Morning Chirps: Blackhawks have to start playing selfish hockey

The Chicago Blackhawks played their final preseason game at the United Center and wrapped up their home-and-home series with the Minnesota Wild. Unfortunately, it was more of the same between these two squads, as the Blackhawks didn’t put up much of a fight in a 6-1 loss.

The Blackhawks were 13 seconds away from killing a four-minute Pat Maroon penalty. However, Marco Rossi scored on just the second shot allowed in 3:47 on the man advantage. Jonas Brodin doubled the lead four seconds later when his shot from center ice banked off Petr Mrazek. The veteran goaltender looked like he thought Brodin was going to dump in the puck and tried to cheat. Instead, the puck was on net and hit off his skate and went in. Not a great look.

Uff da pic.twitter.com/FyP8Wj2woi

— CHGO Blackhawks (@CHGO_Blackhawks) October 5, 2024

Seth Jones got the Blackhawks on the board late in the second period and seemed to breathe some life into the building. Unfortunately, Mats Zuccarello scored 35 seconds later. The Wild pulled away in the third period as Brock Faber and Marcus Johansson scored in the first two minutes of the final frame. Kirill Kaprisov added to the misery less than six minutes later.

These two teams will play each other four times during the regular season, twice in Chicago and twice in St. Paul. The Blackhawks will play their final preseason game against the St. Louis Blues in Milwaukee tonight. Today’s morning skate was scrapped, which likely means many of the same players will be dressing again.

Philipp Kurashev & Taylor Hall Don’t Rekindle Their Magic

Philipp Kurashev had a breakout season in 2023-24, setting career highs in goals, assists, and points. His 54 points were second on the team behind Connor Bedard. Some feel that the bump in production was solely because of being on Bedard’s line for much of the year. In the 14 games Bedard missed with a broken jaw, Kurashev had a goal and six points.

The plan to start the season is to have Bedard center newcomers Tyler Bertuzzi and Teuvo Teravainen. Kurashev has been given a shot at being the second-line center, and he’s taking advantage of it.

“I’ve loved his camp,” head coach Luke Richardson said Friday morning. “He was banged up a little bit in August coming into camp. He rehabbed and was 100%. Once he got going, I thought he was skating and shooting great and doing well at that center position. Unfortunately, we didn’t have our best second or third period last game, including him. Tonight will hopefully get him back skating and playing that confident game where he’s shooting the puck.”

Kurashev formed some instant chemistry with Taylor Hall when they played together against the Blues last Saturday. The duo was back together for the first time last night but were unable to get much going. Kurashev only had two shot attempts; one was blocked, and the other missed the net. The line with him, Hall, and Ilya Mikheyev had five shot attempts total versus six in 8:49 of 5v5 ice time. Kursashev had a personal 52.94 Corsi for percentage (CF%). The Blackhawks had nine shot attempts for and eight against when he was on the ice at 5v5.

Young Defensive Duo Holds Their Own

Two players who may not have been expected to still be in camp at this point are defensemen Isaak Phillips and Nolan Allan. Heading into training, many felt Kevin Korchinski, Ethan Del Mastro, and Wyatt Kaiser were the frontrunners to make the NHL roster. Korchinski and Del Mastro have already been reassigned to the Rockford IceHogs, and Kaiser was placed on injured reserve as he is dealing with an illness. This has left the door open for Phillips and Allan. Phillips has played 53 NHL games over the last three seasons, and Allan, a first-round pick in 2021, has yet to make his debut for the Blackhawks.

This young tandem was not only in the lineup against the Wild but also made up the third pairing. Richardson said he wanted them to play a simple and physical game ahead of the contest.

“When we do have some offensive zone time going, making the right decision whether to shoot the puck or get it down low,” he said. “It’s good for a physical defensive pairing to be on the O-zone. It’s not going to wear them out by playing that rugged style in their zone all night. They’re going to help on the penalty kill. They’re big guys. They don’t mind blocking shots—a simple game plan for them. Once or twice a game, when they get up the ice and get involved in the offense, that’s all they should be looking for. You shouldn’t be looking to lead the rushes or go end-to-end to change the game.”

The young duo took the game plan given to them to heart and, for the most part, executed it. They looked calm when they had the puck and were aggressive at the right time. One of the best offensive shifts of the entire game came in the second period while they were on the ice and getting the puck towards the net. They both still need some development in their own zone, as they were on the ice for two goals against, but they don’t seem out of place.

Quick Chirps

• The 6-1 final score looks terrible, but this game wasn’t as bad as Tuesday’s loss in Minnesota. They had two bad spurts that did them in. Giving up the goal from center ice four seconds after a power play goal, then giving up four goals in a span of eight minutes between the second and third periods. The other 51:56 wasn’t great, but it wasn’t awful either. The Blackhawks finished the game with two more 5v5 shot attempts than the Wild, 44 to 42. The difference came in scoring chances and high-danger scoring chances, losing those categories 26-16 and 12-6, respectively.
• This team needs to shoot more. Richardson has been begging for a more aggressive team from day one. Hopefully, with a deeper team this season, he can hold players accountable more than what we’ve seen in the past.
• The Blackhawks’ top line of Teravainen, Bedard, and Bertuzzi was the worst on the night. They finished with a 30.77 CF%, the lowest of the four lines. They had just eight shot attempts to 18 against. This line must play with the puck more if the team wants to win more games this season.
• Jones was very unhappy and frustrated in his postgame interview. This is what leadership looks like:

Hear from Seth Jones following the #Blackhawks 6-1 loss to the Wild to drop to a 0-4-1 preseason record

Join the postgame LIVE: https://t.co/QBHeRO6vrC pic.twitter.com/vhZ9xvnXfz

— CHGO Blackhawks (@CHGO_Blackhawks) October 5, 2024

• We must remember that this team has seven new players on the roster, eight if you want to include Hall, who only played 10 games last season. It is going to take some time for them to gel. This is still the preseason. There are too many veterans who have long track records of success for this to be the norm over 82 games. The Wild have been a juggernaut this preseason, scoring 4.5 per game. Why are they playing so well while the Blackhawks struggle? A huge reason is the very low roster turnover from last season. They know where their linemates will be and trust each other to be in the right places. The new Blackhawks are still figuring that out. It will get better.

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