SALT LAKE CITY – Seth Jones might not be able to control whether the Chicago Blackhawks meet his trade request by the deadline, but he did take matters into his own hands for one play at least.
During the Hawks’ first power play Tuesday against the Utah Hockey Club, he switched ice positions with Connor Bedard. Usually, Jones would hand off to Bedard so the forward could take a point shot, but this time Jones kept the puck and walked down to the left circle.
UHC goalie Karel Vejmelka looked inside of a screen for a short-side shot, but Jones sniped him from the far side.
But after the Hawks failed to do anything else offensively – they did manage to commit five penalties – during a 2-1 loss at Delta Center, that goal wouldn’t be Jones’ last shot that landed.
“We’re the exact same team right now as we were Game 1,” said Jones, who’s seeking a trade because he wants to play playoff hockey before his prime years expire. “It’s pretty evident out there. We haven’t made any strides to be a better, more simple hockey team, and it shows.
“We don’t get a lot of wins because of that.”
It’s hard to argue.
There’s very little tangible evidence the Hawks, currently on a four-game losing streak, are moving forward.
They finished second-to-last in the standings last season and are second-to-last currently. The Hawks have improved from a 0.58 five-on-five goals ratio to 0.73 at to this point this season – good enough to move from second from the bottom to third from the bottom.
Interim coach Anders Sorensen only bears a fraction of the responsibility for the Hawks’ current state, but he said he believes the team has made strides.
“I think certain areas,” he said. “Certain areas, no. But certain areas, yeah.”
He didn’t elaborate.
The game itself spelled it out in the numbers. The Hawks entered the game 10-8-4 when leading after the first period, but despite the head start, they added another one to the loss column.
The Hawks nearly carried a second-period stalemate into intermission – which would’ve been fine, a chance to regroup – but Utah’s Clayton Keller scored with just 44 seconds left in the second.
Lawson Crouse’s backhander in the third proved the deciding goal.
The Hawks were out-chanced 40-5 in five-on-five (15-0 in the third). The numbers were even uglier in all-strengths: 52-16.
“They were stifling us,” Sorensen said.
Jones faulted the Hawks “refusing to play simple and turning pucks over. Not just forwards, it’s everybody; defensemen. We weren’t very good on the breakouts tonight.”
Referring to goalie Arvid Söderblom’s futile 34 (of 36) saves, Jones said, “Sody’s got to stand on his head. We have no business being in that game.”
Here are six takeaways from the loss,
1. Five penalties boxed the Hawks in.
The Hawks’ penalty kill did a bang-up job, holding UHC’s power play to 0-for-5. But that’s a lot of minutes spent on defense and Bedard on the bench.
“A lot of penalties, right?” Sorensen said. “A lot of penalty trouble. Kind of wore some guys out and put us on our heels a lot.”
“That doesn’t help,” Jones said. “It just kills momentum. … Ten minutes is a long time on the kill. You don’t get the flow of the guys going offensively. Now guys have to sit. And then it’s tough to get anything going.”
2. Teams like Utah are going to be the new norm.
Look ahead at the Hawks’ post-break schedule: Columbus and Utah are chasing wild-card spots. Toronto leads its division, just like upcoming Vegas (Thursday).
Ryan Donato said, “Games are just going to get harder, especially at this point of the year. Teams are making their playoff pushes, and this team was desperate and they came away with the win.
“We’ve just got to show up and put forth a great effort, a full 60 minutes and try and get a win.”
3. Bedard reunited with Tyler Bertuzzi and Frank Nazar on the top line.
The Bedard-Bertuzzi-Nazar line accounted for five goals and four against, and had an expected-goals-for percentage of 40.5%.
Not exactly inspiring numbers, but Sorensen decided to go back to an old lineup after Bedard’s line with Landon Slaggert and Ryan Donato became ineffective.
“They’ve had good games in the past together, that line,” Sorensen said before the game about the Bedard-Slaggert-Donato line. “They were really good in Tampa.
“We haven’t scored a lot the last couple games here, so we want to get some production. So switching it up.”
Sorensen sprinkled in some Bedard-Nazar-Donato as well. But after the game, Sorensen said he couldn’t fully evaluate any line.
“It’s hard to judge after that game, because we didn’t create much,” he said. “They never really got into rhythm. In the third period, they were better.”
4. What went wrong with Bedard’s old line?
The simple answer: They stopped scoring and started giving up goals: three in the last two games together.
“I think we were playing some pretty good teams,” Slaggert said. “And for us, I think it’s just about getting on the forecheck and creating opportunities that way, and limiting their offense to create offense for us. That was working well for us early on.
“I think we got stalled a little bit these past couple games, but I don’t think that was necessarily on any one of us, just kind of how the games went.”
5. Donato pays no mind to trade talk.
The latest chatter is that the Ottawa Senators are interested in the eighth-year forward, who leads the Hawks with 19 goals.
“I don’t really pay attention to it, to be honest,” Donato said. “There’s always noise, and there’s always going to be teams that you know are talking, and it’s out of my control.”
The 28-year-old carries a $2 million cap hit and will be an unrestricted free agent.
Does that say something to you about the season you’re having?
“I think it’s a good thing to be wanted, but I love it in Chicago, and I’ve had a great time,” said Donato, who’s in his second season with the Hawks. “And I’m going to give my teammates all my attention when I’m here, and I hope to stay here.”
6. Jones used Bedard as “bait” on his power-play goal.
As referenced earlier, Jones commonly passes off to Bedard on a switch so Bedard can try new angles on his power-play shots.
“Obviously teams know (Bedard) is dangerous,” Jones said. “Both guys kind of went to him. I tried to bait it a little bit, and they both bit on that, so I decided to take it to the net. It was a great screen by Bert.
Since the break, the Hawks have been focused on moving around more on power plays.
“Just trying to get more things going when it gets stagnant, so that’s what I tried to do there,” Jones said.
