Blackhawks lines in morning skate in Pittsburgh. Just one change: Dach in for Slaggert.

Nazar-Bedard-Teravainen
Greene-Moore-Burakovsky
Bertuzzi-Dickinson-Mikheyev
Donato-Foligno-Dach

Vlasic-Crevier
Kaiser-Levshunov
Grzelcyk-Murphy

Soderblom

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 29, 2026

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

First period

The Blackhawks started off strong in this game. It took until 10 minutes into the game, but the Blackhawks would strike first. Ryan Greene had a beautiful pass to find a wide-open Connor Murphy. He buried a wrister to the top corner to put the Blackhawks up 1-0.

#5 is right on target pic.twitter.com/VL7tsAoFBI

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 30, 2026

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Just under two minutes later, the Penguins would answer, although they shouldn’t have. After a missed tripping call in the corner, the puck found its way to the front of the net, with Connor Dewar potting his 12th of the season to knot things up 1-1. The period would end with the score all knotted up, but with the Blackhawks leading play.

1st intermission: Blackhawks 1, Penguins 1

Solid period for the Hawks, who lead in every statistical category:

Shot attempts: 20-12 CHI
Shots on goal: 10-7 CHI
Scoring chances: 10-9 CHI

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) January 30, 2026

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Second period

The first five minutes of the period were uneventful. The Blackhawks and Penguins traded opportunities, but neither club was able to get the puck to the back of the net. The Penguins broke the stalemate after a long period of holding the puck in the Blackhawks defensive zone. Artyom Levshunov failed to clear the puck, leading to a turnover to Anthony Mantha. He found Ben Kindel, who buried his shot, putting the Penguins up 2-1. Ten minutes later, the Penguins would strike again. Evgeni Malkin found Egor Chinakov, who went right through the Blackhawks’ defense, and put the puck five hole on Soderblom, 3-1 Pittsburgh. Thirty one seconds later, Mantha would score. After some great passing from the Penguins, Kindel found a streaking Mantha, who backhanded the puck five hole on Soderblom, 4-1.

That wouldn’t even be all of it, as with half a minute to go, the Penguins got another on the board. On another non-stop offensive zone possession, the Penguins just kept the puck moving. After a few attempts right in front, the puck found its way back to Ryan Shea. He buried the slap shot past Soderblom, 5-1 Penguins. Luckily, time would run out on this ugliness and that is how the period would end.

Third period

The third period calmed down significantly, but was still ugly. The Blackhawks had five shots on goal to the Penguins’ 13. The Penguins got another goal on the board first, with Dewar getting his second of the game on a stuff shot in front, making it 6-1 Pittsburgh. The Blackhawks would get one back just 30 seconds later though. Connor Bedard had a beautiful goal to beat Arturs Silovs right over the glove to make it a 6-2 game.

what a shot pic.twitter.com/wFdpBijzwW

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) January 30, 2026

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

That would be how the game would finish, with the Penguins dominating in this 6-2 game.

Analysis

This game certainly wasn’t going to change the Blackhawks’ recent losing streak. Some bad miscues, coupled with the inability to clear the puck led to plenty of chances for the Penguins to get the puck into the back of the net. The Blackhawks were dominated in every statistical category in this game. Faceoffs, shots, hits, takeaways, you name it, the Blackhawks were worse. The pairing of Levshunov and Wyatt Kaiser should not stay together after this one, as a -5 is evident of some extremely poor play from that pairing. I don’t think Soderblom has played great in many games this season, but this is one that you cannot blame him for at all, as he was peppered with shots all game long and still managed to keep a good amount out.

The Blackhawks will look to snap their losing streak on Friday night at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets. That game will be at 7:30 p.m. CST on CHSN and NHL Network.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks blasted in Pittsburgh appeared first on The Rink.

First period

Pittsburgh scored four goals on 10 shots in the first period as Chicago looked like they were still on their holiday break. Knight allowed four of those goals on nine shots. Anthony Mantha got the scoring going at within the first two minutes of the game and Chicago never really could answer with anything as each shot seemed to find the back of the Chicago net.

Rust and Brazeau scored minutes apart to take the Pittsburgh lead to 3-0 as Knight was helpless as Chicago defensemen either could not find a puck at their feet to clear the zone or let Penguins forwards skate to the net without any check or body on body of any kind.

