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Do You Remember the First Time? Utah 5, Blackhawks 2

A couple of decent debuts during an otherwise dismal day.

Posted on by Dave Melton
Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

A couple of Blackhawks rookies making NHL debuts offered some encouraging moments during an otherwise discouraging Sunday afternoon, as the Blackhawks lost 5-2 to the Utah Hockey Club at the United Center.

The first period was scoreless but the second was not, starting with this Nick DeSimone goal at the 8:21 mark of the middle period:

Joe Veleno tied the game at one with this nifty move at the end of a mini-breakaway:

Chicago took the lead when Ryan Donato pounced on this rebound from a Connor Bedard shot to make it a 2-1 Hawks advantage:

Utah regained the lead for good with a pair of goals in 31 seconds, with the first credited to Mikhail Sergachev after his point shot went in off the skate of Kevin Korchinski:

The second was yet another ricochet into the net, this time off the stick of Alexander Kerfoot:

Utah piled it on in the third, with Kailer Yamamoto making it a 4-2 Utah advantage after he turned this Chicago turnover into a goal:

Logan Cooley added the fifth and final Utah goal:

Notes

If Sam Rinzel consistently looks like that, then there will be no reason to ever send him to Rockford. On just his second NHL shift, Rinzel displayed the hockey sense/vision he’s developed in college and walked into this open space to take in a pass from Bedard and fire a shot on net:

There were plenty of other subtle moments throughout the game when Rinzel made plays that had him looking the part of a future blue-liner capable of skating over 20 minutes a night. Several such instances were noted during this shift from the middle of the second period:

Rinzel also seemed to have a habit of keeping plays alive at the offensive blue line with smooth poke checks or by skating himself into a position to retain the puck. In a game when Chicago was absolutely buried in possession by Utah (more on that in a bit), Rinzel was above water with a 51.35 percent shot attempt share at 5-on-5 and also had a 45.33 percent expected goal share that was second among defenseman. The only one better was his most frequent blue-line partner: Wyatt Kaiser at 55.45 percent. Oh, and Rinzel did all that with an offensive zone start percentage at 28.57. There’s so, so much to like here and it’ll be fun to see where it goes from here.

Moore wasn’t quote as noticeable as his fellow Minnesota teammate, other than providing confirmation that his speed is going to serve him very well in his NHL career. He did have the best shot attempt share on the team (62.50 percent) and a decent 47.62 percent expected goal share, so more good things happened while he was on the ice than not. Moore did benefit from the most generous offensive zone start percentage on the team (62.50 percent) but he also took advantage of it.

There was a play late in the second period when Levshunov was holding the puck behind his net as a pair of forecheckers closed in. As cool as can be, Levshunov moved a step or two to his left while shifting the puck to his backhand and then flipped a perfect breakout pass through Soderblom’s crease to a streaking Ryan Donato. The play itself was smooth enough, but the casual way Levshunov made it happen — like he isn’t a teenager playing pro hockey — is a small glimpse into everything he could be if the potential is fully realized.

That said, Levshunov also needs to do better with that breakout pass from Vlasic just before the Yamamoto goal. Initially, he had his stick down and was looking in Vlasic’s direction for a pass. But Levshunov appeared to give up on that notion as Vlasic moved up the boards and wasn’t prepared for the puck to come his way, leading to a turnover and eventual goal against. We can call that a rookie mistake and move on from it. That wasn’t his only rookie mistake but it was one of the more noticeable ones.

A consistent problem Chicago’s lack of team speed has caused this season is a player getting swarmed by opponents in the neutral or offensive zone and avoiding a turnover in a bad spot of the ice by simply throwing the puck up the boards, which is the safe play to make but also gives the puck away to the other team. It still happens to guys like Maroon and Foligno but, as this team continues adding speed, the skaters on this team won’t be such easy targets for puck pressure and this team will finally be able to sustain some freaking possession in the offensive zone. And then more sequences like this will happen:

I have no idea how this isn’t a penalty. Extremely fortunate Vlasic was OK.

Don’t want to paint too rosy of a picture here because this was still a rather lopsided game, both on the scoreboard and in terms of overall possession. Utah had a 71.27 percent expected goal share at 5-on-5 for the game, generating 4.36 expected goals overall — the single highest mark the Blackhawks have allowed this season and the most since the Oilers put up a 4.37 on Jan. 28, 2023. While Utah has been an excellent possession team this season, they do not have a Connor McDavid nor a Leon Draisaitl. For all the individual moments of brilliance displayed by some of the kids in this game, this was still a rather abysmal collective performance from this team and serves as another reminder that the Blackhawks coach for next season should absolutely not be the guy who has behind the bench for this one.

Game Charts

Three Stars

  1. Alexander Kerfoot (UTA) — 1 goal, 2 assists
  2. Mikhail Sergachev (UTA) — 1 goal, 1 assist
  3. John Marino (UTA) — 2 assists

What’s Next

The Blackhawks finish off this homestand on Wednesday night against the Avalanche at 8:30 p.m.

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