be relationship-building with Ilya Mikheyev on the third line. I say this from the comfort of my couch, and I can assure you that Sorensen and his staff know more about this than I ever will. But you have to ask the questions. 

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