Rust scored his second of the game and extended the Penguins lead to 4-0 after jumping on the ice from the penalty box and firing a shot through Knight.

Second period

Nick Foligno found his way back to the ice and found the back of the net at the 10:50 mark of the middle frame for his first goal of the season. Foligno made an awesome play screening Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs and pounded home a rebound between his legs off a shot from forward Colton Dach.

Welcome back to Nick Foligno, who scores his 1st goal of the season. He missed the last 19 games with an injury. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/dRAJJsHVsX

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 29, 2025

Pittsburgh answered the Foligno with back-to-back goals by Brazeau to give the 27-year-old Canadian 11 goals on the season.

Trailing 6-1, defenseman Wyatt Kaiser scored his fourth goal of the season to shorten the Penguins’ lead to 6–2. Kaisers wrist shot from the point went wide of the net only to corral off the end boards, hit the back of Silovs’ pads and find the back of the net.

Wyatt Kaiser’s shot goes off the boards, off Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs and in for his 4th goal of the season. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/Ml1lG81tl0

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) December 29, 2025

Pittsburgh would score one more time in the second period when Noel Acciari scored his third goal of the season beating Soderblom as the Blackhawks’ goaltender gave up all three Pittsburgh goals in the second period.

Third period

Tyler Bertuzzi scored his 19th goal of the season with one second left in the game. As time was expiring, Bertuzzi found a puck at the left circle and fired a shot that suprised Silovs and into the back of the net.

Chicago heads to New York to take on the New York Islanders for a 7:30 p.m. CST puck drop at the UBS Arena on Tuesday.

Analysis

Chicago looked like they were still on the holiday break and spent most of their time chasing the puck. To say that this was a sleepwalk of a game would be an understatement. Artyom Levshunov looked out of place most of the night and Kaiser seems to always have a player behind him making plays.

Bertuzzi continues to be a nice piece to the offensive puzzle as Chicago continues to struggle with Connor Bedard on the shelf. Despite his goal coming with one second left, the 30-year-old forward continues to drive plays offensively and certainly tries to work in the corners and in front of the net, something lacking dearly amongst young Blackhawks forwards.

The post RECAP: Pittsburgh destroys Chicago 7-3 behind Brazeau hat trick appeared first on The Rink.

First period

The opening frame was eerily similar to Sunday’s game until Sidney Crosby scored a power-play goal with 16 seconds left in the period. The Pens won the faceoff and Rickard Rakell, in the right circle, found Crosby in the slot, who chipped the puck over Knight’s shoulder and into the net for his 31st of the season and a 1–0 Pittsburgh lead after one.

Second period

Pittsburgh took a 2–0 lead when Erik Karlsson scored his 11th of the season and 200th of his career. Landon Slaggert turned it over at his blue line to Bryan Rust, who fed Ville Koivunen in the left circle and he found a wide-open Karlsson in the opposite circle, who buried it at the 4:45 mark. The Penguins’ lead would stand at 2–0 after 40 minutes.

Third period

Kris Letang gave Pittsburgh a 3–0 with his ninth of the season. Shortly after a Hawks penalty expired, Evgeni Malkin found a streaking Letang creeping up the right side and fired a high shot in at 4:28.

Kevin Hayes made it 4–0 Pittsburgh shortly after. Connor Dewar outworked Artyom Levshunov and chipped the puck off the wall and out of the zone where it was retrieved by Danton Heinen, who fed Hayes in the middle of the ice and he shot it off Knight’s glove and it trickled in. For Hayes, it was his 12th of the season at 7:42.

Hayes made it 5–0 lead with his second of the game and 13th of the season. Heinen and Hayes skated in 2-on-2 and Heinen skated toward the half wall and fired it toward the slot where Hayes deflected it in for the goal at 18:13.

Analysis

The Blackhawks followed up a strong performance on Sunday at the United Center with a lousy effort in Pittsburgh, dropping their league-worst road record to 7–26–5. The Hawks were not able to generate much pressure offensively, especially during the first two periods when they only mustered a total of 15 shots on goal. For the game, Jarry stopped all 26 shots he faced and the Hawks will need to regroup as they head to Beantown for a Thursday night game against the Boston Bruins. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. CDT on CHSN with the radio call on 720 AM WGN.

