{"id":550837,"date":"2026-04-12T04:24:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T04:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/550837\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T04:24:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T04:24:40","slug":"all-things-must-pass-blues-5-blackhawks-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/550837\/","title":{"rendered":"All Things Must Pass: Blues 5, Blackhawks 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chicago lost yet again on Saturday at the United Center, falling 5-3 to the St. Louis Blues.<\/p>\n

St. Louis struck first midway through the opening period. The Blackhawks weren\u2019t able to get the puck out and, after some cycling, Jimmy Snuggerud got to the net to tip in Tyler Tucker\u2019s shot.<\/p>\n

Not sure there’s a more perfect tip than that. #stlblues<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/dS3bAXIjGI<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 11, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

The Blackhawks evened the score 1-1 about five minutes later. A good pinch from Wyatt Kaiser forced a turnover that Connor Bedard collected before setting up Ryan Greene for a snap shot from near the top of the circle.<\/p>\n

GREENE LIGHT AHEAD\ud83d\udea6\ud83d\ude97 pic.twitter.com\/4MeKD7pHbO<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 11, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Ilya Mikheyev gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead at at 3:04 of the second period. Sacha Boisvert recovered the puck behind the Blackhawks\u2019 net, skated it up slightly before feeding Mikheyev just outside the zone and the latter streaked in alone to beat Joel Hofer with a clean wrister.<\/p>\n

went 0-95 real quick \ud83d\ude97\ud83d\udca8 pic.twitter.com\/asywBAr0o9<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 11, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

The Blackhawks lead was short-lived, though, as Alexei Toropchenko tied the game 2-2 about a minute later. Sam Lafferty\u2019s offensive-zone pass was picked off easily by Pius Suter, who quickly sprung a cheating Toropchenko in the neutral zone before he scored all alone with a backhand shot.<\/p>\n

Toropchenko breakaway backhand top corner goal alert pic.twitter.com\/yRxIdE9w1I<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 11, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Jordan Kyrou put the Blues ahead 3-2 on the power play at 12:06 in the middle frame, winning a puck battle along the boards before skating in uncontested and ripping a wrist shot glove side past Arvid Soderblom.<\/p>\n

scoop and shoot pic.twitter.com\/QO1vHliO2K<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 11, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

The Blues extended their lead to 4-2 with 2:40 left in the second. Jonatan Berggren stopped just inside the blue line before passing to a rushing Cam Fowler, and the defenseman chipped the puck over Soderblom\u2019s blocker from low in the right circle.<\/p>\n

scoop and shoot pic.twitter.com\/QO1vHliO2K<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 11, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Dalibor Dvorsky made it 5-2 for the St. Louis Blues just over seven minutes into the third period, hammering home a one-timer from the right circle off a cross-ice feed from Jake Neighbours.<\/p>\n

Dalibor Dvorsky’s turn to get one. #stlblues<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/FR42dMCgYL<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) April 11, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

The Blackhawks got one back at 13:35 of the third when Mikheyev buried an open-net feed from Tyler Bertuzzi, who set him up with a spinning pass. That was as close as Chicago got, though, as they fell 5-3 to the Blues.<\/p>\n

let’s take a look at that \ud835\udc02\ud835\udc00\ud835\udc11\ud835\udc04\ud835\udc04\ud835\udc11-\ud835\udc07\ud835\udc08\ud835\udc06\ud835\udc07 goal\ud83e\udee1 https:\/\/t.co\/tZ6tBz2QGB<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/UKJKEQUBC1<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 11, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Notes<\/p>\n

This game wasn\u2019t nearly as bad as the one against the Carolina Hurricanes, but the Blackhawks also didn\u2019t perform particularly well for large stretches of it and that\u2019s ultimately what cost them a winnable game. Below are the 5-on-5 expected goals for both teams when adjusted for score, venue, and flurry shots, and it feels pretty representative of the flow of the game. Mostly that the Blues led a lot of the game, but the Blackhawks had their moments and did catch up \u2014 and technically surpass \u2014 their opponent at the end. <\/p>\n

