You know how the Blackhawks gave up two goals very quickly twice on Tuesday night in Minnesota? And that was something we really didn’t want to see again? Yeah… Pat Maroon took a slashing penalty and then doubled down with an unsportsmanlike minor. The Blackhawks killed 3:47 of the 4 minutes before Marco Rossi scored. Jonas Brodin then threw a shot on net right off the ensuing faceoff and the Wild had two goals in four (4) seconds.
Meanwhile, Chicago’s power play was a smoldering refuse receptacle. And Petr Mrázek was not good.
The Blackhawks were able to hang around while generating no legitimate scoring chances for almost 40 full minutes, though Connor Bedard did try to shoot one between his legs in traffic at one point in the middle of the second period.
Late in the second period, Jason Dickinson killed a Minnesota power play by himself, working hard and getting Kaprill Kaprisov sent off for holding. Seth Jones pulled off an impressive power move to get the Blackhawks on the board late in the period.
Unfortunately, Ilya Mikheyev went to the box soon after the Jones goal and Minnesota scored eight seconds into the 4-on-3 to push the lead back to two in the closing minute of the second. And then Brock Faber scored 13 seconds into the third. And then Marcus Johansson scored 1:46 into the third period and that “hung around and made it interesting at a 2-1 game with 69 seconds left in the second period” game was now blown wide open.
Star 1: Seth Jones
While the power play continues to be a… work in progress… he got the Blackhawks on the board with an effort goal. He skated heavy minutes again, this time as a 30-year-old (his birthday was Thursday).
Seth Jones drives to the net and scores to get the #Blackhawks on the board pic.twitter.com/hllbyUHynz
— BHF (@BlackhawksFocus) October 5, 2024
Star 2: Ryan Donato
The new dad was inserted as the fourth line center and he played that role very well. He was physical and also transitioned the play to the offensive end of the rink effectively when he had the chance. Donato had a Blackhawks-high three shots on net and seven shot attempts thru two periods and was also credited with one takeaway in 9:02. While he was on the ice at 5-on-5 in the first two periods (5:33), Natural Stat Trick had the Blackhawks with a 12-4 shot attempt advantage.
Star 3: Connor Bedard
He had an assist and was the only Blackhawks skater other than Donato with more than two shots on net. The bar is very, very low to be a “star” of the game tonight.
Key Takeaways
- At least Kevin Korchinski can’t be blamed for this loss.
- Good news: the awful terrible goal scored by Brodin may have been a blessing in disguise. He caught Mrázek for a dump-in and put it on net successfully. If someone somewhere pre-scouted that Mrázek cheats in those situations, it’s much better that someone scores on a play like that in the preseason than a game that counts.
- The Blackhawks had, in theory, their top power play unit(s) on the ice tonight and they were bad in the first period. The most dangerous players on either unit were Donato and Craig Smith.
- At the end of 20 minutes, the Wild held an 8-6 shot advantage but the Blackhawks had a 20-13 shot attempt advantage. Other than the whole two goals in four second part, the first period was actually pretty even.
- I’m not sure I’m there yet with TJ Brodie being in the lineup frequently this year.
- For a couple guys still auditioning for an NHL job (in theory), Isaak Phillips and Nolan Allan were solid. Thru two periods, Natural Stat Trick had Allan on the ice for 6:33 of 5-on-5 during which the Blackhawks out-shot attempted the Wild 10-3. He was credited with one hit and one shot attempt in the first two periods.
- Natural Stat Trick had Phillips on the ice for 6:34 of 5-on-5 during which the Blackhawks out-shot attempted the Wild 8-3. Phillips was credited with three shot attempts and one takeaway in the first two periods.
- The Teräväinen-Bedard-Bertuzzi line was on the struggle bus. I’m not sure if I’m sold on Bertuzzi with 98 yet. Get back to me in a couple weeks…