Hawks Hits: Blackhawks Have No Answers in 5-2 Loss to Blue Jackets

The last time these two teams met, back on Nov. 22, the Columbus Blue Jackets embarrassed the Chicago Blackhawks 7-3. Corey Perry was a last-minute scratch for unknown reasons, leading to a crazy few days of wild speculation and false rumors. Even though Tyler Johnson wouldn’t admit there wasn’t extra motivation in tonight’s rematch, you have to believe the guys in red wanted some revenge. They sure didn’t look like a team looking to wrong a right in a 5-2 loss, having the two-game season series swept by the Blue Jackets.

Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson revealed after today’s morning skate that he wanted to strike first and play with a lead tonight. That would not be the case, as the Blue Jackets scored just 33 seconds after the opening faceoff. Seth Jones mishandled a pass from Connor Bedard in the slot, and it went right to the stick of Alexandre Texier, who roofed over Arvid Soderblom. Later in the period, Boone Jenner doubled the lead by redirecting a Zach Werenski shot into the net. The helper gave Werenski eight assists in his last four games against the Blackhawks.

Philipp Kurashev got the Blackhawks on the board late in the first period. Connor Bedard started the play by knocking Alex Nylander off the puck in the corner. Ryan Donato was first to the puck and got it back to Bedard, who found Kurashev in front of the net for his 10^th goal of the season.

a Kurashev goal for your timeline 😌 pic.twitter.com/u2Ex9w56rH

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 3, 2024

Werenski picked up another assist early in the second period when Mathieu Olivier’s backhand shot leaked through the pads of Soderblom. Cole Sillinger gave Columbus a 4-1 lead by finishing a chaotic play that included Bedard laying on the ice after blocking a shot off his leg. Thankfully, the talented rookie made it back to the bench and did not miss a shift.

Kurashev nearly had another goal six minutes into the third period when he drove hard to the net. However, his shot went wide and bounced back off the end boards, and Donato was right there to sweep it past Elvis Merzlikins. Johnny Gaudreau capped off the scoring with a late empty-net goal.

The Blackhawks played better in the third period, but, like so many other games this season, it was far too late and too little to make a difference in the result.

Jay: Was This Tyler Johnson’s Last Game in Chicago?

The NHL Trade Deadline is this coming Friday, March 8th, at 2pm Chicago time, and while the Blackhawks aren’t expected to be super active, they have some veterans on expiring contracts that could be appealing to contending teams. 

Tyler Johnson headlines that list. 

The savvy veteran has 12 goals and six assists in 46 games this season, and while that may not seem all that appealing, Johnson is a two-time Stanley Cup Champion and a versatile forward capable of playing center or wing. 

The trade deadline was a hot topic of conversation with Johnson ahead of Saturday’s loss to the Blue Jackets. “It’s pretty hard to not completely think about it,” Johnson said of the deadline. “I’ve been in a lot of rumors in a lot of years…that’s just how it is. You see a lot of guys go that have been here all year and they’re family and friends, so it’s tough to see them leave.”

While Johnson is very likely Chicago’s most valuable trade piece, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be dealt. The team is thin enough up front right now, but the imminent return of Andreas Athanasiou and a call-up of Lukas Reichel could help fill in the gap of Johnson’s potential departure. 

That said, the return the Hawks could get for Johnson may not carry the value of keeping him around to see the season through. 

Either way, we’ll have your full Trade Deadline coverage, beginning Friday at 1:30pm. 

Greg: Ryan Donato Gets Another Crack on the Bedard Line

When we got to morning skate today, we expected to see changes to the Blackhawks lines. Ryan Donato replaced Anthony Beauvillier on the top line after Beauvillier’s turnover led directly to a Colorado Avalanche goal. Donato remained on Connor Bedard’s left wing to start tonight’s game.

“They played together earlier this year, and Donato is a guy who goes to the net, and he’s a shooter,” Richardson said of Donato and Bedard. “It looked good at the end of last game when we tried something, and we thought we’d give it a go tonight.”

Donato started the campaign on Bedard’s line, along with Taylor Hall, and scored the Blackhawks’ first goal of the season against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Richardson was hopeful that his grittiness and offensive ability would give Bedard and Philipp Kurashev the element to their line they had been missing.

“Goals are hard to come by these days, so the closer we are to the net, the better,” Richardson said. “Guys like Donato and Foligno are around the net quite a bit and are hard there, so that’s good for rebounds. We’re going low to high to get our point shots through. That’s been working pretty well for us lately, so having guys around the net are going to help, not just for tips, but for rebounds and second chances.”

Donato had an eventful first period. Midway through the opening frame, he was set up nicely right in front of the net by Kevin Korchinski, but Adam Boqvist got just enough of the pass with his stick to cause Donato to duff it wide of the goal. Later in the period, he picked up his 11^th assist of the season on the Kurashev goal. He got himself an excellent scoring chance from the high slot by forcing a turnover in the second period but was denied by Merzlikin’s right leg.

His goal in the third period was exactly what you’d expect from Donato. He trailed the play, stopped right in front of the net, and was rewarded with a fortunate bounce for his seventh goal of the season.

do not blink, Donato scores! pic.twitter.com/xi8oPiE3Cp

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) March 3, 2024

Donato’s eventful night included being on the ice for five goals, three against and two for. He had a goal, an assist, two shots on goal, four shot attempts and three hits in 18:oo of total ice time. There is no reason to take him off this line for the next game in Colorado.

Mario: Arvid Söderblom is not an NHL goalie

I’ve run out of leash for the Arvid Söderblom experiment in Chicago. We all expected him to take a step forward this season after having good flashes last year, but being the victim of poor goal-support and bad defense. This season, it’s on him and I don’t see a future for him in the NHL, barring a miraculous change of course between the end of this season and beginning of next.

We expected steps forward, but he’s taken steps backward. Often flailing in net, not seeing shots until the happen to hit him, and giving up rebound after rebound, Söderblom has not shown the ability to handle an NHL workload as a backup.

His 2-18-1 record in 21 starts this season is shocking. He holds a .876 save-percentage and a 3.97 GAA. Out of 69 goalies who have played 10 games or more this season, Söderblom has the least wins, second-worst save-percentage (ahead of Antti Raanta), and worst GAA. He is still under contract for the 2024-25 season, but I don’t know how the Blackhawks can go back to him and Petr Mrazek as a tandem next year. Even without contending for a playoff spot next year, there is no confidence to be had from this team when Söderblom is in net, and you can’t play Mrazek 70 games.

Drew Commesso is going to be given a ton of time to develop in Rockford and Jaxson Stauber is on an expiring deal, so he would need to be brought back to be in the mix. Even then, both Commesso and Stauber have hovered around a .900 save-percentage each this season with the Rockford IceHogs. It’s unlikely that there’s much improvement over Söderblom at the NHL level from either of those goaltenders as it stands now.

If the Blackhawks wanted to push Söderblom in training camp with some real competition for the backup spot, they could (should) bring in a veteran goaltender to act as an insurance policy, and likely a “Plan A,” as a backup. If you don’t want to sign a free agent goalie this summer who has already spent time in the organization, I’d think goaltenders like Cam Talbot, David Rittich, or Laurent Brossoit should be getting calls from Kyle Davidson. If they work out, great. If Söderblom responds to the push for ice-time and shows improvements, great.

Win-win-win.

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