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RECAP: Blackhawks fall to Ottawa 6-4 in a wild Saturday matinee

  
Nick Lardis celebrates his first NHL goal during the Chicago Blackhawks’ 6-4 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of the Chicago Blackhawks)

The Chicago Blackhawks played their final game of the Eastern Canada road trip against the Ottawa Senators. The Hawks were coming in off a loss to the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. This was fourth straight game without Connor Bedard.

First period

Early in the first period, it appeared that Tim Stutzle scored the game’s first goal. However, after a coach’s challenge, it was ruled that Arvid Sorderblom was interfered with.

Less than four minutes later, Tyler Kleven scored the game’s first goal. However, this goal was mired in controversey because upon review, it appeared that Brady Tkachuk interfered with Soderblom. The Blackhawks challenged the call only to have the goal upheld by the officials.

The first period ended with the Ottawa up 1-0.

Second period

The second period was pure chaos. Frank Nazar of the Blackhawks left the game after taking a puck in the mouth, he would not return.

With Nazar out, the Hawks needed production from other forwards and they got it Ilya Mikheyev. Wyatt Kaiser hit a streaking  Mikheyev for the Hawks’ first goal of the game.

After the Mikheyev goal, there was another bizarre goalie interference call and review.

So after all the calls, the game remained tied at 1.

With the game STILL tied, Stutzle capitalized on a costly turnover for Teuvo Teravainen for a shorthanded goal. Ottawa regained the lead 2-1.

Less than two minutes later, Andre Burakovsky tied the game up for the Hawks with a knuckle puck on the power play.

Four minutes after the Burakovsky goal, the Senators retook the lead with a goal from Tkachuk. The Hawks answered with another Mikheyev goal.

The wild second period ended with the score tied at 3-3.

Third period

Once again, the Blackhawks allowed an early third period goal, this time it was David Perron cashing in on the power play. Later in the period, Perron scored his second goal of the game to put the Senators up 5-3.

Nick Lardis cut the lead in half with his first NHL goal. This is Lardis’ fourth NHL game.

Ottawa sealed the victory with a goal from Fabian Zetterlund. The Hawks lost 6-4.

Analysis

After the game, it was announced by Jeff Blashill that Nazar will be out at least four weeks. This is a crushing blow to the already-vulnerable Blackhawks. Since losing Bedard, the Hawks have lost four in a row. The Hawks should be expected to call up another forward from Rockford before their next game.

While Nazar was struggling offensively, he had scored against Montreal and looked to be on the verge of breaking out. With Nazar down, forwards like Mikheyev need to step up. Mikheyev, like Nazar, had not scored a goal in 20 games before his breakout performance today. Mikheyev is going to need to score more often for the foreseeable future.

Lardis is also going to be relied upon to help with the scoring issues. Lardis notched his first NHL goal in today’s contest. It was his first goal in four NHL games. Lardis is known for being a pure goal scorer after putting up 71 goals in the OHL last season.

In net, Soderblom surrendered six goals in the loss. He has now allowed three or more goals in his last six starts. To make matters worse, the Blackhawks are in a bit of a goalie log jam. While Soderblom has struggled, there is no plan to replace him with Drew Commesso. The reason being that Commesso needs to continue to develop and play, while Soderblom plays so sparingly. In addition to Commesso, the Rockford IceHogs must find minutes for Laurent Brossoit and Stanislav Berezhnoy. Although, Berezhnoy could be sent to the Indy Fuel of the ECHL to get minutes, too. The log jam should open up when Brossoit is eventually dealt away.

The Hawks returned home on Tuesday to take on the Philadelphia Flyers at 8 p.m. CST on TNT.

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