The post RECAP: Penguins march over Blackhawks 5–0 appeared first on The Rink.

First period

A fast-paced opening frame saw both teams generate scoring chances but neither was able to scratch the scoresheet. Pittsburgh had an 8–6 edge in shots on goal.

Second period

With a Penguins power play winding down, Frank Nazar forced a turnover and went in 2-on-1 with Teuvo Teravainen, and Nazar eventually had a breakaway and scored his ninth of the season at 18:55.

Frank’s first shorthanded goal, nbd pic.twitter.com/G4F0jQRKrk

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) April 6, 2025

The Hawks took a 1–0 lead into the locker room after 40 minutes.

Third period

The Hawks took a 2–0 lead on Ilya Mikheyev’s 19th goal of the season. Sam Rinzel retrieved the puck in his own zone and found Connor Bedard at center ice and he fed a streaking Mikheyev down the left wing side. Mikheyev blew past Penguins defenseman Conor Timmons and beat Nedeljkovic at the 9:40 mark. For Rinzel, he got his first career point while Mikheyev tallied his career-high 33rd point of the season.

Pittsburgh cut the Hawks’ lead to 2–1 with a power-play goal from Rickard Rakell. Ville Koivunen found Bryan Rust, who fed Rakell, who buried it for his 34th of the season at 14:36.

With the Pittsburgh net empty, Joe Veleno cleared the puck with one hand to Nick Foligno in the neutral zone and he found Mikheyev, who skated in alone and scored his 20th of the season at 19:04. The Hawks won it 3–1.

Analysis

It was a strong performance for the Blackhawks, led by Knight, who made 28 saves making the Hawks a winner for just the second time since March 7. The Hawks’ young defensemen had a strong game as they broke up several plays and ended Sidney Crosby’s point-scoring streak at 12 games. The Blackhawks have now won seven of their last 11 games against the Penguins and will get another shot at them on Tuesday night. Puck drop is at 6 p.m. CST on CHSN with the radio call on 720 AM WGN.

The post RECAP: Hawks beat Pens 3–1 behind Mikheyev’s pair of goals appeared first on The Rink.

Against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night, Connor Bedard would make his return after a lengthy absence due to a fractured jaw. Boris Katchouk would also draw in, with Lukas Reichel and Reese Johnson coming out of the lineup. On defense, it was Isaak Phillips coming out for Jarred Tinordi, and in goal Arvid Soderblom got the start.

First period

This game did not start off well. Fifteen seconds in, the Penguins had already put one in the back of the net. A shot from the point went off of Sidney Crosby in front, as the Blackhawks completely missed the assignment, and the Penguins went up 1–0. Colin Blackwell had the best chance for the Blackhawks in the first, with Alex Nedeljkovic making the diving stop on that attempt. The Penguins would get one more before the period was over, with Reilly Smith sneaking a backhander over the shoulder of Soderblom, making it 2–0 Penguins going into the intermission.

Second period

It took until the 7:45 mark of the period for the first really good shot on net, and it came on the stick of Crosby. He skated through the Blackhawks’ defense, putting a backhander on net that went off of the post, beating Soderblom, but not the net. Just 33 seconds after that, the Blackhawks got one back. Connor Bedard put a saucer beautiful pass over to Philipp Kurashev, who buried it, making it 2–1 Pittsburgh.

Saucy pass by Connor Bedard, who records a primary assist in his return to action. #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/hqzWWR2b9t

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) February 16, 2024

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Third period

Once again, when you leave Crosby wide open, bad things happen. At the 5:51 mark of the period, the Blackhawks left Crosby wide open on the side of the net and he made them pay, tucking home his 30th of the season. The Penguins would deposit an empty-netter before the game was over, making the final 4–1 Pittsburgh.

Analysis

It is extremely difficult to win hockey games when you cannot even win 50% of your face-offs. Losing 2/3 of them is a recipe for losing. You also cannot give up the puck more than double the amount of times your opponent does, as the Blackhawks had some brutal giveaways in this one. All of this just seems self-explanatory, but the Blackhawks continue to surprise even longtime fans with the levels of ineptitude they seemingly are able to reach some games. If you cannot get the basics right, with good goaltending being among those, how do you expect to win games?

