7 takeaways from the Chicago Blackhawks’ loss in their road finale: ‘We’re a good team and we have to start believing that’

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CALGARY, Alberta – As much as the Chicago Blackhawks try to convince the world – and themselves — that they’re a different team from last season, remnants of the past occasionally showed up during their season-opening road trip.

The slow start in the opener in Utah.

The last-minute mistakes that blew a lead and resulted in an overtime loss in Winnipeg.

And after upsetting the Edmonton Oilers, it was the Hawks letting a hot team like the Calgary Flames hang around in a 1-1 game until a couple of penalties precipitated a 3-1 loss at the Scotiabank Saddledome on Tuesday.

“A missed opportunity, to be honest with you,” left winger Nick Foligno said. “It’s the end of a road trip and you’ve got to find a way to get points. I don’t think we honestly got Calgary’s best and I don’t think we had our best for a lot of that game either.”

Flames forward Matt Coronato scooped up a loose puck and snuck it in to put Calgary up 1-0 with 3 minutes, 59 seconds left in the first period. But Foligno answered for the Hawks 10 seconds later, assisted by Seth Jones and Alec Martinez. The other Flames’ goals came on the power play (Andrei Kuzmenko) and an empty-netter (Coronato).

The Flames came into the game leading the league with 16 goals in their first three games, but were mostly held in check.

“When a team is showing that, find a way to strike, find a way to get them off their game and then get a win,” Foligno said.

Hawks coach Luke Richardson added, “We didn’t give them hardly really anything much. Then we got into some penalty trouble and they scored on the power play.

“We were just a little disconnected after that, trying to chase it a little bit, not playing simple — just getting pucks behind them and shooting pucks,” he said. “We were just a little reluctant to shoot pucks, looking for a better play, and they’re a good defending team and they get in your way if you don’t shoot right away.”

The Hawks finished their road trip 1-2-1 and will take on the San Jose Sharks in their home opener at the United Center Thursday.

It was about a nine-day trip and “we started to show a little fatigue on the road,” Richardson said. “But that’s the schedule.”

Connor Bedard refused to be down about a start in which the Hawks were competitive in every game.

“I thought we were pretty solid for the most part,” he said. “Some breakdowns and we had a lot of plays where maybe we gave them an extra chance. Just tighten up that a little bit.

“But overall we were all right.”

Foligno agreed, “We’re a better team” than last season.

“The standard in here we talk about, it’s no more moral victories,” he said. “And that’s the big thing we’ve got to try and get out of here: ‘Ah, we had it …‘ No. No. We need wins.”

Here are seven takeaways from the road trip finale in Calgary.

1. A couple of slashing penalties turned the game.

Bedard slashed Flames goalie Dustin Wolf, and during the Hawks’ penalty kill, Foligno slashed Jonathan Huberdeau, creating a 6-on-4 advantage for Calgary. Kuzmenko scored to make it 2-1 – and that edge in a tight game turned out to be monumental.

After the game, when asked about the slashing penalties, Bedard didn’t look too pleased and responded, “Really?”

Yes, two consecutive penalties, one of them committed by you.

Bedard then acknowledged, “You can’t take too many penalties, and when it’s with your stick, it’s not good. But stuff happens.”

“It stinks,” Foligno said of his part. “You’re trying to kill off a penalty, and a lot of times – I mean, nine times out of 10 – you don’t break a guy’s stick when he’s standing there, so it’s unfortunate.

“Then we’re down the extra man … and you don’t want to do that. And that’s the difference, right? You’ve got to find ways to weather those moments in the game.”

For the Hawks, that extended kill time disrupted their flow.

Richardson said, “We spend time killing and then some guys play a little bit too much at that time, some guys don’t get to play, get out of sync, and then I thought we were just out of sync five-on-five after that.”

2. The Hawks defended the league’s top scorer well.

The Flames have been averaging 5.3 goals per game, so to hold them to three goals (one an empty-netter) is at least something for the Hawks to hang their hat on.

It’s a credit to our team and Petr (Mrázek) for making the saves and keeping a team like that to three goals,” Foligno said. “But I also don’t think they have their best game either.”

Richardson added, “We didn’t really give up too much other than that first goal in the first period. Other than that, not a lot of great chances. We worked hard (defensively); we were in the right spots.

“After that (power play goal), we just started to come apart,” he said. “The five-man unit wasn’t as tight defensively and didn’t work as well offensively on the other end.”

3. It was a homecoming game for Hawks play-by-play announcer Rick Ball.

“Feels like I never left,” Ball told the Tribune during morning skate. “Weirdly, you know. All the same people are here and it’s great to see everybody.”

