Two teams without much to play for over the final month of the regular season looked very much like that as the Chicago Blackhawks lost 2-0 on the road to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night.
The game seemed to start in Chicago’s favor, with an Artem Zub trip of Philipp Kurashev putting the Blackhawks on the power play just nine seconds into the first. But that man advantage led to a Claude Giroux shorthanded goal after a Chicago zone entry was foiled just inside the Ottawa blue line, resulting in an odd-man rush the other way:
About five minutes later, Parker Kelly was the beneficiary after a Connor Bedard turnover led to a golden scoring opportunity for the Senators that they converted into a 2-0 lead:
There was a little bit of argy-bargy between Nick Foligno and Tim Stutzle later on in the game:
Outside of that, the final 40 minutes were otherwise uneventful, save for a few hopeless flails at Chicago’s empty net by Ottawa in the last few minutes.
Notes
- Seemed like Bedard was going for a bank pass to Kurashev on that turnover before the second Ottawa goal. Would’ve been cool if he’d pulled it off, but he’ll learn that the high slot of the defensive zone is not the place where riskier plays like that can be attempted.
- Also, that’s now five games without a goal for Bedard and just two points in the last four games overall. Feels like a market correction will be on the way shortly.
- Reichel had a neat scoring chance near the end of the second period and several other moments where he again looked like an offensive threat, but it’d also be nice if more of those moments resulted in points — he has just one of those in his six gams since being recalled from Rockford.
- Wyatt Kaiser’s poke check seems like it’s going to be his primary defensive weapon at the NHL level and he’s becoming quite good at timing it just right yo immediately halt whatever offensive chance is attempting to blossom.
- Did not have “Anton Forsberg Revenge Game” on the ol’ bingo card for this season. That he only had to make 19 saves explains just how dull the offensive blade was for the Blackhawks in this game.
- Did you know the Blackhawks had an 11-game winning streak against the Senators? I did not know the Blackhawks had an 11-game winning streak against the Senators. It does not matter now, because the Blackhawks no longer have an 11-game winning streak against the Senators. It had dated back to Dec. 20, 2016.
- Would describe this one as “aggressively boring” overall and anyone who did something else for the 2.5 hours this game took spent their time far wiser than those of us who watched.
- Only nine games left!
Game Charts
Three Stars
- Anton Forsberg (OTT) — 19 saves, shutout
- Parker Kelly (OTT) — 1 goal
- Claude Giroux (OTT) — 1 goal
What’s Next
The Blackhawks’ road trip returns to this side of the border on Saturday night against the Philadelphia Flyers for a 6:30 p.m. start.