Pete Blackburn summarized what all of us here at The Rink have been discussing, as Soderblom has continued his tough season.

I’m not great at evaluating goaltending but Arvid Soderblom is absolutely painful to watch pic.twitter.com/xdea6Hix0u

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) February 16, 2024

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

The Blackhawks play next on Saturday afternoon against the Ottawa Senators. That game will be at 2 p.m. CST on NBC Sports Chicago.

The post RECAP: Blackhawks flightless versus Penguins in Bedard’s return appeared first on The Rink.

#Blackhawks projected Opening Night lineup:
Hall-Bedard-Donato
T. Johnson-Reichel-Raddysh
Katchouk-Guttman-Athanasiou
Perry-Dickinson-Foligno

Vlasic-Jones
Korchinski-Murphy
Tinordi-Kaiser

Mrazek
Söderblom

Extras: Entwistle, R. Johnson, Zaitsev

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 10, 2023

Almost time for hockey!

: ESPN, ESPN+ pic.twitter.com/Qsk9Jgfp1c

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 10, 2023

The first period started off with lots of excitement. Bedard centered the opening line, with Taylor Hall and Ryan Donato on his wings, and began his career with a face-off against his idol, Sidney Crosby.

The Blackhawks got the first power play of the game, and were able to generate plenty of chances, but it did not amount to a goal in the early going. However, just after the penalty expired, the Penguins took the puck back up ice, with Kris Letang putting the puck on net, deflecting off of Bryan Rust and over the shoulder of Petr Mrazek, making the score 1–0 Penguins.

Both Mrazek and Tristan Jarry made some big stops in the period to keep the score 1–0 going into the second.

The second was also a flurry of activity around both nets. Mrazek made some spectacular saves to keep the game close in the early going. With just over eight minutes left in the second, the Penguins put another goal past Mrazek, but the Blackhawks challenged the goal, with the puck appearing to possibly go outside of the zone. Unfortunately, the league did not see things that way, and the Penguins went up 2–0, getting a power play out of the situation as well with the delay of game penalty against the Blackhawks.

With just under four and a half minutes left in the frame, Bedard and Alex Vlasic worked a give-and-go down the boards, with Vlasic putting a wrister on net from the left circle, and Donato backhanding the puck past Jarry, making it 2–1 Penguins to end the second. Bedard’s assist on the play would be his first NHL point.

Connor Bedard’s first NHL point. A brilliant, yet simple pass to open a ton of space for Vlasic, which leads directly to the goal. https://t.co/rduOyaT19b

— Eric Andrews (@WALaxer19) October 11, 2023

In the third, the Blackhawks came roaring back in a way that we did not often see last year. The first 10 minutes traded chances once again, but with just under 10 minutes remaining in the period, Seth Jones picked up a rebound off of an Andreas Athanasiou shot and passed it to Cole Guttman just inside the right circle, who wristed it past Jarry to knot the game up at 2–2.

With just over four and a half to go, the veteran line of Jason Dickinson, Nick Foligno and Corey Perry got in on the action. Foligno skated up the left side wall, dropping a pass to Perry for a shot that deflected right in front to Dickinson, who dove to put the puck past Jarry and give the Blackhawks a 3–2 lead. They would later extend that on another goal from that line, with Perry passing it to Foligno, who potted it into the empty net to put this one to bed for a 4–2 Blackhawks comeback win!

Analysis

Watching this game, you would have thought that this team was a playoff team last season. They showed resilience that they did not show much of at all last season, which was such a refreshing change to see after only winning 26 games last season. This game likely will not be the result every night this season, but this team already looks like it wants to play hard to grind out more wins this year. Bedard was not shy about shooting the puck, but just needs to improve his timing, which will come. This Blackhawks team is fun to watch, with lots of speed, and more grit. Jones in particular stood out in this game. He was looking a lot more like a guy who is worth closer to his salary instead of the salary cap paperweight he looked like at times last season. Though just a one-game sample size, Wyatt Kaiser and Kevin Korchinski looked overwhelmed frequently throughout the night and Lukas Reichel was largely invisible in the game except for one rush in the third period. Seeing how Kaiser and Korchinski perform in the coming games will be crucial in determining if they are truly ready for prime time or if they would be better suited to gain more developmental time.

