The Chicago Blackhawks lost to the Boston Bruins 3-0 in what is quickly becoming a frustratingly familiar fashion at the United Center on Tuesday night.
Both teams traded some basic chances through the opening half of the first period before Nick Foligno drew a tripping penalty with 12 minutes gone. On the ensuing power play Charlie Coyle threw a blind backhand pass that floated right to a wide open Connor Bedard in the slot and Bedard absolutely did not miss, ripping one high over Jeremy Swayman’s glove hand. HOWEVA…
Boston challenged that the play was offside and on the review it appeared as though Andreas Athanasiou was maybe an eyebrow hair over (dude has some strong brows) and the goal was overturned.
Four minutes into the second period, the Bruins won a puck battle in the Hawks’ zone and Jake DeBrusk fed Kevin Shattenkirk for a wrist shot at the point. Pavel Zacha was camped out in front of Petr Mrazek and was able to get his stick out to redirect the puck and send it fluttering past Mrazek for the game’s first goal.
The Hawks came out aggressive in the first few minutes of the third. Four minutes in, Corey Perry decided to try and walk the Bruins’ blue line on his backhand but a speedy Matthew Poitras poked the puck away, easily won the race against Perry, then slipped it by Mrazek on a breakaway.
Just 56 seconds later, Connor Murphy lost his stick during a Boston rush and a 3-on-2 became a 2-on-0 in front of the Blackhawks’ net where James van Riemsdyk slid the puck across to Trent Frederic for a tap in.
There was some line noodling late, but the Hawks’ weren’t able to score against the Bruins and Swayman.
Notes
- Tired: Complaining about the fact that Athanasiou was called offside and Bedard’s goal was reversed.
Wired: Complaining about how ridiculous the offside rule is in the first place. At this point, I have absolutely no idea why offsides isn’t being treated the same way as a high stick or a hand pass in that it’s negated once the opposing team controls the puck. Boston held the puck two separate times after AA entered their zone on the power play, including the puck that was handled by Coyle that he then fed perfectly to Bedard. - The Bruins may be 6-0, but so far they’ve beaten exactly one team that was in the playoffs last year (and Boston should know just how little regular season records matter at this point). Colorado and Vegas are clearly a different class of team, but that’s precisely what makes both of the losses to the Bruins so frustrating. The Hawks hung with them for the first half of both games, then just faded away.
- That being said, Jeremy Swayman gave up absolutely no rebounds or second chances. He may not have had to do all that much to earn the shutout, but he did enough.
- We certainly were gifted a Corey Perry Special tonight, weren’t we? First, the brutal decision to try and carry the line on his backhand and then trying to start a dumb fight for no reason after the game was all but decided. Want to know the best/worst part? He’s still the Blackhawks’ leading scorer.
- The margin of error for this team is somewhere close to zero right now. You have to live with the mistakes the kids are going to make, because that’s how they’re going to learn. You can hang the second and third goals completely on Perry and Connor Murphy, respectively, two players who are decidedly not kids.
- One veteran who has absolutely been as advertised so far is Nick Foligno, however. He’s decisive and aggressive and always seems to be skating forward with the puck. He also drew two penalties tonight. I haven’t watched all that much Columbus Blue Jackets hockey over the years (save for the end of that Tampa series), but man, he must have been something to watch in his heyday.
- Speaking of Foligno, Luke Richardson finally put Philip Kurashev out with him and Bedard for a few shifts at the end of the game. Hopefully that carries over on Friday night.
- Nothing but good things to say about Kurashev’s return as well. He was calm with the puck, made strong reads, and found seams that didn’t seem to be there for a lot of the other Hawks’ forwards. We’ve been waiting for him to realize the next level of playmaking potential we’ve been told is lurking somewhere beneath his surface, and his game tonight was a strong reminder why.
- Kevin Korchinski will get knocked for failing to get the puck out of the zone on the Bruins’ first goal but he absolutely made the right read on that play. There should have been puck support high to help clear the zone, so that’s not on him. That’s entirely on the forwards.
- I’m just going to leave this right here:
- I’m also going to leave this right here (we’ve got to enjoy something from tonight, right):
- Late in the game there was a scary moment Jason Dickinson’s skate caught Jakub Lauko near his eye. Lauko skated straight to the bench and did not return. Glad to hear that he seems to be doing just fine.
- A Vegas rematch is up next. All aboard the pain train!
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Jeremy Swayman – Shutout
- Pavel Zacha – GWG
- Petr Mrazek – 34 saves
What’s Next
The Blackhawks head back out on the road to face off against the Golden Knights in Las Vegas this Friday at 5 p.m. CST.