You know what? I started writing this like every other gamer this season but it really just wasn’t worth that by the end of the second period. And why was that? Because the Blackhawks were down 5-2 and Seth Jones was minus-4.
Seth Jones' turnover leads to the Flames' fifth goal, a shorthanded one. pic.twitter.com/N1nVCEXLF8
— Scott Powers (@ByScottPowers) January 14, 2025
I said it on Twitter and I’ll say it again here: Philipp Kurashev got to sit in the press box for more of an effort than this. If there’s actually any accountability on this roster and leaders are expected to show with their play more than their words how to battle, I’m not sure Jones should have an A on his sweater at this point.
Star 1: The five defensemen not named Seth Jones
The five defensemen not-named-Seth Jones tried. They really did. Nolan Allan had a physical night and Wyatt Kaiser worked hard. Alex Vlasic and Alec Martinez were steady. And Louis Crevier scored. All five five defensemen not-named-Seth Jones had at least two blocked shots; Seth did not have one. And the five defensemen not-named-Seth Jones were a combined minus-three (none was worse than minus-two). Seth was minus-four by himself.
#Blackhawks answer quickly, tie the game at one
— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 14, 2025
🚨 Louis Crevier
🍎 Lukas Reichel
pic.twitter.com/qu6lpRjeyD
Star 2: Connor Bedard
Bedard scored a power play goal in the second period to give him 100 career points in his 112th career game.
#Blackhawks power play goal!
🚨 Connor Bedard
🍎 Seth Jones, Teuvo Teravainen
100 career points fir Bedard!
pic.twitter.com/XdLN7Ghsvx— Bleacher Nation Blackhawks (@BN_Blackhawks) January 14, 2025
Star 3: Jason Dickinson
Dickinson wore an A on his chest tonight and played like he deserved it. Kind of a fun change of pace, eh? The Blackhawks won 13 of 25 faceoffs in the first period. Dickinson won 6 of 8 to lead the team. He also led all Blackhawks forwards skating 6:40 in the first period. The Blackhawks won 23 of 42 faceoffs thru two periods — Dickinson was 9 for 12. Dickinson finished the night with four hits and won 12 of 16 faceoffs.
Key Takeaways
- Allan absolutely hammered Walker Duehr early in the shift that turned into the Blackhawks’ first goal. He kept hitting, too. But… nobody else on the roster brought any physicality whatsoever. Not until Martin Pospisil hit Taylor Hall in a dangerous way in the second period and Pat Maroon asked if got the Christmas card. Pospisil got 5 and a game for the hit. The Blackhawks scored once — and allowed a short-handed goal — on the power play.
- Late in the first period, the Blackhawks moved Frank Nazar up to Connor Bedard‘s line and bumped Ilya Mikheyev to the line with Lukas Reichel and Colton Dach. By the end of the second period it was whatever because the Hawks were playing terrible hockey, but that was definitely something they tried for a few shifts before the wheels were off. In the third period we were getting a line of Nazar-Bedard-Dach…
- Flames forward Rory Kerins appeared in his first career NHL game tonight. He had two assists in his first career period in the NHL.
- Seth Jones’ contract carries a $9.5M AAV thru the 2029-30 season.