Ball called play-by-play for the Flames for 10 seasons before taking the same role with the Hawks. He sat next to old partner Kelly Hrudey, who now teams up with Ball’s replacement, Jon Abbott.

“Kelly Hrudey was my partner in the booth for a long time, even before I got to Calgary, we did ‘Hockey Night in Canada’ together for a couple of years,” Ball said. “So it feels a bit odd, but good at the same time.”

Like Ball has said since the Hawks hired him in June to replace Chris Vosters as analyst Darren Pang’s booth partner, “I was in no way wanting to leave Calgary. I love this city.

“Flames are great to work with. It was a terrific 10 years, but the opportunity was too good to say no to. Chicago’s a great city, but I still have a lot of good feelings about the time I spent in Calgary.”

4. Connor Bedard’s going forward … by moving backward.

Blackhawks’ Connor Bedard celebrates a goal against the Oilers during the second period on Oct. 12, 2024. (Jason Franson/The Canadian Press via AP)

Bedard said during training camp that he was focused on rounding out his games — and his team has praised his efforts so far as a backchecker.

Three games is no referendum – and no one’s saying Bedard will be competing for the Selke Trophy. But he has started off the season leading the team in plus-minus rating (+2) after tying Philipp Kurashev with a team-worst -44 last season.

It could be a sign that Bedard’s already not the defensive liability he once was.

“It’s just maturity,” Foligno said. “Realizing it’s such an important part of the game. And when you do play on that side of it, it’s amazing how the game opens up for you on the offensive side of it.

“Even last game (against the Edmonton Oilers), you start making that commitment, now you have the puck with a little more time and the ‘D’ aren’t right on you because you’re not quite back on the backcheck.”

Richardson showed the team a clip from Saturday’s game where the Hawks lost a faceoff in the offensive zone and the Oilers broke out on a rush.

“He (Bedard) skated as hard as I’ve ever seen him skate back,” Richardson said. “Seth (Jones) stood up, they dumped it in, and it gave Martinez an easy out. Otherwise, Martinez is in a one-on-one battle in his D-zone by himself.

“So he realizes that he gets the puck back, and he’s also not wasting his energy chasing in the defensive zone for another minute after that.”

5. Bedard also has shown a ‘shift’ in mentality.

How much is five seconds worth?

Last season, Bedard’s average shift ran 1 minute and 1 second, but he has trimmed that to 56 seconds through the first three games.

It doesn’t sound like much, but “that’s huge,” Richardson said. “We’re out in higher altitude climates, here and in Utah, and then we had back-to-back games in Winnipeg and Edmonton, and they’re all close games.”

Coaches usually preach short shifts to keep lines moving, but those extra seconds can have a cumulative effect on a player and leave him dead-legged in a critical situation.

“Like in Utah, when we pulled the goalie, he’s going to have to have 100% of his juice ready to go,” Richardson said. “And sometimes you can burn your legs out early in the season with long shifts early in the game.”

6. Calgary doesn’t kid about its Bedard-mania.

There must have been an all-points bulletin about where the team was staying in downtown Calgary. Fans donning Hawks jerseys waited outside the hotel in the morning. At night, a new crop of fans took their places, some of them wearing Bedard’s jersey backward on the off chance they’d meet him and he’d see his nameplate.

But it was a madhouse at WinSport where the Hawks practiced Monday. Kids had to be cordoned off as the players walked to and from the ice.

Of course, they were all huddled there for … Richardson?

“They asked for an autograph and I said, ‘You don’t want an old, broken-down coach; you want Connor Bedard and all the young players,’” the Hawks coach said. “It was great to see them. It gives us actually a little bit of atmosphere.”

“It’s cool,” Bedard said. “There’s a good amount of guys that would get a bit of that. But it’s pretty neat to have kids look up to you, or ever be excited to watch you practice.”

What is it with Bedard and Calgary? Remember, he and the Regina Pats packed the Saddledome for a junior-league game against the Calgary Hitmen.

“We had World Juniors that was probably a lot louder, but less people,” Bedard said. “It was cool in junior to get to feel like an NHL crowd.”

7. Dustin Wolf stymied Bedard.

Bedard tried the Flames goalie far-side in the first period and short-side in the third, but Wolf’s glove scarfed up both attempts — and then some.

Bedard took a season-high seven shots on goal Tuesday night; it matched a career high (he did it twice last season).

“He’s a good goalie,” Bedard said. “I was trying to get as many shots as I could. He was good.”

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