The Blackhawks’ next game is Wednesday night against the Boston Bruins. Coverage will be on TNT at 6:30 p.m. CDT.

The post Blackhawks Post-game One-timers — Oct. 10 at Pittsburgh Penguins appeared first on The Rink.

• The goaltending for Chicago was outstanding. Mrazek stuffed Sidney Crosby a few times, one on a short breakaway, and stood on his head, earning Chicago two points. Mrazek now owns a 10–22–3 record for the season while having a -12.7 goals saved above average. Mrazek did his best to tank this season, but came up huge when Chicago needed him to fail most.
• Pittsburgh looked like the better team most of the night, but a few bounces really took the wind out of their sails. Evgeni Malkin fired his 27th goal of the season to tie the game 1–1 early in the third period, but Chicago would go on to score the next three goals and put the game away.
• Buddy Robinson netted his first goal of the season, beating Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry, who was not very good when Pittsburgh needed him the most. Andreas Athanasiou scored the game-winning goal midway through the third period for his 19th of the season. Robinson and Athanasiou both played great, and depending on which side of the “tank coin” you sit, is either a fun or horrible performance.
• Seth Jones was great. His ability to move the puck and play as an extra forward is second-to-none from the back end, and on occasion, he can really show he can be a force defensively. However, saying “he was great” needs to happen more than once a month when he is taking up 11.66% of the cap hit this season (that number will slightly change if the cap ceiling rises) and the next seven seasons moving forward.

Chicago will be back on home ice to finish the season as the Philadelphia Flyers come to the United Center for a 7:30 p.m. CDT puck drop on Thursday. The contest could be the last time fans get to see captain Jonathan Toews on home ice, as his future in the league is a big question mark.

The post Blackhawks Post-game One-timers — April 11 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins appeared first on The Rink.

— This was just a brutal game in most respects. The Blackhawks lost more face-offs than they won, and they did not convert any of their four power play opportunities, either. They did outhit the Penguins, and outblocked the Penguins as well.

— The Penguins came out of the gate firing on all cylinders and scored the lone goal in the first period. Brock McGinn potted that goal, with Evgeni Malkin scoring in his 1,000th game, and Rickard Rakell following him up to put the Penguins up 3–0.

— The Blackhawks came back after that to make the score 3–2 by the end of the second, on goals from Jujhar Khaira and Patrick Kane. Both of them were scored in the Blackhawks’ area they are good at getting to, grinding to the front of the net and getting a great pass to put the puck past Casey DeSmith.

— Philipp Kurashev tied up the game 4:30 into the third, on a lucky flip out in front of the net that got past DeSmith. Then, a minute later, the Penguins took back their lead, and did not give it up. Sidney Crosby scored that goal, with Jeff Carter potting an empty-netter to put the Penguins up by the final score of 5–3.

— Marian Hossa was back at the United Center to have his jersey retired by the Blackhawks. No one else will ever wear the No. 81 for the Blackhawks, as he had such huge contributions to their three Stanley Cup Championships in the 2010s, both on and off the ice, as a player and as an incredible locker room presence and person.

— Fellow three-time Cup champs Niklas Hjalmarsson, Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Sharp and Jonathan Toews were all present to be with Hossa and his family on this special evening.

To view the entire ceremony, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsFmQhVQEPo.

— This was also Malkin’s 1,000th NHL game. He is absolutely in the same category as Hossa, and someone who was critical to have on the Penguins’ Stanley Cup championships of 2009, 2016 and 2017. With the Penguins playing on the road, it was not made into the big deal that Hossa’s jersey retirement was, but still the Penguins themselves did some special things with bringing in his son to read the lineup and copying Malkin’s pregame stretches as a team.

Is it getting dusty in the Penguins locker room? pic.twitter.com/m2WAfLyrCB

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 21, 2022

Getting loose, Geno style.#Ma1Kin pic.twitter.com/nhHgrCLyUp

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 21, 2022

The Blackhawks will be back in action in Texas on Wednesday night to take on the Dallas Stars. Coverage starts at 7:30 p.m. CST on NBC Sports Chicago.

The post Blackhawks Post-game One-timers — Nov. 20 vs. Pittsburgh Penguins appeared first on The Rink.

