At least the Chicago Blackhawks didn’t lose 6-2 like their last two games. They just cut that final score in half with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.
The Hawks went over film to identify the defensive breakdowns that have plagued them recently, and for the most part, cut down on those against the Kings. But it wasn’t enough to prevent a sixth straight loss as the Hawks struggled to keep up with a playoff contender.
“They took it to us in the first period,” Hawks interim coach Anders Sorensen said. “A lot of traffic, a lot of shots, a lot of extra rebounds and stuff. (Goalie) Spencer (Knight) did a good job of keeping us in there the last two periods. We had more quality chances but didn’t go our way.”
The Kings jumped out to a 2-0 first-period lead on Trevor Moore’s wrister and Alex Turcotte’s tip-in.
The Hawks answered during a second-period power play. Tyler Bertuzzi dished from the goal line to Connor Bedard for a one-timer to mark Bedard’s first power-play goals in consecutive games.
“I was looking to pass it to Turbo (Teuvo Teräväinen) and he was kind of covered, so I waited a second and saw Bedsy,” Bertuzzi said.
The Hawks made a strong push in the third period – including a pair of shots apiece by Lukas Reichel and Ethan Del Mastro – but couldn’t sink one.
Sorensen said, “We just talked a little bit more about just trying to get out of our zone quicker. We thought our D did a really good job in the second and third of advancing pucks either with their feet or moving the puck up the ice; forwards, too.
“They did a better job of finding lanes to get open in, and that was a big difference.”
Chicago Blackhawks Q&A: Is Connor Bedard a disappointment? And are they too cautious in overtime?
Despite the loss, Hawks players said they haven’t checked out on the season.
“Obviously, you want to be playing important games,” Bedard said. “But for us, we’ve got so many young guys that every game is important, just for growth and trying to improve.”
Meanwhile, Colton Dach is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Here are four takeaways from the loss.
1. Just when you thought the Hawks had run out of combos, Jason Dickinson joins the top line.
Dickinson linked up with Bedard and Frank Nazar for a few third-period shifts against the Seattle Kraken, but the trio were linemates for the first time this season.
It’s a curious move for a couple of reasons:
- Dickinson’s best usage is as a casino cooler for the opponent’s top lines — and could be compromised by Bedard’s tepid defense (he entered Thursday’s matchup with the worst rating at minus-36).
- Dickinson said after the Kraken loss that his game still wasn’t up to par four games after returning from an 11-game absence with a left ankle injury. He felt just “OK, not contributing and it’s driving me nuts. I expect a lot more of myself, and it’s increasingly frustrating feeling OK physically and good enough to go that I should be contributing a lot more than I have been.”
Sorensen said he wasn’t concerned about Dickinson before the Kings game.
“He just kind of got out of the rhythm a little bit,” he said. “When you miss that much time sometimes, it’s hard to get right back into it.”
Sorensen added that he trusts Dickinson the top line: “We rely on him. So just find your game.”
In the first period, the top line combined on the Hawks’ best chances of the frame: aNazar-to-Bedard-to-Dickinson pass, but Kings goalie Darcy Kuemper stopped Dickinson’s one-timer.
On the flip side, Dickinson drew a roughing penalty for the Hawks’ first power play.
2. Bedard has scored power-play goals in back-to-back games, but it’s not all rosy.
That’s an area of his offensive game that has inexplicably lagged early in his career, which is ironic since the man advantage gives him more space and offensive chances to shine.
On Thursday, the Kings’ Vladislav Gavrikov interfered with Teräväinen, which set up Bedard to score. Like last game, Artyom Levshunov rushed over to celebrate with Bedard, but this time Bedard braced with his right arm so he didn’t get mugged by the big blueliner.
The Hawks rank eighth (24.8%) in power-play percentage but 18th in power-play goals (40). And the Hawks weren’t happy with their performance against the Kings, going 1 for 4.
“Our first power play wasn’t good,” Bertuzzi said. “Obviously we capitalized on the second one, but it still wasn’t that good.”
Teräväinen and Alex Vlasic had giveaways on separate power plays and Levshunov’s slashing penalty negated another.
“It’s more learning,” Sorensen added. “You have to come up with some speed and you have to have some deception in your game there. Otherwise they’re going to pick it off pretty quick.”
3. Joe Veleno flashed on the radar.
The fourth-liner had his first standout moment as a Hawk.
During a second-period penalty kill, he stole the puck while splitting Adrian Kempe and Drew Doughty, and fired a shorthanded shot at Kuemper. Twenty-nine seconds later, another shot by Veleno hit the left post.
Sorensen said Veleno has acclimated well since his trade-deadline swap from Detroit.
“Give him credit, it’s hard to come over like that,” he said before the game. “It’s a totally different system from what he’s used to in Detroit, especially in the D-zone.
“It’s a little learning curve. But he asks a lot of good questions, wants to know and wants to be a part of this.”
4. Who’s to blame for Moore’s goal for the Kings? It’s debatable.
Chalk up the Turcotte goal to just a great play by the Kings. But it seems like there were several ways Moore’s goal was preventable for the Hawks.
The Hawks were in the offensive zone when Nick Foligno and Colton Dach collided by the half wall. And as Phillip Danault and Warren Foegele charged in, the puck bounced toward the blue line.
Wyatt Kaiser shaded toward the Kings winger as Moore came up the wall, but then dropped down deeper into the zone as Foegele raced toward the net. Vlasic and Landon Slaggert sagged back into the zone and Moore drifted to the middle, uncovered, before banking a shot in off the post.
Sorensen contends it wasn’t a sorting issue.
“We should’ve killed the play at the blue line,” he said. “We had the angle on it, so we should’ve just ended it there.”
Looking at the replay, it would’ve been a tough ask for Kaiser or Slaggert to make up that ground, especially given the speed of the rush.
But Sorensen insisted, “We were right there, and then because we didn’t end it when we had an opportunity, everybody sagged back. When we sag back, it gave him that extra space to come in and shoot.”
