COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Chicago Blackhawks were hoping to leave something on the ice they could feel good about going into the Olympic break on Wednesday.
That didn’t happen. The Blackhawks lost 4-0 to the Columbus Blue Jackets.
“Not good enough all around,” captain Nick Foligno said. “Just didn’t have the urgency, didn’t have the compete level that we needed to have. So it’s disappointing, especially going into a break where you’re gonna have tons of time to probably chew on this one. It’s not a good feeling, right? So I think just the maturity of our game, right? We just were immature in how we needed to come out here and play and have a statement of like we’re starting to build. Tonight wasn’t it, and it’s disappointing.”
The Blackhawks will sit on that for two weeks and start practicing again. Outside of Teuvo Teräväinen, who will be playing for Finland at the Olympics, the team will have everyone in Chicago for practice.
“Kind of gives you a chance to reset some fundamental things,” Blackhawks coach Jeff Blashill said. “There’s areas that we are looking to improve offensively that we’ve got to make sure we do a good job with when we get back. You’ve got to reset your systems a little bit, just in a sense of get guys ready to play without thinking. If we can go through drills that get us ready to, when that puck drops in Nashville, play without thinking and still be a good five-man unit, I think that’s important. We’ll evaluate all that stuff and then have the plan coming back.”
Here are 10 other Blackhawks thoughts heading into the break:
1. The Blackhawks were hopeful to make a playoff push when Connor Bedard returned from injury in early January. They got back to a .500 points percentage on Jan. 10, but it’s been downhill from there. The Blackhawks have gone 3-7-2 since then.
While they’re not out of it, their odds have gotten slimmer. Eight points separate them from the Seattle Kraken in the second wild-card spot, and the four teams ahead of them all have games in hand. The Blackhawks will have 25 games remaining when NHL play resumes.
2. Bedard has been one of the few bright spots over the recent stretch. He scored goals in three of the last four games and has been consistently creating chances in every game. He just missed on one in front of the net Wednesday.
The Blackhawks are hoping Bedard will resume taking faceoffs when the team begins practicing again after the break. He hasn’t taken any since his injury.
3. With that, Bedard will get his own line back and the Bedard-Frank Nazar combination will be again be just occasional. They had some success together over the last week; they were on the ice for one goal for and one against with Teräväinen, and two goals for and two against with Tyler Bertuzzi.
4. The Blackhawks need to figure out how to get Nazar back to where he was late last season and early this season. He started this season with five goals in his first 10 games, but now he’s scored twice in his last 31 games.
Nazar’s had some decent looks since returning from his own injury and scored three games ago. But he’s obviously expected to produce at a higher rate. As much as it felt like the Blackhawks were getting a deal with Nazar signing an early extension last summer, he hasn’t consistently played to that level yet.
5. André Burakovsky has been the Blackhawks’ most underwhelming player lately. In his last 13 games, he’s produced zero goals and one assist. During that span with him on the ice at five-on-five, the Blackhawks have been outscored 13-3 and have a 35.09 expected goals percentage, according to Natural Stat Trick.
“The last 10-game stretch he hasn’t been as good as he was the previous 10-game stretch,” Blashill said before Wednesday’s game. “He almost carried us, especially when you look at our scoring-chance differential. He was our leader over the previous 10. These past 10, he’s got another level that he’s going to get to. He’ll get back there. That’s the ebb and flow of the year. That’s the ebb and flow of when you don’t feel, your confidence takes a hit.”
The Olympic break will offer Andre Burakovsky a chance to reset. (Russell LaBounty / Imagn Images)
6. It’s been a quieter stretch for Bertuzzi, too. Over the last 11 games, he has one goal. He had a five-game goalless streak, then scored a goal and now is on another five-game streak.
Bertuzzi has avoided super long dry spells this season, never going longer than six games. It’s why he has 25 goals in 54 games. But like a lot of players, the Blackhawks could use him getting hot when they get back.
7. Wednesday’s game was the first the Blackhawks were completely healthy, forcing Blashill to make more difficult roster decisions. With Foligno returning to the lineup, Blashill decided to sit Ryan Greene. It was the first game Greene hadn’t played in all season.
“Greener has played good hockey for us and he’s going to play good hockey again for us,” Blashill said. “He’s a good player. There’s a couple things we want him to correct. It gives him a chance to have urgency to make sure that he’s making the corrections he needs to make. He’ll get back out there when the break is over here.”
8. The Blackhawks weren’t able to remain healthy for the day, though. Wyatt Kaiser appeared to suffer a left leg injury when he was fallen on top of during the first period. Blashill said Kaiser would likely be out “a bit.” Colton Dach also suffered an unknown injury and played just one shift in the second period; Blashill considered Dach as more day-to-day.
9. Sam Rinzel held his own in his three games back in the NHL. In 52:55 of five-on-five ice time, he had a 48.31 Corsi percentage, 42.84 expected goals percentage and was on the ice for two goals for and none against. He’s probably done enough to be with the Blackhawks after the break. He is eligible to return to the Rockford IceHogs during the break, too.
10. Ryan Donato’s had one of his better stretches this season. In the last 14 games, he has the highest on-ice goals-for percentage for the Blackhawks at five-on-five, with eight goals for and five against. He also has three goals and four assists during that span.