First period

The game remained scoreless after one with both teams generating some quality scoring chances. The Hawks received two power play opportunities where they looked sharp moving the puck, but had nothing to show for it, while the penalty kill successfully stymied the Penguins’ only man advantage. For the period, the Blackhawks outshot the Penguins 14–11.

Second period

At the 2:14 mark, Jujhar Khaira scored his first goal as a Blackhawk. Off a face-off win, Jonathan Toews outworked Jeff Carter behind the Pittsburgh net then fed a wide-open Khaira with a goal-mouth pass to give the Hawks a 1–0 lead.

With 4:07 remaining, the Hawks took a 2–0 lead when Seth Jones scored his first as a Blackhawk. The Hawks had the Penguins pinned in their own zone for nearly a minute when Patrick Kane skated the blue line and found Jones, who sniped one top shelf from the face-off dot to the left of Jarry, who was screened by Kirby Dach. The assist for Kane was career point No. 1,100.

For the period, the Blackhawks outshot the Penguins 12–11 for a 26–22 advantage for the game.

Third period

The Penguins came out of the dressing room and controlled the tempo from the opening draw. At 5:34, the Penguins cut the Blackhawks’ lead to 2–1 on a goal by Carter, who won a face-off and deflected in a Jake Guentzel shot from the top of the left circle. Carter was able to get inside positioning on Jones to tip the puck between Fleury’s pads for his second of the season.

Late in the third, Jarry stopped Mike Hardman on a breakaway to keep the Penguins within a goal. The Penguins went the other way and Carter scored his second of the period and third of the season, again from Guentzel, to tie it at 2–2. The Penguins nearly won it in regulation at the horn when Bryan Rust airmailed a rebound off of Fleury’s glove.

In the third, Pittsburgh had a significant edge in shots on goal, 20–5, and finished regulation with a 42–31 advantage.

Overtime and shootout

As expected, the action was wide open, with Kane getting two grade-A chances to win it. Kane and Alex DeBrincat skated in on a 2-on-0 and Kane hit the post. In the closing seconds, Kane skated in alone and shot a potential buzzer-beater wide.

In the shootout, Toews, the Hawks’ usual leadoff man, went forehand backhand and buried it between Jarry’s legs to take the early 1–0 shootout lead.

Fleury then stopped his former teammate Guentzel to keep the Hawks in the lead.

Kane could not double the lead, as he was stopped when he slowed up and tried to go to Jarry’s glove side.

Kris Letang skated in to the right of Fleury and tried to go five hole but was denied.

DeBrincat then closed it out with a wrister to the high glove side that hit the cross bar and went in to give the Hawks the extra point and their first winning streak of the season.

Analysis: The good, the bad, the ugly

The good

Marc-Andre Fleury: The future Hockey Hall of Famer played arguably his best game as a Blackhawk, stopping a season-high 42 shots plus two more in the shootout. The motivation was certainly there after Fleury was benched when the two teams faced each other in Pittsburgh.

Calvin de Haan: I know Jones gets most of the praise and criticism as the team’s top defenseman, but let’s give some well-deserved love to de Haan. He played over 18 minutes and was a factor defensively with four blocked shots and three hits. He certainly had some jump in his step and perhaps the coaching change has re-energized him.

The bad

Holding leads: Once again, the Hawks blew a two-goal lead, but more important, this team needs to find a way to bury teams and finish games in regulation versus relying on the gimmicky overtime and shootout. Certainly the positive you can take from this is both goals were scored 5-on-5 on a night their power play was silenced.

The ugly

Erik Gustafsson: The end may be near for “Gus,” who played just over eight minutes, as the team is beginning to get healthy on the back end. Caleb Jones and Wyatt Kalynuk have returned to practice, with the latter being activated from long-term injured reserve on Tuesday.

The game was certainly entertaining and not nearly the eyesore we saw multiple times during the month of October. The Blackhawks continued to play with renewed energy and much looser under King and will look to stretch their winning streak to three this Friday at the United Center against the division-rival Arizona Coyotes. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. CST and will be televised exclusively on ESPN+ and HULU with the radio broadcast on WGN 720.

The post Phenomenal Fleury leads Blackhawks to shootout win over Pittsburgh appeared first on The Rink.

