The Chicago Blackhawks blew a two-goal lead and allowed five unanswered goals, ultimately dropping the game 5-2 to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday night at the United Center.
Ryan Donato got the Blackhawks on the board first, 16:56 into the opening frame. Connor Bedard brought everyone to him as he entered the zone and then passed to a trailing Donato in the high slot, who used a Montreal defensemen as a screen to score.
The Blackhawks went up 2-0 at 3:43 into the second period. Colin Blackwell went for a breakaway, danced around the slot to keep the puck, and eventually set up Jason Dickinson for the goal.
Unfortunately, Montreal answered just 37 seconds later as Mitchell Stephens tipped a Mike Matheson shot past Petr Mrazek to make it 2-1.
The Canadiens tied the game 2-2 after Sean Monahan set Josh Anderson up for a backdoor one-timer with 4:58 remaining in the second.
Juraj Slafkovsky gave Montreal their first lead of the game about a minute-and-a-half later. Nick Suzuki’s shot hit Isaak Phillips’ skate in front of the net, and Slafkovsky spun around to sweep the puck into an open cage to make it 3-2 Habs.
The Canadiens doubled their lead with 6:49 left in the game as Nick Suzuki cleaned up a rebound created by Cole Caufield.
Jake Evans looked to give the Habs a 5-2 lead 10 seconds later, but the Blackhawks successfully challenged for offsides and the goal was overturned.
The disallowed goal didn’t really matter, though, and David Savard added an empty-netter with 1:56 remaining to make it 5-2 after all.
Notes
- It was a slow start for both teams — the Blackhawks didn’t even have a shot on goal until almost 9 minutes in — and it favored the Canadiens slightly overall at 5-on-5, but the Blackhawks really picked it up in the final 7 minutes or so, which led to the goal. Chicago ultimately had more scoring chances (11-10) but less high danger ones (3-7).
- The second was another decently close affair in terms of trading puck possession and chances, though the Habs were definitely the more opportunistic team overall. The Blackhawks also hit double digits (10) in high-danger chances against at 5-on-5 by the end of the second, falling back on their bad habit of allowing too many shots from in close.
- The third period, unfortunately, was a real letdown: the Blackhawks had just 2 shots on goal and 5 shot attempts through the first 12 minutes of the period, and then they gave up an insurance goal to the Habs. Chicago did better after the disallowed goal, but still had just 6 shots on goal the whole period. T’was too little, too late at that point.
- It’s not that the Blackhawks were playing poorly, there were just a few too many defensive breakdowns and they couldn’t keep up with the Habs’ pressure when it counted. Five unanswered goals is kind of ridiculously disappointing. Again, a mixture of youthful inexperience working through kinks and older but not exactly better quality players on a team built specifically to contend for the draft lottery.
- Korchinski had an alright first game back after missing some time, though his decision to go puck chasing played a major role in the second goal against. It was his only major mistake of the game, though, even if it was an egregious one.
- The third goal against was mostly bad luck and not about Phillips positioning, which was fine. He was practically glued to Slafkovsky and the initial shot was going way wide. Unfortunately, it instead deflected off Phillips’ skate and would have gone in regardless of Slafkovsky’s swat, so Phillips coverage didn’t really impact that play at all.
- Tinordi playing over Roos is fine to me for the most part because Roos isn’t likely in the Blackhawks long-term plans but, when Vlasic gets back, they better not sit Phillips or Crevier in favor of Tinordi or Zaitsev until they really mess up or need a breather.
- On the bright side, the Blackhawks did have some wow moments beyond just the goals. I mean, Beauvillier would have had a highlight-reel worthy goal in the first if not for Jayden Struble taking a puck to the midsection while standing in the net. And it was still close as the puck just trickled by the post.
- Dickinson’s goal was his 10th of the season, a career-high for him. He’s making it harder on the Blackhawks on how to handle him come trade deadline time: surely there will be interested parties, but do they keep him as good depth forward for what should be an even younger team next season?
- It’s really impressive how Blackwell has played tonight and last game after being away from hockey for so long. The insane sequence ahead of the Dickinson goal was just one of many strong shifts — though yes, that was the best one — from him and his line. Yes, his giveaway did lead to the fourth goal against, but he was otherwise pretty great.
- It looked like Blackwell got hurt very late in the third when he lost an edge and hit the boards awkwardly. Richardson said post-game Blackwell was “fine” but we’ll know more tomorrow what that actually means.
- Montreal isn’t expected to make the playoffs this season, but they’ve taken a good step forward this year in their rebuild with a lot of their young players clicking. In fact, they’re one example of a rebuild working slowly but surely, at least according to our sister-site Eyes on the Prize, that could give some perspective on the Blackhawks own rebuild in terms of timeline. Chicago’s rebuild will hopefully be smoother, as Montreal has made some unforced errors, such as jumping the gun by trading Mikhail Sergachev for Jonathan Drouin in 2017 and selecting Jesperi Kotkaniemi over Brady Tkachuk in 2018. However, they look on track now and their best offensive line this season is proof of that: Suzuki (drafted 13th overall, 2017, Caufield (15th overall, 2019), and Slafkovsky (1st overall, 2022). That’s still 6 years since the first of those three guys were drafted, though.
- The Blackhawks obviously have a better starting player in Bedard, with some hopefully good kids coming up in the near future like Frank Nazar, Oliver Moore, and a top-3 pick from the 2024 draft, along with a stabilizing group of young defensemen already cementing or vying for NHL time. But it shows there’s likely still some time before the Blackhawks are on the upswing. Patience will be key in the next few seasons, though hopefully next season will, at least, involve more winning and fun along the way.
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Nick Suzuki (MTL) — 1 goal, 1 assist
- Juraj Slafkovsky (MTL) — 1 goal, 1 assist
- Colin Blackwell (CHI) — 1 assist
What’s Next
The Blackhawks are right back at it on Saturday, heading to St. Louis to take on the Blues for a 7 p.m. start.