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Face Down: Stars 4, Blackhawks 3 (OT)

A late goal forced OT but that’s where it all ended.

Posted on by L_B_R
Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Chicago Blackhawks forced overtime with their first 6-on-5 goal of the season, but the comeback ultimately fell short as they lost 4-3 when the Dallas Stars scored just 22 seconds into the extra frame.

The Blackhawks got the scoring going with two goals in the first half of the opening frame. First, at 6:59, Tyler Bertuzzi redirected Artyom Levshunov’s shot for a tip-in goal, putting the Blackhawks up 1-0.

Then Sam Rinzel made it 2-0 about two minutes later with a shot from the edge of the right circle. Teuvo Teravainen sent him the puck through the crease from behind the net after Oliver Moore went down hard into the post following a hit.

The Stars got on the board with 3:30 left in the first after Lian Bichsel’s long shot hit Nathan Bastian in the high slot and deflected in, cutting the Blackhawks’ lead to 2-1.

Mavrik Bourque tied the game 2-2 just 42 seconds into the third when his backhand shot from the side of the net hit the post and then bounced in off a falling Frank Nazar. Michael Bunting forced Alex Vlasic to turn over the puck in front of the goal.

Justin Hryckowian gave Dallas a 3-2 lead on the power play at 9:40 of the third. He picked up his own rebound and stashed a backhand home.

Connor Bedard tied it 3-3 for the Blackhawks with 1:20 left in regulation. With Arvid Soderblom pulled for the extra attacker, Bedard’s shot through traffic deflected in off the leg of Tyler Myers.

Miro Heiskanen scored 22 seconds into overtime to give the Stars a 4-3 win, slipping the puck five-hole on a drive to the net off a feed from Matt Duchene.

Notes

The Stars largely controlled the puck throughout the night, though some stretches were more competitive from the Blackhawks than others. The Blackhawks had a pretty solid start, particularly during the first half of the opening period. For a bit, things were fairly even, considering the general quality gap between the two teams. Dallas started to tilt the ice toward the end of the period, though, and their goal felt inevitable. By the end of the first, the Blackhawks were out-attempted 17-9, outshot 11-6, and held just 39.78 percent of the expected goals. Still, this was the period in which the Blackhawks had the most jump, which was great to see considering they haven’t exactly started games well too often in the back half of this season.

The second period ended up being the most balanced of the three, even if the first period felt more high pace from the Blackhawks. The Stars carried some of their late-first momentum into the period, but the Blackhawks did a decent job of preventing things from completely running off the rails. Shot attempts finished 20-14 and shots on goal 6-4 in favor of the Stars, but expected goals were essentially even, with the Blackhawks owning 49.94 percent. All things considered, the first 40 minutes were a pretty respectable effort from Chicago, especially given the caliber of opponent.

The third period, unfortunately, is where the Stars tightened their grip on the game. They dictated play for much of the frame and defended efficiently whenever the Blackhawks managed to get the puck. It wasn’t that Dallas was relentlessly firing everything at the net; instead, they were more surgically efficient, creating their chances while limiting Chicago’s ability to generate much of anything. There were also a few moments where the Blackhawks might have benefited from simply getting a shot off but didn’t pull the trigger. The underlying numbers reflected that shift: attempts were 15-9 and shots on goal 6-2 for the Stars, while the Blackhawks failed to generate a single high-danger chance and finished with just 14.81 percent of the expected goals.

Still, the 6-on-5 goal to force overtime was a nice sequence and notable simply because it was the first time the Blackhawks have actually converted in that situation this season. Unfortunately, overtime lasted all of 22 seconds: the Blackhawks couldn’t seem to get their feet under them quick enough, and against a team like the Stars, that was all the opening they needed.

Also of note: all of the shot metrics above are at 5-on-5, and once special teams are factored in, the Stars looked even more dangerous. Dallas finished the night with 32 shots on goal and 16 high-danger chances, compared to just 17 shots and seven high-danger chances for the Blackhawks. The Stars did have two more power plays than the Blackhawks, so some gap in the totals is expected, but that’s still a pretty sizable margin — which makes the fact this game stayed so close still impressive for the Blackhawks.

