At key moments of Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to New Jersey Devils, the Chicago Blackhawks just couldn’t catch a break at the United Center.
Pat Maroon couldn’t catch a break when his pass hit Jesper Bratt’s skate at the offensive blue line and then again when he got crossed up by Bratt and Ondřej Palát on Palát’s shorthanded goal.
Ryan Donato couldn’t catch a break later in the second period when his would-be tying goal was overturned – ruled a high stick.
Landon Slaggert couldn’t catch a break when he drew a roughing penalty for simply shoving Šimon Nemec off Connor Bedard, who Nemec had pinned to the ice. The ensuing power-play goal by Dawson Mercer would prove to be the winning edge for the Devils.
The Hawks finally caught a break when they gambled on pulling goalie Spencer Knight with 4 minutes, 8 seconds left. It paid off with Frank Nazar’s six-on-five goal with 2 minutes, 50 seconds remaining. It was the sixth time the Hawks had scored in 60 six-on-five attempts this season, according to NHL Stats and Information.
But perhaps asking for another big break – a 4-4 tying goal – was too much to ask.
Stefan Noesen dashed the Hawks’ hopes by scoring on an empty net with 13 seconds left.
Hawks interim coach Anders Sorensen said of pulling Knight early, “We didn’t feel like we had much going on there offensively, so good time to do it with icing there. It worked out. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get another one.”
Yes, the Hawks caught some bad breaks, but credit the Devils for breaking up the Hawks offense, for the most part.
“Honestly, they fronted pucks really well,” Nazar said. “They blocked a lot of shots. They did that well. It’s tough when you can’t get pucks through, and if we don’t have a guy in front of the net, we’re not going to shoot as many.”
Here are five takeaways from the loss.
1. Slaggert defended Bedard – but Sorensen doesn’t defend him.
This goes back to the Bedard play.
Nemec checked Bedard into the boards and took him down to the ice. Bedard held onto Nemec’s stick as Nemec shoved the Hawks down repeatedly while also yanking his stick to get free.
Yeah, it’s a little gamesmanship by Bedard (for which he easily could’ve been penalized), but Slaggert saw a teammate in trouble and rushed in to break it up. Nemec backed off, and Slaggert gave the Devil a few little shoves for good measure. Brenden Dillon skated up and did the same to Slaggert.
No-calls all around should’ve been the decision, but the referees singled out Slaggert and sent him to the penalty box.
By letter of the law, the refs can make that call, but here was an opportunity for Sorensen to stick up for his players by arguing the call – even if they were slightly in the wrong – and he didn’t.
“I just don’t know what to gain out of it,” the Hawks coach said. “They’ve made their call. They’re probably not going to change it. You can try to talk to them during TV timeouts a little bit or get an explanation that way.
“Yelling is probably not going to help the situation. Try to build a relationship and talk to them a little bit and asking. I think that will go a longer way down the road.”
Down the road isn’t guaranteed.
It’s about sending a message to the Hawks bench as much as the officials: Just like you play to the echo of the whistle, I’m going to bark at that whistle now and then too.
You’d think he’d at least pat Slaggert on the back for having Bedard’s back. Nope.
Anders Sorensen said refs told him they didn’t penalize Simon Nemec because Bedard was holding his stick. Sorensen didn’t argue because “yelling is probably not going to help the situation.”
— Phil Thompson (@philthompsontrib.bsky.social) 2025-03-27T02:44:57.288Z
“I think he saw the situation differently; (it) looked differently from where he was at,” Sorensen said of Slaggert. “He wanted to help Bedsy out where maybe he didn’t need to. He wants to stick up for his teammates. He wants to help out.
“Maybe he got a little over-excited. That’s learning the game as a young man.”
Whether Slaggert went a bit too far taking up Bedard, it a necessary message a lot of NHL players send while defending star teammates: Get off our guy.
2. Artyom Levshunov showed his special abilities on Tyler Bertuzzi’s goal.
After a power-play faceoff, Bedard batted the puck backward while trying to control it. As the puck was heading out of the zone, Levshunov lurched from the left side and dove at the puck coming up the middle.
Not only does he keep it in-zone, but he knocked it toward Donato, who walked down the wall and found Bertuzzi across from him for a back-door goal.
“Just tried to save the puck in the offensive zone and score a goal on the power play,” Levshunov said. “Yes, I’ve done it before, for sure. Second effort, I’ve got to save the puck in the offensive zone, and I did, and we scored.”
Nazar was Levshunov’s teammate in Rockford earlier this season, and he has watched the Hawks rookie grow since his arrival.
“He’s a lot more confident, making a lot better plays and using his body and his mind to be himself and make his plays,” Nazar said. “When he’s comfortable, he’s his best self, and he’s been looking good.”
3. Bertuzzi runs hot and cold.
His offensive game has been as finicky as “spring” weather in Chicago. After going five games with no points and taking just five shots, Bertuzzi has recorded three goals and four assists in his most recent five games.
“Even when he was struggling a little bit, I thought he had some opportunities, but didn’t go in for him,” Sorensen said. “It seems like he’s a little streaky at times. He’s hot right now, so I thought he was good today.”
Bertuzzi became the sixth player in league history to reach 20 goals with three Original Six teams, along with former Hawk Phil Esposito, former Hawk Roy Conacher, Frank Mahovlich, Mark Osborne and Dean Prentice.
4. Louis Crevier wants to be more ‘physical.’
Over the previous few weeks, the defenseman’s playing time was sporadic, scratched for five of seven games. Crevier will be a restricted free agent, so every minute of ice time counts.
“I’m looking to play more, but also to gain that experience,” he told the Tribune. “And I think it’s a lot mental. It’s hard to play in the NHL, play every other day.”
The 6-foot-8 defenseman said he has grown in confidence, willing to try more plays, while also “trying to be more physical a little bit, too.”
Sorensen liked what he saw in Crevier against the Devils.
“We want him to be using his size and his range and be able to get stops,” he said. “I thought he did a good job on the one goal (by Ilya Mikheyev), keeping pucks alive, being down the wall, being on his toes. So, yeah, it’s coming.”
5. Quebec City’s native son makes his case for expansion.
Houston and Atlanta have been getting much of the buzz whenever the subject comes about the NHL expanding to 34 teams, but Quebec City is the perpetual bridesmaid in this courtship.
Crevier was six years from being born when the Nordiques were bought, moved and renamed the Colorado Avalanche.
“I never got the chance to see them, but I know it was a pretty big thing back in the day,” he told the Tribune. …
“I don’t know if (expansion is ) going to happen pretty soon, but it’d be pretty cool.”
But he realizes his hometown faces long odds – but he can dream.
“It’s been in the books for a while now,” he said. “I don’t know, maybe down the line. We have a nice rink there that’s ready. I think the fans would be great for the league and for the rivalry with Montreal.
He added, “Playing with the (QMJHL) Remparts, a lot of the time it was more than 10,000 people at our games — in junior. So if there was an NHL team, it’d be sold out every game.”