First period

Well, does this sound familiar? Fifteen seconds into the game, Teddy Blueger got the puck after the face-off and put it on net, with it sneaking through Fleury’s pads and just across the line, 1–0 Penguins. This is just after letting up the first goal of the game 17 seconds into the game on Friday night against the New Jersey Devils.

The Blackhawks caught a lucky break when they got caught with four players inside of the red circles. The Penguins got down the ice for a 2-on-1 and Jason Zucker put one off of the post behind Fleury. They would not catch another break, however, as Fleury misplayed the puck behind his own net at the 14:27 mark of the period, and the Penguins made quick work of putting it in the back of the net on a Drew O’Connor backhand shot to make it 2–0 Penguins.

Again Fleury?#Blackhawks #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/TCFGzfgkgi

— NHL with WWF Commentary (@NhlWwf) October 17, 2021

The Blackhawks gave up the first power play of the game on a high stick from Kirby Dach. The Penguins got several good shots on Fleury, but were unable to make anything happen on that man advantage. The Blackhawks were not able to make much happen thereafter either, as they seemingly refused to even attempt to put the puck on the net and instead decided that they needed every player on the ice to touch the puck.

After the one shot they did get, they let up yet another 2-on-1 break with the previous goal scorer O’Connor getting the puck across to Brock McGinn, who buried it on a one-timer, 3–0 Penguins.

Not even 30 seconds later, the Penguins broke back into the offensive zone, with Danton Heinen getting a shot over the shoulder of Fleury and off the bar and down, 4–0 Penguins.

The first period ended in a strange way, with the glass behind the net getting broken and needing to be repaired before play could continue, with 40 seconds left in the frame. It would lead to the last bit of time being played just before the second period would begin.

Second period

The Blackhawks finally got something going on the power play, with Seth Jones sending a great pass across to Patrick Kane, who was able to snipe it past Tristan Jarry to make it 4–1 Penguins.

The Blackhawks looked a lot livelier after that goal, moving the puck better and generating more turnovers and chances to score. They really put some good pressure on the Penguins, with Jarry playing for more than two minutes without his stick after making a save. Falling behind by the margin they did proved to be a difficult task to overcome, however, and they were unable to put any more goals past Jarry at even strength.

Both goaltenders are without sticks right now #Blackhawks pic.twitter.com/qNg7oOj6L3

— Charlie Roumeliotis (@CRoumeliotis) October 17, 2021

Dach took a penalty for roughing in coming to the aid of Alex DeBrincat, who took a slash from McGinn after Dach got a nice shot on goal. The Blackhawks were able to kill this penalty off as well, as this became a 4-on-4 situation when Jeff Carter tripped up MacKenzie Entwistle.

With 2:05 remaining in the frame, Lankinen made a great first stop on a Kasperi Kaponen redirect, with the rebound going out to the right side and Zucker right there to put it past him, making it 5–1 Penguins. The period would end with the score a massive five to a tiny one.

Third period

The third period started off with more of the same, with over 12 minutes of back and forth without a whistle in the game until Lankinen had to make a nice stop on the encroaching Penguins offense.

The Blackhawks were able to get another back with 4:03 remaining off of a Penguins turnover. The puck got to one of the most dangerous passers in hockey in Kane, who passed it over to Brandon Hagel, who got it over to Dach to put it past Jarry and get the Blackhawks to a three-goal deficit, 5–2 Penguins.

Dach goal pic.twitter.com/41Nn4JPggN

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) October 17, 2021

The game would end with the same feeling it began with: Lots of uncertainty about when this roster may be able to put things together, especially in the 5-on-5 area.

Analysis

The Blackhawks needed so desperately to show a better effort than they did tonight in order to instill any confidence that the changes that they made this offseason are going to lead to improvement. Something has to be done about the abysmal 5-on-5 play to this point in the season, as the defensive breakdowns and offensive zone mishaps have to be limited from where they currently are if this team is to be a competitive force this season. They need to find the competitive fire and be better prepared to face the other good opponents who they will face this season.

The Blackhawks look to get into the win column against the New York Islanders at the United Center on Tuesday. Game time is 7 p.m. CDT on ESPN.

The post Ending the road trip on a thud, Blackhawks lose to Penguins 5–2 appeared first on The Rink.