The Blackhawks kicked off their three-game road trip on Tuesday night, facing the Lightning in Tampa Bay. Landon Slaggert made his season debut for Chicago, while Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was a late scratch due to an illness. Arvid Söderblom would face Jonas Johansson in the goaltending matchup.

Game Summary

Tampa got on the board early, as Nikita Kucherov beat Alex Vlasic to the front of the net. His pass found Brayden Point, who snuck behind Jason Dickinson and into the slot, and it was 1-0 Lightning.

Tampa Bay would head to the power play with just over seven minutes to go in the period as Nick Foligno, Seth Jones, Michael Eyssimont, and Zemgus Girgensons mixed things up at center ice. Foligno got an extra roughing call on the exchange. The Hawks would kill it off, but the next shift, Pat Maroon boarded Luke Glendening, then took an extra unsportsmanlike conduct call after the play, giving Tampa a four-minute power play.

Thanks to a pair of great saves from Söderblom, a courageous shot-block by Dickinson, and some puck luck, the Hawks killed off the first 3:43 to end the period, then defended the remaining seventeen seconds to start the second.

Chicago would get their first power play eight minutes into the second period after a few terrific sustained shifts in the offensive zone. Twenty-four seconds later, Erik Cernak crushed Teuvo Teräväinen, who never touched the puck, and the Hawks would have a 5-on-3 power play for 1:36 after Cernak was called for interference.

After several great scoring chances with the man advantage, Connor Bedard sniped a beauty over Johansson’s left shoulder from an impossible angle, and the game was tied at one. Within seconds, Bedard’s name was trending on social media. These are the kinds of goals Hawks fans dreamed of when they drafted Bedard. We’ll see this goal on Blackhawks montages for years to come.

18:14 into the period, Slaggert gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead after ripping a snap shot through a Victor Hedman screen and behind Johansson. “[Slaggert] brought a lot of energy,” Bedard said after the game. “It was great to see him put one in, but his whole game…he was buzzing around and making stuff happen.”

Tampa began the third putting pressure on the Hawks, but Söderblom and his teammates didn’t break. 8:02 into the period, Philipp Kurashev led a rush with Jones and Ryan Donato. Kurashev dished to Donato, who dropped the puck to Jones. Jones’ shot went inches wide, but the puck caromed out the other side and right in front to Donato.

3-1 Chicago.

With six minutes left, chaos ensued. Bedard got called for a trip but was then boarded by Eyssimont. Bertuzzi came to Bedard’s defense and was called for roughing. Eyssimont got an extra minor for his confrontation with Bertuzzi, so after all that, five-on-five hockey.

Söderblom would hold off the Lightning, who pulled Johansson with over three minutes to go. Teräväinen would add the empty-netter to seal the Blackhawks’ 4-1 win.

Jay’s Final Thoughts

• Full disclosure: I write the recap as things are fresh in my mind, so these final thoughts will start salty and end happily.

• On Tuesday’s pregame show, Mario Tirabassi and I were frustrated that the Hawks had the opportunity to play nine players under the age of 23, then opted to dress TJ Brodie and scratch Colton Dach and Nolan Allan. Of course, Brodie ended the game with a team-high 68% Corsi For percentage. It’s not even so much about Brodie as it is about having young players learn at the NHL level. Dach did nothing to earn a scratch. I hope we get a chance to see the “youth-optimized” Hawks on this road trip.

• On that same train of thought, Ethan Del Mastro‘s game was a good example of what I’m talking about. He had some great moments in this game, especially in the offensive zone, but there were a pair of moments where he got beaten badly. He can only learn to read and react to those situations by experiencing them. Did Allan learn anything watching it happen to Del Mastro while in the press box? Probably not.

• I found myself extremely frustrated during the first period. Maroon and Foligno took undisciplined penalties. This after Tampa went 3-for-3 on the power play four days ago. During the second intermission, assistant coach Kevin Dean said Foligno’s actions woke up the team. I’ll take his word for it, but I’d much rather see players, especially veteran players, pick their spots better. Tyler Bertuzzi was a guy picking his spots, standing up for both Teräväinen and Bedard after Tampa got a bit too familiar. Taking penalties whilst defending teammates I can live with. Taking penalties because you’re personally frustrated I can not.

• I underestimated Frank Nazar‘s all-around game. While he didn’t end up on the score sheet on Tuesday, his impact was felt in all three zones. He is a willing and competent defender and forechecker. Anders Sorensen trusts him on the penalty kill and even had him on the ice when Tampa had the empty net. Once the scoring consistency comes for him, and I’m certain it will, he’ll be a dynamic piece for this organization for years to come.

• I loved the way the Hawks played in the third period. Yes, Tampa had the edge in play, outshooting Chicago 9-5, but that’s the kind of lead-defending you can live with. They didn’t get caved in and outshot 15-1. Yes, they were slightly more conservative defending the lead, but they didn’t just sit back and wait to lose like we’ve seen so many times this season. Baby steps?

• What can you say about Söderblom’s performance? He was absolutely outstanding in the win. I noticed how calm and poised he looked all game, especially when all hell seemed to be breaking loose in front of his net. After the game, he confirmed what I had seen. “I feel confident, I feel calm, and that’s when you play your best.”

Nuggets and Timbits

• Tuesday afternoon, defenseman Kevin Korchinski was named an AHL All-Star. In 31 games with Rockford, the 20-year-old defenseman has two goals and 15 assists for 17 points. He joins teammate Cole Guttman and current Blackhawks forward Frank Nazar as AHL All-Stars.

• With Vasilevskiy’s scratch, Tampa called on Kyle Konin as their emergency backup goalie (EBUG). Konin owns Nujax Airbrush, a goalie-mask painting business. Rockford goalie Drew Commesso is one of his clients. (h/t to Phil Thompson for this nugget)

• Notre Dame legend Landon Slaggert has one goal in one game this season, putting him on an 82-goal pace. ☘️

• Bedard’s second-period goal was his fifth point in two games at Amelie Arena. You may recall his four-point night from November of 2023. He had 19:16 of ice time, three shots, 12 (!) shot attempts, and won 83% (5/6) of his faceoffs in Tuesday’s win.

• With his two assists, Jones now has nine points in his last six games. Jones ended the night with 23:50 of ice time, one shot, three shot attempts, three hits and two blocked shots. He’s played extremely well since his disastrous performance vs Calgary on January 13th.

• With the win, the Blackhawks have points in four of their last five games. It was their first road win since December 9th.

• REMINDER: Alex Vlasic joins the CHGO Blackhawks Podcast on Wednesday at 2:30 pm.