Obviously the big event from this game was the injury to Moore. As seen on Rinzel’s goal, Moore was hit hard into the boards after successfully winning a board battle to get the puck to Teravainen. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much news on the young forward from coach Jeff Blashill after the game other than confirmation that Moore won’t play Monday.

Below is a closer look at the hit and injury:

For this recap, we’re going to touch on one positive, one negative, and two guys who had good games be negated somewhat by one poor period.

The Frank Nazar, Teravainen, and Bertuzzi line was one of the clear bright spots tonight, with Nazar steering a lot of the play. We’ve been waiting for him to get back to the form he showed pre-injury, and while the shots (just one tonight) and goals haven’t fully returned, he’s been a force in transition and in setting up his linemates the last few games. More often than not, he’s the engine behind this line, and tonight was no exception, with him picking up two more assists. Bertuzzi ended up the main beneficiary, finishing five high-danger chances at 5-on-5, four of which were set up by Nazar. The line as a whole generated the most chances against the Stars and controlled an outstanding 64.99 percent of expected goals. It was a strong reminder of how key Nazar can be going forward with when he drives offense.

The biggest disappointment tonight was the top line of Bedard, Andre Burakovsky, and Ryan Greene. This was Bedard’s quietest game in a long while because the Stars did an excellent job shutting him down almost completely. He still managed three attempts and one shot on goal at 5-on-5, but that’s a far cry from the shots/chances he’s been putting up lately. Bedard can have an off night; that’s expected. The real issue is how easy it is for a team to focus on him when his linemates aren’t threatening. Burakovsky should have been off this line 15-20 games ago, and you have to wonder if he somehow has blackmail-level leverage on Blashill, given how much leash he’s still getting. Greene wasn’t much help either, but while he’s smart and can complement higher-end players, with Bedard cut off from him and Burakovsky being inept, there was very little he could do.

The first mixed-bag player tonight was Levshunov. He had a really strong first period: generating good plays, crisp passing, and picking his spots better than usual. His transition work was noticeably smoother, too. He still needs to work on his shooting, though. Maybe he can take a page from Wyatt Kaiser, who has great timing when it comes to setting up rebound opportunities, or even Crevier, who gets shots on net consistently. Defensively, Levshunov made some smart plays as well: his gap control was solid, he was using his stick effectively to disrupt passes, and was willing to throw himself around for blocks. Honestly, the first period might have been one of his best periods of the season.

Then the second period happened, and the struggle was real for Levshunov. He had turnovers, mixed coverage, trouble moving the puck out of the defensive zone when needed, and some issues at the blue line that were pretty ugly. Soderblom bailed him out in particular a few times in this period (see more below). To be fair, it seemed like the Stars were targeting him more, likely because of his strong first period. His third period was solid overall — not mistake-free, but nothing like the second, and he had some other strong moments. Even with that rough middle frame, Levshunov ended up being one of the more impactful players on the ice for the Blackhawks tonight.

Speaking of Soderblom, he’s the other player who had an up and down game. I know many people are basically over him at this point — which is understandable in many ways — but it’s also worth noting that he did help keep the Blackhawks in this game for long stretches. This game was a pretty good snapshot of a lot of games from Soderblom this season: plenty of excellent saves where he bails out his teammates but then mixed with a goal (or two) you’d really like him to have back. In a one-goal loss, that latter part obviously stands out. Still, it’s kind of unfair to only focus on the softer goal while ignoring the stretches when he kept the Blackhawks in the game. I mean, he really had some highlight-reel saves in the first 40 minutes.

But again, it’s very understandable to be frustrated that Soderblom seems to do well with making hard saves but then not being able to stop more straightforward shots and those end up being costly. The unfortunate reality is that the Blackhawks just aren’t a good enough team for the way Soderblom plays currently — they basically need every save they can get if they’re going to have a real chance to win. Maybe we’d all feel differently about Söderblom if the team in front of him had the offensive firepower to overcome the occasional one-bad-goal-a-game performance — or if that happened a little less often. But that’s just not the case here, so I do get why some people seem so done with him.

Game Charts

Three Stars

  1. Mavrik Bourque (DAL) — 1 goal, 1 assist
  2. Miro Heiskanen (DAL) — 1 goal
  3. Teuvo Teravainen (CHI) — 2 assists

What’s Next

The Blackhawks are back at it Monday night, heading home to the United Center to host the Utah Mammoth at 7:30 p.m.

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