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The Blackhawks seemed to have a decent start, but some defensive issues and an inability to exit the zone particularly well led to a quick surge by the Blues and a goal. The Blackhawks managed to score during a fairly even stretch of play to close the period tied. The period ended with the Blues leading in attempts (21-15), shots on goal (13-5), and expected goals (the Blackhawks had just a 25.96 percent share).<\/p>\n

The second period featured another good push from the Blackhawks to start, even if a major mistake by Lafferty caused an early goal against (cutting him some slack for having to play defense as a forward). At one point, the Blackhawks even had nearly 60 percent of the shot attempts. Still, the Blues took over a bit after their power-play goal: St. Louis wasn\u2019t necessarily more dangerous consistently, but they definitely had the puck more and took advantage of a lot of messy, disjointed play by the Blackhawks. The period ended fairly even: attempts were deadlocked at 15-15 while shots on goal favored the Blackhawks (10-8), though expected goals did not (42.86 percent).<\/p>\n

Side note: Coach Jeff Blashill stated he believes the Blackhawks actually out chanced the Blues in the second, which is interesting and shows the team does have a different measure for scoring chances than publicly available models.<\/p>\n

Asked Blashill what changed in the 2nd period: “We out-chanced them 8-5, so you tell me. It\u2019s funny how the score dictates our view of things. They scored; we didn\u2019t.”<\/p>\n

“I can\u2019t sit here and say the ice was tilted or it went bad one way. The period wasn\u2019t a whole lot different\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 12, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Again, the Blackhawks opened the third period quite well \u2014 it was objectively their best concentrated effort in terms of quality looks all game, and honestly a shame they didn\u2019t score because it could have changed the direction of the game. The Blues got some momentum back, and even though the Blackhawks did a decent job suppressing the most high-danger looks, the Blues still scored their fifth goal. Credit to the Blackhawks for continuing to push until the end, and that effort did result in a final goal, but it still wasn\u2019t enough to overcome the issues earlier in the game. The third period ended with the Blackhawks holding the edge in attempts (16-7), shots on goal (10-5), and expected goals (75 percent). As they say: too little, too late.<\/p>\n

Jeff Blashill: <\/p>\n

\u201cI would say there\u2019s probably a fragility to our team right now, more than even fatigue. I think some guys are starting to really probably struggle a little bit.<\/p>\n

The issue with where we\u2019re at is we don\u2019t have guys to lean on to pick you up a little bit when\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Kalen Lumpkins (@kalenalumpkins) April 12, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Blashill with a what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger attitude. #Blackhawks<\/a> <\/p>\n

“I would argue these are the things you have to go through in order to grow. You don’t grow without any kind of failure. You just don’t, & we’re experiencing that now.”<\/p>\n

\u2014 Gail Kauchak (@littlegailk) April 12, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Greene echoed the thoughts about fatigue playing a role in the current poor performance of the Blackhawks and, while that wasn\u2019t a good enough excuse, he also agrees that the hardships will ultimately make the team stronger:<\/p>\n

Ryan Greene on the rough start to the final home stand: <\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s obviously late in the year and it gets tiring at this point, for sure, but that’s no excuse. <\/p>\n

We’re trying to finish strong here. We still have two games left and want to make a good case for the fans here in the\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Kalen Lumpkins (@kalenalumpkins) April 12, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Ryan Greene on the #Blackhawks<\/a> young group: <\/p>\n

\u201cI think all of us being here, for the second half of the season especially, & kind of going through this together. I think it’s only going to make us stronger heading into next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Gail Kauchak (@littlegailk) April 11, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

The big news items during the game were Frank Nazar and Andrew Mangiapane both leaving the game with injuries. Mangiapane was hurt when he slid into the Blues goal feet first and Nazar took a puck to the face, a scary moment considering Nazar broke his jaw earlier this season in basically the same manner.<\/p>\n

Frank Nazar takes another puck to the face and goes straight to the locker room: pic.twitter.com\/EgBCncG1F7<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) April 11, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Luckily, it looks like nothing was broken and Nazar just needed dental work, though Nazar is now considered day-to-day and could possibly miss the next game. No other update was given about Mangiapane except that he, too, is listed as day-to-day.<\/p>\n

Blashill said Frank Nazar “will be alright,” just needed some dental work. Avoided worst-case scenario.<\/p>\n

Mangiapane and Del Mastro are both day-to-day.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 11, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

In terms of individual efforts, Bedard, Mikheyev, and Greene had good offensive performances and Anton Frondell contributed a lot of shots. He actually led the team with 10 shot attempts in all situations, which is honestly pretty crazy. Six of those were on goal, but quality was a bit lower than his other games with only three being scoring chances. Here are the expected goals at 5-on-5 and in all situations:<\/p>\n

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For the defensemen, Alex Vlasic was fine enough, Kaiser had some some really nice plays then some really bad ones, and Sam Rinzel and Louis Crevier were mostly non-factors. That\u2019s about all I got for them. <\/p>\n

As for the other two, a little rant coming \u2026<\/p>\n

Ahead of the game, Ethan Del Mastro was ruled out of playing \u2014 due to what we thought was an illness but was actually a minor injury sustained from the last game \u2014 so Lafferty had to play as a defenseman. Originally, it was assumed this was a very late decision and that, combined with the Rockford IceHogs having a game tonight, made it so the Blackhawks were unable to recall someone \u2014 but apparently that was not the case:<\/p>\n

The Blackhawks had time to call up another D from Rockford to replace Del Mastro, but they opted to give Lafferty the opportunity instead because he’s familiar with the system, has been a good teammate all year and has played D before in college and world championships.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) April 12, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Blashill\u2019s reasoning for not recalling someone is just weird to me.<\/p>\n

First, Lafferty knows the system, sure, but mostly as a forward. He does occasionally fill in at defense during practice, but that\u2019s not the same thing as playing there in a game, and it showed tonight because he looked really fucking bad on defense. Not blaming Lafferty at all \u2014 that\u2019s just how it was. Second, the IceHogs run a pretty similar system to the Blackhawks, so I\u2019m unsure why that would disqualify the guys down there. And if Blashill genuinely thinks the Rockford system is too far off from his own, then why is the Chicago organization allowing that? The AHL and NHL teams should be running similar systems for development and training purposes. Third, Lafferty has never actually played defense for more than a game or two in a row, even at the World Championships \u2014 and that was with a much better team than this Blackhawks roster, so it wasn\u2019t really a big deal. The \u201che\u2019s been a good teammate all year\u201d part makes it sound like Blashill just wanted to reward Lafferty for being a good sport about warming the bench all season, which is pretty silly too.<\/p>\n

To be clear: normally, I wouldn\u2019t care much about flimsy reasoning like this in a season that\u2019s effectively dead, except this decision negatively impacted Kevin Korchinski, who had his worst game since being recalled. After the first shift with Lafferty, when he was badly out of coverage, Korchinski looked significantly more uncomfortable than he has in any other game. I\u2019m not saying every mistake Korchinski made was due to Lafferty, it was just such a stark, negative difference from his other appearance so far that the whole situation seemed to throw him off. And he looked much better when away from Lafferty: Korchinski had some standout offensive plays, mostly playmaking in those moments. It\u2019s a bummer the negatives outweighed the positives in this one, that\u2019s all.<\/p>\n

But it was just one game, Lafferty did play less than 10 minutes, and it is what it is. I just found it vexing enough to discuss here \u2014 to get it off my chest basically. This was the 24th loss (including overtime and shootouts) I\u2019ve covered this season, I think I deserve a little rant every once in a while. I had a nice bowl of ice cream after writing this and feel better, thanks for asking! <\/p>\n

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PS: With this loss, the Blackhawks are now guaranteed to pick no lower than fifth in the upcoming draft. Chicago needs just one more loss (any kind) or for the Calgary Flames to pick up one point in their final four games for the Blackhawks to lock in top-four draft position.<\/p>\n

Game Charts<\/p>\n

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Three Stars<\/p>\n

Ilya Mikheyev (CHI) \u2014 2 goals<\/p>\n

Jonatan Berggren (STL) \u2014 2 assists<\/p>\n

Tyler Tucker (STL) \u2014 2 assists<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Next<\/p>\n

The Blackhawks\u2019 second-to-last game of the season is Monday at the United Center against the Buffalo Sabres at 7:30 p.m. <\/p>\n

\t